The Making Of A Main Gauche Parrying Dagger

Many of the finest knives, daggers, and swords I have made have been on-commission. A client comes to me with an idea, and I work with them to design a piece that meets their needs and matches their vision, while staying true to my own style and artistic sensibilities. In 2025, I received a commission for a Main Gauche Parrying dagger from a client who wanted an exquisite custom piece with a number of symbolic elements to add to its personal significance.
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This Main gauche parrying dagger, such as one that might be carried by the three musketeers, required elements were as follows:
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• Feather Damascus (pattern-welded) blade
• Seashell on the guard
• Koftgari gold work with ivy and flowers
• Fluted ash-burl handle with silver wire inlay
• Bumblebee (in reference to Napoleon Bonaparte) incorporated somewhere on the piece.

To share a bit of historical background, a main gauche parrying dagger is a specific type of weapon from the European Renaissance. It was typically used in the left hand (“main gauche” is French for “left hand”) as an auxiliary weapon during rapier duels, to parry the opponent’s sword and allow for a counter attack. Whenever I make a blade in a historical style or incorporating historical inspiration, I like to start the design process by looking at original weapons from the period. I consulted the online collections of the Wallace Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago for images of this type of dagger that I could use to inform the scale, proportion, and construction of the dagger. I then sketched out the piece into a full-scale drawing and constructed a wooden model before embarking on the piece itself.

I documented the whole process of making this parrying dagger on my YouTube channel, and you can watch it here:

​The process of making this dagger was incredibly involved—it is one of the most complex pieces I have made to-date. The biggest challenge was the shell-shaped hand guard, which I raised and chased out of a piece of sheet steel. I then welded it to what I call “the basket” of curving members that support it. All told, the guard with the shell incorporated 7 different steel pieces, all carefully welded together, and each of the welds was subsequently filed to hide the seams and refine the shape of the guard.

Making the dagger involved over 170 working hours, and the gold koftgari designs required over 25 feet of 24K wire.

As I write this, I just finished a matching scabbard for this dagger, which will be featured in an upcoming YouTube video as well. In the meantime, here is a closer look at the finished piece.​

If you would like to commission a culinary knife to your specifications, you can start the process by filling out my contact form and sending me a description of what you are looking for.
If you are looking for a limited edition culinary knife that has been hand forged and is ready to order, feel free to check out my shop.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jordan LaMothe is a Master Bladesmith, a Fulbright scholar, a member of the Art Knife Invitational Show, and a teacher of knife-making. His work has won numerous awards, has been published in magazines internationally, and has made him a Forged in Fire Champion. At the end of the day, he makes collector's pieces, family heirlooms, and fine tools including culinary and outdoor knives for the kitchen and field