Posted 7 years ago
Chas13
(1 item)
Very old butterfly knife I believe the handle is either bone or ivory and I think the blade has been cut down. The knife was given to me by my father in the early 1960s.
The blade is stamped on one side what looks like Bontgen & Sabin Patent 1500, and on the other side P. METZ Warranted.
The length of the handle is 80mm and the blade length is 40mm. The handle is 13mm wide.
Can anyone help me as to the age etc.
Thanks Kyratango & Fortapache it's a good knife I would just like to find its history
The butterfly knife was invented in France ca. 1800. German examples were exported to the U.S. ca. 1880. Boentgen & Sabin (Germany) were in business from 1867 to 1983. I can't find Metz but it may have been a retailer or a manufacturer that didn't specialize in knives but produced this one on contract. Alternately, in Germany especially, knife manufacturers often used dozens of different trademarks over time; not all are documented.
Originally the blade on yours would have been the greatest length that could be enclosed by the handles.