Favorite markings question ?

Henner

New member
Hi, I just got this Favorite Piqua ware #9. I would like to know what the G inside the diamond on the handle means ? I hope my pictures come through. I am new at this.
 

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Certainly an unusual piece. I don't think I've seen a regular skillet with any version Favorite trademark with an inset heat ring, other than a smiley logo #14. Size numbers on the bottom inside a diamond are thought to be Favorite or Chicago Hardware Foundry, but I've not seen a raised top-of-handle marking like this. The indistinct lettering on the bottom makes me think someone may have used a Favorite skillet for a pattern and modified it in ways atypical of Favorite. This isn't a shallow skillet by chance?
 
Hi Doug, Thank you for your response. The pan is 2 1/4 inches from the inside bottom to the top. Please excuse me if I am not using the right terminology. I am just beginning collecting & using. The IQA & AR are very faint in Piqua Ware.
Thanks again Jim
 
I'd classify that as a regular skillet. It has what appears to be a distinctive reinforced lip, a distinctive handle reinforcement pad, and markings all consistent with an early Favorite. The heat ring is the oddball part. What is the cooking surface like? Polished?
 
I did the electrolysis cleaning on it. This was my first ever cleaning & seasoning attempt.
Didn't turn out well at all. I think it might be the fat I used. Or my lack of know how. My wife wont let me use her oven so I have to use the BBQ. I don't see any cracks but it does wobble a little.
 

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The casting artifacts I see on the rim tend to reinforce my initial assumption. Usually "re-casts" are seen with bottom gate marks, since the more advanced side gating is more difficult using just a pan as a pattern. Appears whoever made this one had some skills.
 
Sorry for bringing up old posts, but this one is interesting.

Chown and cunningham 9, original James Smart "Diamond G" from 1886 - and Piqua all on the same skillet. Now one really has to wonder if there's a tie between companies.
 
I had all but forgotten about this thread. Not sure at what point I became aware of the Favorite C&C Ware pans that the one above most obviously resembles. Does make for new questions.

favorite_C&C.jpg
 
This is a closeup of the diamond on that pan. C or G? Other?

It's not the Smart G, that's for certain.
 

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I have a question since no one asked yet, on the 3rd picture that Henner posted I noticed that the sidewalls were very inconsistent in thickness. I've never seen this in the older pieces so is this normal or a sign of recasting as Doug suggested?
 
And even more questions...

James Smart bought out the cast iron side of Chown and Cunningham in 1893, and maintained the rights to all the patterns and trademarks upon sale. Smart sold the favorite line of stoves til they sold it to Findlay in the late 1800's.


So another question...? Why was Chown and Cunningham in possession of a Favorite Piqua pattern prior to it's purchase in 1893?
 
There was a lid on e-Bay today that had SMARTS on it. Out of curiosity I did a search and came across a link that showed the diamond with a raised G inside it. I see that several members have already touched on some of the things that are in the link but I will include it with this post for general purposes.
http://toponautic.blogspot.com/2014/02/james-smart-manufacturing-cast-iron.html


Lots of incorrect info on that one, here's mine and there's more to add to it - there are 5 current dating points.
http://castironcanada.com/index.php/en/cast-age/dating
 
In another case of looking but not really "seeing", the C&C (Chown and Cunningham) with the diamond 3 above the number 9... Chown trademarked "Favorite" in 1885 - sold to James Smart in 1893 - and there's your dating points for these skillets - 8 years.


favorite_C&C.jpg
 
Guess the proverbial cat has the tongue of the "general consensus".

---------- Post added at 09:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:57 PM ----------

Better look at a different picture. That is a number 3 in diamond...

CCdiamond3.jpg
 
The only other one of these that appears to have turned up is a #8. Same inset heat ring, same diamond G. But no Piqua and no C&C. The bottom of the 8 at 6 o'clock is partially covered by the heat ring, suggesting the heat ring was added to an existing pattern or pan being use as a pattern.

I don't think that's a 3 in the diamond above, just a not so well-defined stylized G like the others.
 

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Zoomed in from the picture on your site... Hard to zoom in I know but... This isn't a diamond 3? Definitely not a diamond G.

diamond3.png


Skillet I posted earlier. I thought this was a diamond G or a variation of it - but look closer. Take the dirt away and compare with the picture above.

diamond3other.png



This one is a clearer picture from the 8 you posted, definitely not a diamond G or any variation of it. Have to go scraping through pictures - but the cleanest one I've seen looks like a C that has hammer heads on the ends of said C. Have no idea where this one came from but it's nothing to do with Smart that I'm aware of.

diamondC.png
 
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