Latama Tang Stamps

[Bill DeShivs]

Everything about the Italian puzzle is unusual! The square buttons were made by Pasquale Patrizio. There is at least one square button that has had the blade replaced with a standard Latama kris blade. Perhaps this is the source of the confusion?
Bill

[Snapdagger]

Thanks again Bill. You're the best! That could be part of the mystery, especially if one of the squares pictured has a replacement blade. But the page with the flatguards has 3 different stamps showing on knifes that were all made within a 2 of 3 year period. So continues the mystery

[ragtime red]

Here's one for you Bill. Can Latamas be dated by the style of tang stamp? "Switchblades of Italy" touches on this but seems to contradict the information with the photos. The square buttons pictured have different stamps. The flatguards, being the oldest have different stamps as well. Do you feel that it is a matter of the individual "Cottage" industry shops making these knives having the different stamps? If so, that would open the door to a whole new discussion of "which shop did my Latama come from"? Thanks for letting me stir things up!!

Snapdagger

I'm not sure what can be determined by the stamps other than a few basic things. I'm not sure what you mean by the "contradicted by the photos" . The Latama catalogue that the Newsletter reproduced, and part of which is in the book is from 1946-47 or so. The knives are flatguards and have the script stamp. I have a few of what the very ealiest Latamas were, and it is very slightly different script yet. There are minor variations in the stamps as different tooling was made, but the four basics are shown in the photos. One of the things that you need to understand is that there are not necessarily any absolutes with this stuff. This does not mean that the script stamp wasn't used later, and possibly through the 50's there was a mix of stamps from the various shops. One thing I am certain of is that some of the earliest had Latama in script and Made in Italy underneath. Later ones just said Italy. A few dozen square button prototypes were made in 1950, and most, if not all, have a block stamp. As Bill DS said, it was a cottage industry, and there were several small shops that made the knives under the supervision of Pasquale Patrizio. Finding who these families were would be enough of a challenge, let alone who made what! Latama furnished the tooling and the knives would be so similar, you would not be able to tell for the most part. Nice area for exploration though.

[ragtime red]

Thanks again Bill. You're the best! That could be part of the mystery, especially if one of the squares pictured has a replacement blade. But the page with the flatguards has 3 different stamps showing on knifes that were all made within a 2 of 3 year period. So continues the mystery

PS I see some of the confusion. There is one 13" square button that was restored and shown in the Newsletter, was bought by a guy in Maryland that was a good restorer, and he rehandled it, and also replaced the blade from another 13" Latama, hence the script stamp. I believe Switchblade 9 owns it.

[Switchblade9]

Yep, that's mine all right. But...I also have a 9" that was owned by the son of the man who started Latama, and it too, has the script tang stamp. I know this one has not had anything done to it other than a button spring replacement and cleaning.

Michael B.

[Snapdagger]

Thanks for the valuable lessons gentlemen. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed that book Mr. Red! I've just about memorized it!! Any thought been given to a volume 2?

Snapdagger