Info Needed: Griswold Dutch Oven

K

KevinK

New member
Hello....intermittent lurker, first time posting. I was wondering if anyone can give me some info on this Griswold dutch oven. I received it from a friend but he knew very little about it and some searching I did on Google turned up pretty sparse. While the logo would put it in the 1920s-1940s, the patent marking of "Mar. 16. 20" seems suspect to me unless the "20" indicates 1920? And why put "20" when the lid has "1920"? Plus everything is pretty crisp so it must not have been used at all, which would be surprising for the age. Does anyone have any insight on whether this is legit or if it is a reproduction? I also imagine that the lid was an "add on" later and didn't originally come with the dutch oven, correct? There also seems to be a hefty mold line slightly above the bottom in the 3rd picture as well...or someone tried to weld it. I plan on striping to get a look at the base metal to ensure no cracks, etc. and then reseason before use. Thanks in advance for any info!

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"20" indicates 1920, just a matter of artistic discretion in the carving of the master. The grinding around the perimeter is where the gate was on these, not a weld, not a fake. There doesn't appear to be enough build-up on it to mask cracks, and as much as I advise stripping and re-seasoning any pan you don't know the history of, I'd be tempted to leave this one as-is. I doubt it would be unused, it just appears to have been previously stripped and competently re-seasoned. Also, all dutch ovens come with lids. The 2551 pattern number is correct for this 833 pot.
 
Doug D. said:
"20" indicates 1920, just a matter of artistic discretion in the carving of the master. The grinding around the perimeter is where the gate was on these, not a weld, not a fake. There doesn't appear to be enough build-up on it to mask cracks, and as much as I advise stripping and re-seasoning any pan you don't know the history of, I'd be tempted to leave this one as-is. I doubt it would be unused, it just appears to have been previously stripped and competently re-seasoned. Also, all dutch ovens come with lids. The 2551 pattern number is correct for this 833 pot.
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Awesome, thanks for the quick reply and info Doug. If you think it's worth leaving as is, I'll just give it a quick clean, oil, and put in rotation to be used. It appears I got a great gift, might have to buy my buddy a beer or two lol.
 
Gorgeous #8. The design of cast iron from this era is one of my favorites.

Looks like plenty of meals have been prepared in this dutch oven over time. Just enough light utensil marks on the cooking surface to let one know it has had a useful life. Glad to hear you are putting it back to use.
 
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