Can you help with a mystery pot?

Hi everyone,

I found your website during a week long attempt to find information on a pot we discovered on our property and I'm hoping someone here might be able to help us. We've taken it in to a museum and talked to an antique dealer and neither had ever seen one before and couldn't tell us much. All we did learn is that it's European and 19th century (maybe).

The post is cast iron, 8-10" across and 8-10" tall. The rim is part of the pot. We haven't found the lid yet. There are marking on it - a crown symbol and No. 4 - 3.7L

The bottom of the pot is burnt out with a good chunk of it missing so I don't know if there were any markings on it.

As for the location, our house is in Eastern Ontario, built in 1826 by Scottish immigrants and the pot was found at the bottom of a hill, buried in the dirt, about 100 feet from our house.

So... can anyone here shed some light on our mystery pot? (fingers crossed)

Thanks in advance.

It appears likely it is a pressure vessel and foreign. That's about all I want to guess. I have seen pressure cookers but I don't think just like yours. Do you have the cover?

I agree that it's some kind of pressure cooker but all the pictures I've found online look nothing like this.

We don't have the lid, yet, but we plan on looking for it as soon as we're able to. The hill where this was found is actually a small cliff so it's not an easy place to look. Hopefully we'll get down there this weekend if the weather cooperates.

Is it possible there could be markings on the lid?

I suppose anything is possible but, not having had one of these I am not familiar. I've seen a couple of pressure cookers in a collection but that was too long ago to recall any details. It would be cool if you can find the cover. Good luck.

I have a bit of an update on the mystery pot.

I contacted the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa. Being one of the biggest museums in Canada I figured they would know at least something. They didn't. They said the piece is incredibly unique, possibly used in industry and they've referred me to the Historical Metallurgy Society in the UK.

I'll post again once I find something out. Honestly, I wasn't expecting it to turn out to be such an odd find. I thought it was just an old cast iron pot.

Rebecca, was this found anywhere near the water where ships could have ported? It looks a bit like something from a sailing ship galley ... large base and heavy ring to keep it in the stove eye, and a locking lid to prevent spillage, in rough seas.

Ken, if you're married please tell your wife I said this... you're brilliant! That possibility had never even crossed my mind.

We are right on the Ottawa River which was very busy pre-1900. In fact, Samuel de Champlain's astrolabe was discovered about 50 miles from here. I think you may have given me a golden lead. I'll check that out and let you know what I find out. Thank you so, so much!

Glad I could offer an idea. Hope something pans out, whatever it is.

BTW, she knows.

Rebecca, any more info on your mystery pot?