Help Identifying a cat's head tang stamp

[Frenchi94]

Hello everyone, I hope you are well, thank you in advance to anyone who can help me
I recently bought a swithblade leverlock, I haven't received it yet I can't post more photos at the moment.
Can you tell me if any of you know the maker of this tang stamp with a cat's head shape like in the photos below?
It is also marked rostfrei but I have also seen only one other marked stainless steel.
Thanks everyone!

[Bill DeShivs]

Need pictures of the knife. Most markings are not the manufacturer.

[Killgar]

I post these pics in the hopes that it helps with the identification (same stamp as the OP's knife).

I came across this knife a few years ago while looking for "cat" tang stamps for someone, but I've never been able to identify it.

The person selling the knife described it as Italian-made for the French market in the 1970's.

[Bill DeShivs]

I don't know who used the cat stamp, but the knife was made by G.O. Massaro in Maniago, Italy.

[Killgar]

I don't know who used the cat stamp, but the knife was made by G.O. Massaro in Maniago, Italy.

Thanks Bill. At least that confirms the origin of that knife. And it means the guy selling it had the origin correct. So maybe he was also right about the stamp being French.

After extensive searching I've only ever seen two examples of that cat stamp, the knife I pictured, and Frenchie's. That leads me to believe it's rare. At least rare on the internet.

[Bill DeShivs]

The stamp is cute!

[gravknife]

Frenchie94
Never seen this stamp before either but it sure is a cool one .

Must be a retailers stamp added to that Massaro ,I have a kissing crane marked Massaro and there were other german stamps on them that I have seen .
I know you probably already have ,but check for any French /Italian even German retailers or any knifeshops that used a cat as their inventory logo .

Its just like the Tarry levignes lizard import stamp added to italian made knives and the Gustav Branners stamps I have even had on a weltersbach made german leverlock.

Keep us informed on it ,i'm going to have a look later ,I like a mystery stamp .

Ian

[Frenchi94]

I don't know who used the cat stamp, but the knife was made by G.O. Massaro in Maniago, Italy.

Hello Bill
For the moment I only have these two photos here because the person deleted the ad I didn't have time to take screenshots but the handle is exactly like the one Killgar showed, but the blade has a clip point/bowie shape.
Thank you for your information about the manufacturer G.O Masarro (GOM?).
You are truly a living encyclopedia, very impressive
Mine has the ROSTFREI stamp and not INOX so intended for the German market so I don't know if the cat stamp is really French.
It's really intriguing.
Yes, this little cat is cute
Thank again,
Kind regards.

[Frenchi94]

I post these pics in the hopes that it helps with the identification (same stamp as the OP's knife).

I came across this knife a few years ago while looking for "cat" tang stamps for someone, but I've never been able to identify it.

The person selling the knife described it as Italian-made for the French market in the 1970's.

Hi Killgar
Thank you for sharing these photos and your knowledge!
I also saw this knife that was for sale on AAPK, mine has exactly the same handle but the blade is clip point/bowie shape.
On the fact that the cat stamp is for the French market I don't really know, because mine also has a ROSTFREI stamp (new photo just above) in addition to the cat which would mean that it was probably intended for the German market
You're right, I've only seen two knives on the entire internet with a cat stamp, mine and the one from AAPK that you shared, it's really astonishing.
Thanks again !
Kind regards

[Frenchi94]

Frenchie94
Never seen this stamp before either but it sure is a cool one .

Must be a retailers stamp added to that Massaro ,I have a kissing crane marked Massaro and there were other german stamps on them that I have seen .
I know you probably already have ,but check for any French /Italian even German retailers or any knifeshops that used a cat as their inventory logo .

Its just like the Tarry levignes lizard import stamp added to italian made knives and the Gustav Branners stamps I have even had on a weltersbach made german leverlock.

Keep us informed on it ,i'm going to have a look later ,I like a mystery stamp .

Ian

Hi gravknife
thank you once again !
I understand the idea of ​​it being a resellers stamp, like the lizard or the kissing crane , etc.
However, for the moment we have only found one other knife (the one Killgar kindly shared above) than mine with the cat stamp but this one also has the INOX inscription, mine has the ROSTFREI inscription.
In this case Is it a French reseller who also sold in Germany or a German seller who sold in France?
Or was the cat stamp stamped in Italy for the French and German market?
Very hard to know...
Unfortunately I have no database to know if any French/Italian even German retailers or any knifeshops that used a cat as their inventory logo.. apart from here on this wonderful forum that is TalkBlade.
Obviously if I manage to find precisely the origin of this stamp by myself I will keep you all informed

Kind regards.

[gravknife]

The only german "katze" mark I could find was on the "otter " Mercator knives ,but its a running cat ,still looking Frenchie .

[Frenchi94]

Exactly, it's true that the mercator has a cat or a feline but actually I don't think there is a link between these two knives
I don't understand why it says ROSTFREI on mine if the cat's head stamp was intended only for the French market

[john]

I don't understand why it says ROSTFREI on mine if the cat's head stamp was intended only for the French market

Perhaps it was a marketing ploy to give the impression the knife was from Germany ????

[Frenchi94]

I couldn't say I still haven't found any information about this cat stamp..
However, I don't think this was a ploy because the French preferred French switchblades at the time

[Frenchi94]

It's late but here are some photos of the knife in question, the cat stamp, the reel stag handle is magnificent in my opinion
It's the only one with this type of handle combined with a clip point/Bowie blade that I've seen all over the internet (Facebook, forum, AAPK etc).If you have additional information I am always interested