Manual del Baratero - A Review

[Chris Evans]

Hi Frank,

1. Which of these two photos did that navaja you saw resemble? The uppermost one with the etched & painted blade is a native Spanish navaja with a secure ratchet lock and the lower one, with the broad blade, a French import, without a full lock.

2. Most navajas were very slow to open and close and were rather poor weapons. They are certainly not comparable to modern tactical folders in this regard.

This was the only reason why they were half tolerated by the authorities. I say "half tolerated" because after the early eighteenth century all effective weapons were banned in Spain. This included navajas that could be locked into the open position and thus used violently.

In time and in some jurisdictions, lockable navajas were turned a blind eye but every now and then there were crackdowns and the law was enforced - This is the reason why the Spanish cutlery industry was decimated by 1850.

Most navajas in the nineteenth century were of French origins and did not have a lock, only a very strong spine-spring - Needless to say they made for poor weapons and because of this the authorities more or less accepted them. Only the locally made navajas tended to have secure locks, but by the 1850s these were very much in the minority and largely outlawed.

Have a great Easter
Chris

[Frank]

Chris

Originally Posted by Chris Evans

1. Which of these two photos did that navaja you saw resemble? The uppermost one with the etched & painted blade is a native Spanish navaja with a secure ratchet lock and the lower one, with the broad blade, a French import, without a full lock.

It was exactly like the one on the bottom. It was very hard to open and close. Had to apply a lot of pressure on the blade. No locks or levers, just pressure on the blade.

Regards
Frank

[Chris Evans]

Hi Frank,

Yes, that's a French navaja. Contrary to common perceptions, by the middle of the nineteenth century, they made up the vast majority of navajas in Spain and the Spanish ratcheting `Santolios' and `Sevillanas' were very much in the minority. Between 1850 and 1870 over twenty million such folders were imported into Spain, a staggering number if we consider the then adult male population being only around 4 million!

What I find even more interesting is that whilst they were large and looked fearsome, in truth they made for rather poor weapons, because they lacked a proper blade lock, relying on mere spring pressure fixation and were very slow to open. The absence of a secure lock is what made these knives acceptable to the authorities and the significance of this fact cannot be overstated.

The absence of a lock made thrusting a rather risky, though not impossible, proposition and when used in fights, they must have relied more on the sweeping cut.

I just cannot help feeling that folklore aside, the Spaniards of old were not quite as ready to fight to the death as they are nowadays made out to be.

Cheers
Chris

[Frank]

Chris,

I see what you mean about French navajas. What about those huge sword length navajas as shown on page 71 of the Manual del Baratero. Surely they were meant for fighting. Why did the authoritys allow them?

Best wishes
Frank

[Chris Evans]

Hi Frank,

1. There has been a long standing tradition in Spain and Italy, just just to name two, where cutlers make oversize knives to enter into trade shows or kept as displays in their shops as capability statements. These are known in Spanish as "navajas de muestra/exposicion", literally showpieces. In the book `La Cuchilleria Artistica de Albacete' there is a photo of one such navaja, that was 48" long (closed) and weighed 26Lbs!

1.2 Contrary to the wishful thinking of Hispanophile romantics, these oversized navajas never saw use. The maximum blade length for navajas, before they become unpractically heavy or too weak at the hinge, is around 12". Even so, according to the Spanish authority Forton, on average, old navajas had blades of only 6"-9".

2. Re Illustration on pg71 of MdB:

First, we have to remember that Dore's decorative pictures were added, to later editions and were not part of the original. This was obviously done to increase the book's selling appeal.

Dore was requested to provide decorative pictures for the MdB and he rose to the occasion as only he could; With an excellent feel for what would sell the book, he depicted `Guapos/Matamoros/Barateros' (Spanish tough guys) brandishing gigantic and fantastic navajas in sword like manner. This ability to dramatize pictorially is what made Dore the most sought after illustrator of his age.

Nevertheless, the weapon on pg71 looks more like a weird machete rather than a navaja; Had it been a real folder, it would have weighed well over 5Lbs!

Something that ought to be pointed out is that Dore must have had little familiarity with navajas because all those that he drew only vaguely resemble these famous Spanish knives. But then, this is a fault shared even by Spanish artists of that era, underscoring the seldom appreciated fact that the navaja was the weapon of the masses and alien to the gentry, to whose ranks most painters belonged. So we have to be very careful in taking artists works as accurate depictions.

2.1 For inspiration, Dore could have based his pictures on showpiece navajas. Nevertheless, it bears commenting upon that the picture on pg71 looks remarkably like the principal character of an oil canvas by the painter Antonio Medina shown on pg 190 of Forton's `La Navaja Antigua Espanola' - Hummm.....

3. As soon as I get my scanner going I will post some pics of these showpiece navajas.

Cheers
Chris

[Chris Evans]

Hi Frank,

This photo is from the book, `Introduccion Al Estudio De La Cuchilleria Artistica De Albacete' by Jose Sanchez Ferrer:

It is a showpiece navaja made by Cuchilleria Sarrion. It is 124cm closed and weighs 11,5Kg!

Cheers
Chris

[Chris Evans]

Hi Frank,

This photo is also from the book, `Introduccion Al Estudio De La Cuchilleria Artistica De Albacete' by Jose Sanchez Ferrer:


This is a show case of exhibition pieces of varying length, all made by the master cutlers Jose Exposito Fernadez and Jose Exposito Picaso. Whilst it is highly unlikely that any of these masterpieces would ever see use, the two monsters, with blades crossed, were most assuredly not meant to do other than adorn.

Cheers
Chris