Box of 6 forks - Pyrographed boxwood - NONTRON
Box of 6 forks, magnificently handcrafted, in satin stainless steel and pyrographed boxwood.
The revival of the oldest French cutlery, the brand with boxwood handles marked with the 3-point V, a mysterious symbol whose origin no one knows anymore..!
Handcrafted, each piece is entirely made by the same craftsman. The artisanal company currently has around twenty cutlers, it is labeled Living Heritage Company.
La Coutellerie Nontronnaise, heir to an immemorial expertise, is a staple of the French regional knife landscape. A Nontron represents our territory and our craftsmanship.
The Nontron knife is considered an ancestor and inspires many legends. This imagery, dating back to the dawn of time, is based as much on its distinctive shapes as on its pyrographed mark.
Its history is so long that it is difficult to date its origin. However, experts agree that the Nontron knife is the oldest knife in France and that its origins date back at least to the 15th century.
Writings and excavations indicate that long before the Middle Ages, forging was common in this French region. Guillaume de la Villeneuve alluded to "Pierregord knives" at the beginning of the 13th century.
Subsequently, blacksmiths were praised for their skills in poems and songs. Some historians claim that King Charles VII (1403-1461), called "the Victorious" by Joan of Arc, had his sword made in Nontron.
In the 18th century, Nontron had thirty-five cutlers. By 1928, only one company remained: La Coutellerie Nontronnaise. On June 21, 2000, a new workshop designed by Luc-Arsène Henry opened its doors.
La Coutellerie Nontronnaise remains the only one to perpetuate this centuries-old tradition. Each piece, crafted from start to finish by the same cutler, is unique. From the boxwood branch (dried on-site for a minimum of 4 years) to the finished knife, it takes 40 manufacturing steps: the main ones being sawing, grooving the blank, fitting the iron ferrule and nail, installing the rotating brass or nickel silver ferrule, applying the stamp, grinding the spine, sanding and polishing the handle, and sharpening the forged blade (since 1992, all blades have been produced by Forge de Laguiole).
One operation remains: pyrography. These patterns, whose origin and meaning are still unknown, consist of 6 "flies": a type of inverted V framed by 3 dots and 4 rows of small dots.
To support and buy a Nontron is to join a process that rejects the loss of skills and to participate in proving that a product made entirely by hand in France can still exist.