Ever Heard of "BELLE CLAIRE WARE" Cast Iron Skillet?

Paul B.

New member
I found a nice little stack of cast iron at an estate yesterday. I found this one interesting, as I never heard of this maker...
It is a 6" frying pan (actually 5-3/4" across the heat ring), in need of a proper cleaning & seasoning (which my wife does very well).
I diligently searched and searched eBay, Google and others, looking at images and descriptions, and can find absolutely nothing of cast iron from any company named "Belle Claire Ware", "BelleClaire Ware", "BelleClaireWare", or any such like. Nor can I find a "Bellevile" (sic) ILL, though there is a "Belleville" in St. Clair County, IL.
Has anyone ever seen or heard of such a company?
The lady of the house lived to be 100 years old, 75 years in that same house. No telling how old this skillet is, but certainly not new!
Might something "obscure" like this be of any special interest to cast iron collectors?
cast_iron-skillet-belle_claire_ware-6_inch-mks-jpg.228820

Image
Thanx in advance for any and all help/comments!
 
Here's a link regarding the history of Belleville. Haven't tried searching any cast iron related to that name but I did see that gray iron was an export from there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belleville,_Illinois

---------- Post added at 01:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:00 PM ----------

After further research I found your post on antique collectables that shows the full view of the bottom and top. I think it is a re-cast of a Wagner Ware skillet, maybe around the 1920's of which the maker added the literature now shown on the bottom. Just a guess so no hard feelings.
 
Top diameter on the average #3 is ~ 6-1/2".

Paul's post says it's 5 3/4" across the heat ring so I assume he was talking about the bottom. I've got a #4 WW somewhere but can't lay my hands on it at the moment so I have nothing to compare with.
 
Welocome to The Forums.....I personally have never heard of it before either. Somethings are best left unknow......but Id want to know about it too if I owned it.
 
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