Makes little sense that a heavy oval roasting pan designed primarily for oven cooking would be designated according to an atypical usage. Wood-burning range-top real estate was precious enough that eccentric kettles were devised to maximize the number of pieces that would fit simultaneously. A big roaster inefficiently overhanging a stove eye rather than being tucked in an oven seems foolish. Also difficult to fathom would be why, if it is indeed of European manufacture, would a maker buck convention, which for oval pieces marked in cm means the top opening long dimension not including handles.
