New Old Stock La Suprema 8.5" Heavy Butcher Knife / Light Cleaver Carbon Plum Wood Handle Maniago, Italy ~1950s 60s

 New old stock La Suprema 8.5" heavy butcher knife / light cleaver made in Maniago, Italy, most likely in the 1950s or 60s. Blade is hand-forged, hand-ground carbon steel, and the handle is hafted in what looks like cherry wood with a pin-and-disc rosette rivet. 

These are part of a batch of unused vintage Italian knives we have found and are very unusual to come by, these were not exported to the United States very much and show up used hardly ever. I can count on one hand the amount of vintage Italian knives of this era I have found in 20 years of dealing in vintage knives.

This is a great example of historic small-industry knife-making from several small towns in Northern Italy. Similar to French knives of this basic construction they were made to be affordable work knives in thier day, little vanity was paid to finish but they have a lot of charm.

The blade was originally unsharpened. Typically we leave new old stock knives with the original factory edge to preserve the history of their manufacture but these were not quite usable. We have taken the liberty of sharpening the edge so the knife can be used.