AstralWorks X BernalCutlery
A knife inspired by France's knife making history and our beloved family cake knife.
We just released the first knife in a series inspired by visits to historical knife-making centers this past year. This one is a chef knife inspired by Thiers, France, and I think it is the perfect introduction to this ongoing project.
In the summer of ‘23, various crew members and Eli Sederis returned to Thiers after being unable to return for many years. This trip was with Eli and a few members of our crew to meet new and old contacts in and around Thiers, learn more about the current production going on, and hopefully learn more about technique history, eat some Saint Nectaire cheese, and possibly, you know, find some old knives. All these goals were very much accomplished. It was great to see old friends in Thiers and also to connect faces with names that have existed solely in emails for years, and to spend some time getting the Thiers backstory, which is everywhere in Thiers. Some surprisingly lucky finds would have made the trip worth it on their own. Still, most importantly, I got an opportunity to connect more dots in the Thiers story and better understand the development of four essential types of French knives: plate semelle, cuisine massive, Canadian, and Ideal.
The plate semelle or flat sole blade is a very old work knife design consisting of a forged blade tapering in thickness along the tang and blade from the beginning of the blade at the handle. Often the tang would be iron forge welded to the steel blade to both economize on steel and to make drilling the holes for the rivets easier. Plate semelle knives would be handled in wood, horn or in this knife's case cow bone.
While Thiers has undoubtedly had very skilled cutlers for hundreds of years, and extremely fine-made knives are still produced here, the plate semelle knife holds a spirit of practicality and simplicity. It draws a connection to the pre-industrial roots of Thiers. Made as sturdy work knives, the simple design of the plate semelle is at the core of Thiers’ history as the center of practical knife making, which is arguably the reason Thiers was prepared to become the center of knife making in France after the revolution and why it is the main cutlery manufacturing center of France today.
Kelly has an old plate semelle chef knife given to her by Philippe Bournilhas of K Sabatier on our first trip to Thiers in 2016. It is an antique new old stock plate semelle 7” chef knife from the late 19th century with the old K Sabatier marking of ‘65 Perrier’ with an off-white cow bone handle riveted with iron and brass rosette rivets. It's not every day that an old stock knife from the 19th century comes our way, but the temptation to use it was too great. At the risk of sharpening it down too quickly with daily use, it now only comes out to help mark time for the cutting of birthday cakes. It has taken on immense sentimental value in our house as it now holds our family’s history along with its own.
Starting our series of one-off knives inspired by our travels with this one seems perfect. It holds in itself all the design iterations that follow historically. With a different emphasis on forging and grinding, the plat semelle transforms into all subsequent designs that are in themselves important markers of history and time. The plain bone handle on this one, to me, invites the contributions its new owner will make and holds space for the marking of time that awaits it. You can even look at this knife collaboration on our website here; and then you can also watch us talk a little bit more in-depth on this series on YouTube. We are dying to see what Eli makes for Sheffield, Germany, and Japan, and you should, too!