Agenais

The AGENAIS [a.ʒə.nɛ] is native to the South of France and the neighbouring Basque Country. Together with its cousins SAINT-AMANS and GERSOIS, they form a family of characteristic knives with the same handle shape and either Yatagan or sage leaf blades.
The AGENAIS takes its name from the former capital of the Aquitaine, Agen on the Garonne, from where it spread over many generations throughout the Aquitaine, the whole of Southern France and the Basque country as far as Spain. The cutlers produced many individual versions in their ateliers, some of which only had local importance, while others spread beyond the region. You can find out more in the book ‘Knives from France’ by Christian Lemasson.
All knives in this family share the same handle shape, which is called ‘jambette’. The AGENAIS is characterised by its Yatagan blade. The crusaders brought it with them when they returned from the Orient. As they landed in the South of France and this new blade shape immediately became very popular, it spread from the south across France.

The SAINT-AMANS is an even older type of knife. It has a blade in the shape of a sage leaf, which is older than the Yatagan blade. It is said that the Romans had already forged knives with such blades. As we know the Saint-Amans today, it was forged in Bergerac, which is only 1 - 2 days' journey on horseback from Agen.
We discovered the GERSOIS while translating the book by Ch. Lemasson into German. A forgotten beauty that we have started producing in summer 2024 in small quantities for connoisseurs of French knives.

Over time, the domed rivets on the handles developed into characteristic rosettes. A special reason for this was the tobacco cultivation in the region ‘entre les deux mers’ (the region in the north of the Pyrenees between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean). This was because when the leaves were cut off during the harvest, the escaping juice made the handles slippery. The profile of the rosettes gave the knives more grip and ensured that they lay safer in the hand. Over time, the initial ergonomic intention developed into a decorative element, which can also be found on other knives from the Basque country (see BASQUE-YATAGAN).
In addition to the Yatagan blade, the crusaders also brought with them plum trees, which were still unknown in Europe at the time and from which the ‘Prunes d'Agen’ (plums from AGEN) developed into a speciality that is very popular in France and which we even find in Asterix and Obelix in the ‘Tour de France’. This historical speciality inspired us to also produce the knives from the Aquitaine region with plum wood handles.

AGENAIS with Yatagan blades, SAINT-AMANS with sage leaf blades and BASQUE-YATAGAN have been carefully handcrafted in our workshop in Thiers since 2019. The GERSOIS was added in summer 2024. As a sign of their authenticity, all knives bear the PassionFrance® logo, the Coq, on their blades.
From time to time, we produce custom models, for example with handles made from rare pieces of wood, with mammoth handles or with Damascus bolsters.

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