Something like Pignon prounced peeenyyonn so I suppose French or Flemish Belgium.
The "foreign" connection is less complicated than that: this kind of hammer is supposedly called after its alleged inventor, a French metal-worker named Jacques Balpien. Wiki gives this derivation, alongside the stodgy-in-comparison everyday definition: a double-headed hammer with its smaller, rounded (hence "ball") head used for peening, i.e. bending, shaping, or flattening stuff. The "Jacques Balpien" thing strikes me as having a strong urban-legend-ish feel -- but as more fun than the straight, practical explanation.
Nobody came up with Monsieur Balpien; and
@GRALISTAIR, you got the "called after the inventor" element; so, the floor is yours.