Leveque Jean-Baptiste

The Creator of costume daggers Jean-Baptiste Leveque from Brittany

A great example of the French school of knife-making. Jean-Baptiste Leveque creates typical French EDC knives, and in addition, replicas of the historical weapons of the Franks and folding knives of the early twentieth century.

The descendants of the Celts, the Bretons, have long been famous as brave warriors and skilled artisans. Jean Baptiste grew up in the small town of Coetmieu, which is located in the north of Brittany, off the coast of the English Channel. Jean-Baptiste spent his childhood in the workshops of his grandfathers. They were skilled with both wood and iron, and very early taught their grandson all kinds of work that a carpenter and locksmith should know.

The first Leveque knife was also born with the active participation of grandfathers. However, Jean-Baptiste received a push toward knifemaking not from men, but from a woman. Aunt Leveka knew that the boy loved to work with his hands and was interested in various weapons. Therefore, Madame gave her nephew a beautiful thick book full of diagrams, pictures, and descriptions for his 15th birthday. This book explains basic knife-making techniques.

After leaving school, Leveque found a job that combined his passion for antiquity with a love of manual labor — he got a job as a carpenter in a restoration workshop. In parallel with the main work, Jean-Baptiste continued his hobby. A lot of antique items that caught the eye of the master inspired him to create cutlery and pocket knives. Baptiste focused his attention on the models of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Parisian dandies' thin knives, a weighty ancestor of the Swiss knife with nine blades, and an elegant English penknife.

The greatest influence on Leveque's work was the art of the early 20th century, and more specifically, Art Nouveau paper knives. Art Nouveau, with its smooth lines, mosaics, and floral motifs, inspired the master to create a custom mini-series. These knives were created for the Maria Stalina Knives (with a dagger blade, a flipper imitating a double-sided guard and a steel handle). The models differ in the decoration of the handle: a greater number of knives are decorated with various types of carbon fiber, and there are also timascus and mokume inlays. Jean-Baptiste likes to experiment with new materials and promises to expand the line.

Also, the knifemaker plans to modernize the mechanics of the dagger. He studies the knife locks' design of the 18th century to create new mechanisms based on them. The deployment will be carried out automatically, and a secret lock will be placed at the bottom of the handle.

The knifemaker is conservative in the choice of steel for the blade. For the historical replicas, Leveque carefully selects or adapts the material of the declared era, for in modern models the master has one favorite D2. The master admits that D2 is inferior to classic stainless alloys in anti-corrosion properties, but it is distinguished by increased elasticity and delightfully holds the cutting edge.

For the rest of the details, Jean-Baptiste uses a much larger range of steel. For example, depending on the design features of the lock, the springs are made from the French Z40, Z20, or spring XC75.

The dagger collection of Jean-Baptiste Leveque is notable for its non-standard lines and craftsmanship. An avid collector simply cannot pass by the works of knife art, in which the sophistication of the last century is intertwined with modern technologies.

Take the opportunity to order French folding knives on the Maria Stalina Knives website.