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Compared to knives from other regions of France, the lines of a Laguiole are slender and elegant... unusually delicate for a knife that is at home in a rural environment, which essentially consisted of farmers and cattle breeders or of routiers who traveled through the countryside with their ox or donkey carts and traded in the products of their homeland.
You would think that knives for such a target group would not be as elegant as laguioles are. But the surprising thing is that their slender handle fits so well in the hand and follows the lines of the hand so perfectly that it couldn't be stronger.
It is also undisputed that to this day, none of France's many knives have been so appealing to architects, designers and creatives. One possible answer to this question probably lies precisely in this special feature, its unusually elegant lines.
The story of the Laguioles has been told to us for years in the tales and legends that circulate among the rural population of the Aubrac and how the blacksmiths put them into circulation. Once upon a time ...
- In 1828, a young blacksmith by the name of Pierre-Jean Calmels created a knife that soon became the most popular knife in France thanks to its slim lines, elegance and balanced proportions.
- The Laguiole is a cross between the Capuchadou dagger commonly used in Aubrac and a knife called Navaja, which is native to Spain and was discovered and brought back by traveling merchants on their journeys.
- Some say that real folding pocket knives, i.e. with a sheath in the back, had not existed until then. The invention of the modern pocket knife was an invention of the blacksmiths in Laguiole.
- The Croix Berger, or shepherd's cross made of small metal pins on the handle, was once used by shepherds for a prayer when they watched over the dangerous nights with the animals in the pasture. It must consist precisely of 7 nails, otherwise it is not genuine, as it symbolizes the days of the week.
- the fly on the ressort is not a fly, but the heraldic animal of Napoleon, i.e. a bee. Only the blacksmiths in Laguiole were granted the right by the Emperor to depict his heraldic animal on their knives, as they had fought particularly bravely in his battles ...
All this flatters the storytellers, is charming, but has nothing to do with the historical truth, as we know today.
Nevertheless, we should enjoy such stories as they embellish the world of the Laguioles, because no other knife is the subject of so many tales. And France has over sixty different traditional pocket knives! Some younger, some much older than the Laguiole.
In addition to the legends, we can also get to know the historically correct story with the exact dates as they have recently become known:
- the first forge to be founded in the village of Laguiole in 1828 was the Moulin forge; the blacksmith Jean-Pierre Calmels, who is said to have invented the knife in 1828, only settled here a year later, in 1829, at the same time as the blacksmith Glaize. In the years that followed, other blacksmiths settled in Laguiole.
- for many, it was never quite clear that a very young blacksmith like Pierre-Jean Calmels (according to the story, in 1828) should have "invented" a knife with such perfect lines at the age of just 16. So not a seasoned blacksmith with technical experience or an experienced craftsman with design know-how? The knife should have been created immediately in its finished, final form, developed from a navaja with a different design and a fixed dagger, the capuchadou? Without any intermediate steps in the development? Experienced designers and knifemakers have their doubts.
- Napoléon's bee on the resort. Napoléon was deposed in 1815 and with his deposition and banishment all his insignia had to be destroyed (see the rediscovery of the subject Napoléon), and it was forbidden under penalty of law to continue using his insignia, including his heraldic animal, the bee. Napoléon died in 1825, the first blacksmiths settled in Laguiole in 1828 and the first original Laguioles were made around 1850, as we know today ...
Christian Lemasson is a historian and ethnographer. He lives in Aubrac near Laguiole and in Thiers. Coming from a family of couteliers, he asked the same questions, spent 9 years researching the history and evolution of Laguiole knives and its forge and published his research results in 2010 in the book L'HISTOIRE DU COUTEAU DE LAGUIOLE. As part of his research, he was not only able to view documents in public archives. He gained access to private archives, including the archives of some blacksmiths in Laguiole and Thiers who no longer exist and whose families had kept the original documents. The results of his work allowed him to reconstruct the history of Laguiole on a reliable scientific basis.
For all those who would like to read the complete history: we provided expert and advisory support for the German translation by Thomas Mößer for the Wieland publishing house.
This knife was made by the company Au Sabot, with the wooden shoe as its trademark. Au Sabot can look back on 150 years of history, making it one of the oldest companies in France. A few years ago, the company was awarded the honorary title of Patrimoine Vivant, living cultural heritage.
A specialty of the company are the Laguioles à l'ancien, i.e. made in the old traditional way, which, like the Laguiole Art Déco, have been produced for generations using the old tools and with the old attributes.
Au Sabot has been a member of the "Confrérie du Couté de Tié" since 1994.
In 2008, the cutlery company was honored with the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant award, which is given to manufacturers with special traditional knowledge.
Length folded: 12cm, blade: 9.5cm, welded bee, aluminum handle
The knife comes in a black box with a cleaning cloth and a detailed description.
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