Water Kettle IA Sheppard & Co.

[Jo B.]

I am trying to determine the date of this kettle. The markings on top are IA Sheppard & Co Phila. On the bottom is 4QT - it's hard to see in the picture. It weighs about 7.3 pounds. If my online research is correct, the Philadelphia plant was in operation from 1860 to 1914 and water kettles were produced from 1880-1940.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Doug D.]

There seems to be no shortage online of I.A. Sheppard history, but I doubt nailing down a date or even year of production is possible. Patterns were expensive to create, and companies would use working patterns from the same master pattern for sometimes decades without alteration or replacement. If changes are observed, they may only tell us which of two pieces is older, but not necessarily when the change occurred.

A well-researched article on Sheppard history:

Isaac A. Sheppard & Co. -- Philadelphia Stovemakers, 6

Advertisement in Freedley, Philadelphia and Its Manufactures (1867 ed.), p. 460. [For full citations, see at end. The links al...

stovehistory.blogspot.com