Please Help Identify This Cast Iron Pot

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Kirk Yates

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Links to two pictures below. From what I have read I believe it has a gate mark on the bottom which indicates it was made before 1880 or 1890 depending on who I have read. It has a rim around the bottom. On the right of the picture there is 1 indent that looks to clean to be damage. It looks to have capital B and S on the bottom with the top of each filled in. On the top on the handle it has the number 12. I have been cleaning it up to get rid of the rust. It belonged to my wifes grandmother. Any information would just add to the history of it. I appreciate any information. Thanks.

https://imgur.com/HIl7Q8g

https://imgur.com/N62gVzT
 
Bottom gated pieces, if original, usually date to the early to mid-19th century. Large format pieces continued to be made with the technique long after. Your piece seems as if it might possibly be a recast, made using an actual pan as a pattern and bottom gating merely because it is a simpler technology. I say this because the bail attachments on the pot seem later than mid-1800s. The sloppiness of the molder's mark letters could be because they were already on the pan used as a pattern, and sand meant to stay on the mold surface stuck in their openings when the pattern pan was removed. The void in the heat ring could just be an air bubble trapped in the mold, an anomaly side-gated patterns with risers later helped overcome. I am also suspicious of pieces which exhibit concentric circle brush marks on the bottom such as those here, and which tend to indicate a last-minute modification (read: wiping off markings left by the pattern pan) to the mold before the iron was poured. Recasters weren't/aren't usually ambitious enough to copy pans with characteristics that require additional effort (such as a pot that requires a bail handle), but it's possible this could be from a small foundry willing to put forth the extra effort. In any event, there's really no way to ID a maker.
 
I don't believe it's a recast because I've seen several of these pots in different sizes and they all have had gate marks. Picked up this really nice #10 with lid a couple years ago. I couldn't believe how clean it was when found, it had definitely been well taken care of over the years. If it wasn't for the light rust on the lid I probably wouldn't have stripped it since it will never be used by me.

http://imgur.com/a/a4oHYUw

Had a chance to buy a #12 like yours with a lid at another sale but some lady wanted it more than I did and outbid me. Those are the only two pots of this style I've ever seen with the lid.
 
Consider, though, that the gatemark on the one in the OP is not exactly distinct, and that the blob in its middle is sprue-like. Originals may have been bottom gated, but I still think this one might be a recast.
 
I want to thank both of you.

Jeff the where the bail handle attaches and the handle that says 12 on mine look the same as yours on the back side. I am just thrilled to see one that looks like what I have. I don't really care what the value is as I will never sell it. I say that and I am curious what you paid for the 10 and how much the 12 was if it was too much? In your opinion how old would you say yours is?

David I have not looked at cast iron for very long. I am not quite catching onto the circular brush marks. I did use a drill with a circular wire brush. The sprue-like you mention is the narrow oval blob of cast iron in the middle of the pot I assume? I can definitely understand that idea that sand got in the makers marks with the idea it is a recast of an original pan.

In any case thank you both. Very interesting. I like old antique things.
 
Kirk Yates said:
... I am curious what you paid for the 10 and how much the 12 was if it was too much? In your opinion how old would you say yours is?
Click to expand...

I paid $30 at a local auction for the #10 and bowed out at $55 on the #12 which sold for $60. The lady who bought it is a collector and a big seller on Ebay so she is tough competition on some of the better pieces of iron when she shows up at auctions in my area. I still managed to buy this nice #5 arc logo Lodge skillet (already had the lid) for $12.50 and about a dozen common user pieces for local resale.

http://imgur.com/zuHlJV4

I'm unsure of the exact age and someone might have a better idea than me but I believe most gate marked pieces with heat rings date to the late 1800's to early 1900's.
 
Jeff i don't want to steal this thread but I have a lid that appears identical to this #5, and was wondering if it is era appropriate for your pan, my #5 one notch or a later period? Thanks
 
I'm not an expert on the Lodge markings timeline but I assume the skillet is older than the lid since the lid doesn't have a raised molders mark on the underside. I'm guessing it dates to the early 3 notch period since most single notch skillets also have a raised molders mark.
 
Jeff S. said:
I don't believe it's a recast because I've seen several of these pots in different sizes and they all have had gate marks. Picked up this really nice #10 with lid a couple years ago. I couldn't believe how clean it was when found, it had definitely been well taken care of over the years. If it wasn't for the light rust on the lid I probably wouldn't have stripped it since it will never be used by me.

http://imgur.com/a/a4oHYUw

Had a chance to buy a #12 like yours with a lid at another sale but some lady wanted it more than I did and outbid me. Those are the only two pots of this style I've ever seen with the lid.
Click to expand...

If that is a matching set, I find it odd that the lid has the older style "meet in the middle" handle, but no gatemark.
 
BryanB said:
If that is a matching set, I find it odd that the lid has the older style "meet in the middle" handle, but no gatemark.
Click to expand...

There are numerous examples of lids with the meet in the middle style handles and no gate mark. Considering my #10, the #12 and a #8 someone recently posted on a Facebook site all have the same style lid leads me to believe they are indeed a matched set.
 
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