Brno Autumn 2019

The Autumn Knife Exhibition in Brno, Czech Republic, was held on November 16, 2019. There were some 80 knife makers and as usual, the quality of the work was very high.
 
Text and pictures: Martin Helebrant

 

Early visitors passing by the tables just after opening of the show.

For me, one of the undisputable signs of the autumn is the knife exhibition in Brno. Always a pleasant affair, organized by one of the most respected Czech - oh sorry -  Moravian knife makers, Lubomír Maďarič. The venue is the traditional Via Crucis in the New Municipality House of Brno.
This year, the show featured more than 80 knife makers, indeed a very international band; more than 20 of them were foreigners. Apart from the anticipated strong Slovakian presence, there were Hungarians, Poles, and a Ukrainian master. Compared to the previous editions there were surprisingly few dealers in knife-making materials (steel, bone, horns, antlers, etc.); I noticed only two tables. The audience followed the Spring trend – there were around 900 visitors, but they were spread quite evenly throughout the day. There was neither a morning jam nor a lunch break silence. Maybe this was because of the weather, the cloudy and drizzling sky was hardly inviting for a walk outside.

 

of the exhibition.
 

There were 15 awards on the Autumn Knives Brno. These are most of the winners.

Jo nápot, kedves látogatók – Have a nice day, dear visitors. Most notable on the actual Brno exhibition was the strong Hungarian presence. Hungarians have always come, but this time they represented a good 10% of the exhibitors. Hungarian késkészítek – knife makers - have a distinct ‘watermark’ in their work. They combine a high level of craftsmanship with an excellent design, which sometimes may be rather minimalistic. A good example of the traditional Hungarian knives was the work of the young master Ferencz Kocsis, who exhibited traditional bicska  - folders. They are simple by design and materials, yet they had a great appeal. The same minimalistic approach was visible on knives of Attila Kertész: simple, but carefully tuned lines and excellently made. From a total of 15 awards (Brno is always rich in awards) the Hungarians gained three, significantly more than their percentage of the exhibitors.

 

Carbon Damask, the handle is Horn and Alpaca.
 

knife is 170 mm long and has a Shed oak handle.
 

sculpted handle.

 

332 mm.

One of the features of the Brno show was the presence of many highly decorative knives - some resembled more sculptures or works of art than a tool. Notable were the high-quality works of Arpád Bojtoš, closely followed by Albert Štefan and Richard Chromý (all from Slovakia), but also by Jaroslav Čech. But not everything needs to be so ornately. Look, for instance, at the sober beauty of the folding knives by Dušan Báča, with their Orientally-inspired engraving. Decent, simple and still perfect.

Damask, the handle is Mammoth tooth and Bö N690. The overall length is 389 mm.

Damask, and has a 140 mm blade.
 

‘Koi kapri’ (Koi Carps). Both have an 80 mm RWL 34 blade and Titanium and Mokume handles.
 

As far as working knives are concerned, I would like to mention the knives of Max Netrval with strongly accented damask blades, a replica of a medieval hunting dagger with an accompanying small knife and a pick made by Miroslav Pouzar, and last but not least the knives made by Václav Šmíd. On the heavy side, there were large machetes or heavy choppers made by the young blacksmith (and freshman on the exhibition) František Kundera. They are intentionally made in a slightly crude form but with a perfect function. [One of his knives was shown in European Blades Mag. 27, in our Ybbsitz show report, ed.]

 

Ostrich bone handle.
 

and a pick, all made from 14 101 spring steel. The dagger has a 285 mm blade and an Ebony and Brass handle.
 

The grip is Horn and Walnut. The overall length of the knife is 200 mm.
 

 

The table of a freshman on the exhibition, František Kundera and his heavy blades.

When speaking about freshmen on the exhibition, one cannot omit the straightforward farmer’s folders by Radek Hrdlička, which present a good example of a mature design coupled with nice craftsmanship. It is a pleasure to see freshmen of such quality.

 

Damask,  N690 and Carbon Damask, The handles are Olive wood, maple and Kirinite.
 

Regular readers will remember a nice Viking sword from the Příbram exhibition report; now Brno has presented its own. This has been made by Aleš Karban, a blacksmith known for his interest and capability of processing wootz steel. His sword is a rider’s one, the overall length exceeds one meter. The brass pommel is decorated by a simple silver inlay and the brass hilt is doubled with a spacer made from black buffalo horn. The sword is accompanied by a large knife in the same period style, albeit with different grip materials. Like the Ulík sword in Příbram, this Karban sword is perfectly balanced and fully functional – a wonderful warrior’s companion of a high degree, ready to sing it’s glorious but deadly song. It has been righteously awarded.

 

 

Finally, I would like to say few words about the work of Lubomír Maďarič, the organizer of the exhibition and a knife maker of high degree. He is known for his famous fighting knives, appreciated also by military and police special forces and teams in the Czech Republic but this is not the only type of cutlery he makes. His heart and hands also belong to excellent replicas of historical blades, usually from the baroque period or made in the baroque style, such as the hunting dagger with Damask blade and Walrus tooth handle that he presented this time.
But it was not alone. There were two beautiful sabers – one in the Hungarian (please keep in mind that Mr Maďarič has deep family roots from Hungary) aristocratic style with turquoise gems on the grip and sheath, the second with a lion head grip and silver sheath furniture. The blades are made from carbon damask decorated by golden inlays. Both sabers are perfectly balanced and functional and both are inspired by historical originals. Some 200 years ago, noblemen would pay a fortune for them (Mr Maďarič values the sabers at well over 10,000 Euro each) and the master would deserve every penny of it.
The production of the sabers was a cooperation of various master craftsmen. It is another of Mr. Maďarič’s skills: he is capable to find, inspire and coordinate efforts of his collaborating partners – masters of their trade – in creating something so complexly beautiful and yet absolutely functional.
As a closing word – there were 15 awards on the Autumn knives Brno 2019. I will name only some (and please keep in mind that the awards are granted to the knife maker for his skills in a particular field, not for one specific blade). Mr Maďarič was awarded twice, for the historic replicas and for the fighting knives; overall best of the exhibition award was granted to Mr. Štefan Albert; the award of the Lord mayor of Brno went to Mr. Arpád Bojtoš and the award for the best engraver went to Mr. Jaroslav Čech. The awards were presented to the awarded masters by Mr Maďarič as an organizer and Mr Pavel Loutocký, secretary to the Lord mayor of Brno.
 
I am cordially inviting you to the spring Brno exhibition 2020 which will be held on March 28th.

 

like the fittings of the scabbard. The overall length is 608 mm.
 

blades are made from Carbon Damask decorated with golden inlays.
 

 

has a Bog oak handle and measures 303 mm. The lower knife has a Grenadille handle and measures 242 mm.
 

 

 

Elmax blade, the lower has an 108 mm Balbach Damask blade. Both have Carbon Fiber handle scales.
 

lower knife has a 202 mm WG104 blade and handle made of Cactus.
 

is Olive wood and Brass.
 

stabilized Maple. The overall length of the knife is 227 mm.
 

blade and a Wenge handle. The folder has a 90 mm Damasteel blade and Carbon Fiber handle scales.

129 mm blade and an Alder and Reindeer handle.
 

wood and Mokume. The knife has a bit unusual combination of the Nepalese traditional shape and Japanese characters.