Was Gifted a Wapak 11" Skillet - Did They Come in White?

Huxley_D

New member
My sister and I recently received a batch of vintage cast iron cookware - two skillets and two Dutch Ovens. One of the skillets is a Wapak 11" with the beautiful "Indian Head" logo embossed on the bottom. From what I can tell online and by digging through eBay, this is a fairly rare / valuable piece, with good-condition examples approaching $500 in auctions. This particular Wapak is painted (or maybe enameled?) white on the outer surfaces and handle, though not on the cooking surface or bottom. Did these ever come in a white color, or was this a paint-job someone did sometime in the past ~110 years?

Here's an album showing the pan in its current condition. My sister is eager to start cooking with it, but I'm not sure if its rarity and value as an antique precludes using it in the kitchen now. Also, I'm worried about trying to re-season it if the white color is meant to be there - I don't want to strip it away if it will destroy the value of the pan!
Thanks for any tips :)
 
Wapak wasn't known to have done enameling. I'd say by the looks of it this was just someone painting it. Electrolysis will probably take it back to bare iron in short order.
 
Now thats a great gift! I would love to have a Wapak #11......not sure about the white tho, I would say its painted for some odd reason.
 
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