Identify #7 with MM

Paul D.

New member
I need your help to identify the maker of this #7 skillet, if possible. It has an inset heat ring, a raised number 7 on the handle, and a maker's mark located on the inside wall of the skillet near the handle. The maker's mark could be an upside down anchor.

With the exception of the MM, I believe it has characteristics similar to SpurgeonH's "holy grail."

https://imgur.com/ldm70ty
https://imgur.com/i1ISILF
https://imgur.com/QoYk3kQ
https://imgur.com/tyPqFGd
https://imgur.com/VxmRewV
https://imgur.com/6QOmoP9
 
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I wouldn't go so far as "holy grail". Appears to have most of the characteristics of an SMS, or is perhaps a recast of one. Hard to say if the roughness is bad casting or an overall pitting from once-active rust. Doubtful, too, is that the formation on the inside wall is a maker's mark. The expectation would be that inside surfaces would be polish ground after casting, so it wouldn't make sense to place one there.
 
Doug,

Thank you for posting such a swift response.

SpurgeonH referred to a somewhat similar #7 skillet as the "holy grail" he has been seeking after he broke his grandmother's #7 skillet (which had an ampersand MM). See http://www.castironcollector.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4455 This skillet is neither my "holy grail," nor, I suppose, anyone else's, including SpurgeonH.

I agree with you that this skillet appears to have characteristics of a SMS or a recast of one. There appears to be rough casting on the bottom and on outside walls of the skillet. The cooking surface appears to be pitted from rust. This skillet appears to have had a difficult life from the start. It has been ridden hard and put away wet. It is by no means a show piece. I intend to use it to see how it performs.

The MM I have identified on the inside wall of this #7 is raised. It appears to me that it could be an anchor. I concede that it may not be a MM of an anchor. It could be what you have referred to in previous posts as an artifact of the casting process, but I do not believe it is one. It appears to me to be similar in appearance to the anchor MM found on ERIE second series #8 skillets. (I am I suggesting that this skillet was made by Griswold.)

A fair question to ask you and others is whether any of you are aware of a manufacturer that made a skillet with a MM on the inside wall. If no one is aware of any other skillet that has a MM on the inside wall, then it is very likely my skillet lacks a MM and that the raised metal may be an artifact or something else.
 
Consider that maker's marks (as opposed to molder's marks) are incised into a pattern by its creator. Pans cast from the pattern would also have the mark incised, not raised. While there are pieces whose patterns have raised markings (e.g. some waffle irons), we don't really see any examples of raised maker's marks.

A molder's mark, on the other hand, is raised because a tool was used to impress a character into the sand mold cavity's surface by the foundryman before the mold was reassembled and the iron poured. It is also at this time that unintentional marks (damage, actually) can be made in the sand mold surface, also resulting in raised areas on the final casting. I have a Lodge skillet whose molder apparently tried to save a damaged sand mold, ending up leaving his fingerprint on the casting.
 
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