5168 x 3445 px | 43,8 x 29,2 cm | 17,2 x 11,5 inches | 300dpi
Date de la prise de vue:
27 février 2000
Lieu:
Coutellerie de Nontron, Perigord, Dordogne,
Informations supplémentaires:
Nontron is the name of a town in the France's Perigord (Dordogne) region. This namesake town is where the knives developed and have been produced for 500 years! The way the Nontron knife is crafted today is nearly identical to the way it was made in the Fifteenth Century - individual craftsmen using their own hand tools to create a work of art. The Nontron factory is a tiny building housing a small number of craftsmen and antique tools. It is the oldest continuously operating cutlery forge in France. Each Nontron knife is a work of art created by one of only six artisan knifemakers. The blade is forged and not stamped, then carefully tempered in the iron rich water of the Perigord. The boxwood used for the handles of Nontron knives is cut only in the immediate region and allowed to air dry for at least five years before being cut, shaped and finished as a handle. Each Nontron knife is hand decorated with a circle of pyrograved figures of ancient and unknown significance. This from the Nontron Company: In the Perigord region of Southwestern France, Coutellerie Nontronnoise manufactures Frances oldest knife, NONTRON. Born on the banks of the mineral-rich Bandiat river and from ancient steel works surrounding the tiny village of Nontron, these knives have been hand-made for more than 600 years. Far beyond the Christian Era, Perigord was known throughout Western Europe for its superb steel. The ancient Gauls developed the first forges here, in the hills of Azat-en Nontronnais. Tradition relates that the sword of Charles VII was forged and finished in the village of Nontron. During the middle ages, Parisian cutlery makers visited Nontron to improve their art. Members of the trade guild of knifemakers came from all over France to study technique in Nontron. On October 13th 1653, Guillaume le Grand, Saint-Eustache cutlery master of Paris, was married in Nontron and made the village his home. Following this example, many master cutlers from other regions of F
