SICAC 2008 pictorial (heavy with pics)

[Joss]

Jacques Mongin is a French craftsman who's been making folders of a recognizable design for decades. He had many pieces on his table including those below:

Among the Americans present were Elishewitz:

 

[Joss]

...and Matt Diskin who had both high art customs...

...and very low price items:

 

[Joss]

One trend that was well represented was carved knives. One of those artist is a young French guy named Laurent Gerdil:

He doesn't forge or grind blades, but he puts together existing blades and carves the handles in the most amazing ways:

 

[Joss]

Another carving genius was Alexandr Pospisil, from the Czech Republic:

He does a lot of work similar to that of Charles Roulin.

And a WIP shot:

 

[Joss]

Another one was Josef Ruznak, also from the Czech Republic. I had seen 1 or 2 pieces of his on Ars Cultry. They are easily recognizable. Beautiful work, but he doesn't exactly give them away.

However, one of the most talented carver I know of is Charles Roulin. His specialty is animal scenes and the most amazing examples of those are folders were the blade, when shut, adds to the scene. In the two examples below, you cann see how when closed, the blade would add trees to the scene:

This is a WIP shot of a fixed blade:

And this is a completed one:

He's been recently branching out:

And click here to see more, unless you find sexually explicit images not to your liking:
http://jdelage.smugmug.com/photos/385011140_KAmDF-L.jpg

 

[Joss]

To me, some of the most interesting pieces of the show were knives that are either replica of, or at least inspired by, French folding knives of the 17th, 18th, and 19th century. Those were gorgeous gent's knives, and they were of the whole show the knives I found myself most drawn to.

The first table I visited in this category was that of the Graveline shop. They are I believe a husband & wife team. Their site is here:
http://graveline-couteliers.com/

Here are a few of their knives:

 

[Joss]

Another example was Jean-Pierre Martin:

And in gold...

Those were sold with their gorgeous little pocket sheath / box:

Jean-Pierre Martin can also make more modern looking pieces, either (deceptively) simple...

...or ornate:

 

[Joss]

Finally, the maker I was most eager to meet was Jean-Pierre Sucheras, whose work has been featured on some premium US retailer's site recently.

His work is simply magnificent, and he sold out very quickly. You'll note that his clever use of facetted handles really sets his work apart.

Other side of the piece above:

 

[Joss]

One other maker who seemed quite versatile was a Dutch guy named van Ryswyk, whose mark is AvR. Two pieces which caught my eye were this integral:

and this shaving set:

Gaetan Beauchamp is a Canadian who is well established in the niche of scrimshaw'ed knives:

He also does scrimshaw without a knife...

...and knives without a scrim:

 

[Patrick M.]

Daniel Vally is a well established French maker who does a lot of powerful hunters in multibar damascus. What first caught my eyes were those 2 engraved pieces - I don't recall if they were of integral construction:

Yes they are. A bit angular when in your hand, but quality is impressive.

 

[jdm61]

Even more cool pics!!!!! EXCELLENT!! I noticed last year at SICAC that there were a goodly number of "carvers" in attendance and their work was amazing.

 

[jdm61]

Here's my little contribution. I posted as a stand alone on the CKCA forum, but it belongs with Flavius' review.

For the first time in 12+ years I attended the SICAC this year, and I thought I'd share a quick review with folks here.

Overall, my take is that the prices were fairly high. There were quite a few museum-level pieces, but most were folders. There were very few top quality fixed blades. There are a lot of "pseudo-authentic" folders meant to evocate such or such regional root of France, but generally I found those fairly formulaic and not that interesting. There was a couple (very) high quality displays of carving, and lots of nice damascus. Very few US-style bowies were on display. There was a significant showing of the "pseudo-rustic tactical", of which Fred Perrin was the most well known to me. He had a table covered with his work.

I didn't have any cash, and I wasn't really looking for anything. With this said I saw a couple things that I would have considered buying, even though they were very pricy.

In a medium-sized show such as this you really come to appreciate the variety that purveyors bring. There were a few of them at the SICAC, and it was fun to see a slightly broader sample. Also helping in the diversity were a few makers from the US and elsewhere.

Following this are some pics and random comments...

Joss, from what I have seen from pics and been told, you are likely to find a higher percentage of fixed blades at Gembloux or Solingen. The pics of the last two Gembloux shows sure make it look like that there are a goodly number of metal pounding members in the BKS.

 

[Jos]

Doesn't anybody have any pics of Kaj Embretsen knives? He was there wasn't he?

Thanks in advance,

Kind regards,

Jos

 

[Joss]

Not that I recall.

 

[Marcel54]

I've seen and spoken to a lot of Swedes but Kaj wasn't one of them. As far as I know he wasn't there. He makes knives you can hardly overlook:thumbup:

Marcel

 

[Jos]

Thanks guys. Somehow I thought he was going to be there.

Kind regards,

Jos

 

[Lycosa]

Thanks! Incredible!

 

[RAN]

Thank You Flavius

Do You have Raphael Durands info I Love that carbon fiber slipjoint