Gaucho knife for ID please: Argentine 'La Movediza'

Atlantia · 2nd October 2010, 02:34 PM

Hi all,
Found this one today, have wanted a Gaucho knife for ages, not exactly waht I wanted, but seems a reasonable one.
Can anyone help with info or date?
I think its a 20th C one, but hopefully has some age.
Stamped:
'La Movediza' and 'Industria Argentina' on the blade.
And:
'Plate 800 Industria Argentina' on the scabbard.

laEspadaAncha · 2nd October 2010, 04:57 PM

Hi Atlantia,

I believe La Modediza to be one of the Tandil-based factories that has been producing factory cutlery since the mid-century. I would think yours dates from ca. 1950-1960. While not necessarily rare nor unusual, these provide a nice study of form of the ubiquitous knife type traditionally associated with the Gaucho culture (I have one myself from another Tandil manufacturer), and while not all that old are more collectible than contemporary examples to be sure.

Atlantia · 2nd October 2010, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laEspadaAncha

Hi Atlantia,

I believe La Modediza to be one of the Tandil-based factories that has been producing factory cutlery since the mid-century. I would think yours dates from ca. 1950-1960. While not necessarily rare nor unusual, these provide a nice study of form of the ubiquitous knife type traditionally associated with the Gaucho culture (I have one myself from another Tandil manufacturer), and while not all that old are more collectible than contemporary examples to be sure.

Hi laEspadaAncha,

Thanks for the info, thats fine with me, I was kinda hoping it would be 1950s rather than any later.
One thing that confuses me (if you don't mind another question?)
The marking 'PLATE 800' I assumed meant plated with 800 grade silver, but a scrape of the inner scabbard edge shows no underlaying metal? It seems solid! Am I just not scraping hard enough?

Thanks again
Gene

Lee · 2nd October 2010, 05:48 PM

Plata is silver. Probably solid 80% silver with a little bit of gold overlay.

Atlantia · 2nd October 2010, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee

Plata is silver. Probably solid 80% silver with a little bit of gold overlay.

LOL

Oh yes, it is 'PLATA'
Thanks Lee

laEspadaAncha · 2nd October 2010, 05:58 PM

Hi Gene,

Are you sure it doesn't say, "Plata?" Plata is Spanish for silver, and would denote a lower-grade silver (80% vs. 92.5%).

I've done a little digging since my earlier post, and am under the impression La Movediza stopped manufacturing in 1963. In fact, below is a picture of all the original La Modeviza die stamps, now in the personal collection of the nephew of the founder of La Modeviza.

Your stamp looks like it could be the 3rd from the left on the bottom row (though it's hard to tell for sure given the small image size).

BTW, La Modeviza was the very first cutlery manufacturer established in Tandil. FWIW, Tandil (loosely speaking) is the Argentine-equivalent of Solingen, and it was in fact the WWII-era embargo of German exports that resulted in the formation of Industria Argentina's Tandil-based cutlery center.

Regards,

Chris

laEspadaAncha · 2nd October 2010, 06:00 PM

I see in the ten minutes it took for me to cobble together my last post, the "Plate" vs. "Plata" issue has already been put to rest...

Atlantia · 2nd October 2010, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laEspadaAncha

I see in the ten minutes it took for me to cobble together my last post, the "Plate" vs. "Plata" issue has already been put to rest...

Thak you so much!

This is just brilliant news all round. Not only is it as old as I dared hope (At least pre 1963) Also solid continental silver mounts, not silver 'plate' (DOH!) as I thought when I bought it!!
Brilliant!
Are those stamps in chronological order, by any chance?
If so, which end is earliest?

Best
Gene

2nd October 2010, 02:34 PM	#1
Atlantia Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: The Sharp end Posts: 2,928	Gaucho knife for ID please: Argentine 'La Movediza' Hi all, Found this one today, have wanted a Gaucho knife for ages, not exactly waht I wanted, but seems a reasonable one. Can anyone help with info or date? I think its a 20th C one, but hopefully has some age. Stamped: 'La Movediza' and 'Industria Argentina' on the blade. And: 'Plate 800 Industria Argentina' on the scabbard.

2nd October 2010, 04:57 PM	#2
laEspadaAncha Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 608	Hi Atlantia, I believe La Modediza to be one of the Tandil-based factories that has been producing factory cutlery since the mid-century. I would think yours dates from ca. 1950-1960. While not necessarily rare nor unusual, these provide a nice study of form of the ubiquitous knife type traditionally associated with the Gaucho culture (I have one myself from another Tandil manufacturer), and while not all that old are more collectible than contemporary examples to be sure.

2nd October 2010, 05:48 PM	#4
Lee EAAF Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Upstate New York, USA Posts: 910	Plata is silver. Probably solid 80% silver with a little bit of gold overlay.

2nd October 2010, 05:58 PM	#6
laEspadaAncha Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 608	Hi Gene, Are you sure it doesn't say, "Plata?" Plata is Spanish for silver, and would denote a lower-grade silver (80% vs. 92.5%). I've done a little digging since my earlier post, and am under the impression La Movediza stopped manufacturing in 1963. In fact, below is a picture of all the original La Modeviza die stamps, now in the personal collection of the nephew of the founder of La Modeviza. Your stamp looks like it could be the 3rd from the left on the bottom row (though it's hard to tell for sure given the small image size). BTW, La Modeviza was the very first cutlery manufacturer established in Tandil. FWIW, Tandil (loosely speaking) is the Argentine-equivalent of Solingen, and it was in fact the WWII-era embargo of German exports that resulted in the formation of Industria Argentina's Tandil-based cutlery center. Regards, Chris

2nd October 2010, 06:00 PM	#7
laEspadaAncha Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 608	I see in the ten minutes it took for me to cobble together my last post, the "Plate" vs. "Plata" issue has already been put to rest...