Family Gypsy Pot

DavidR

New member
OK, so I'm not totally sure what it is, but after spending the weekend knocking off the rust and re-seasoning I started looking for what this could be.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/107048983@N05/sets/72157637106862883/

It looks a lot like items on ebay listed as a gypsy or bean pot. 4 footed, not 3.
There was no lid, but a new lodge lid for an 8in fry pan fits nicely.
The casting seems a bit odd to me, with the bottom offset, and heavily pitted from use. There appears to be a seam each side of the pot 90 degrees from each handle that I first thought was a solder seam, but now think it is a casting mark. The interior shows no seams and has the regular surface expected from a sand cast.

The story for this piece is that it spent the last 25 years under my mother house, and she know that she got it from her mother, who also didn't use it. The next previous generation lived on a North Carolina farm and may have used it
 
It certainly cleaned up well, and appears to be in good shape for as old as it is. The overall design indicates it was probably made when woodstoves first came in to use. The bottom with the well offset from center is known as an eccentric design. It allowed a large pot to be served by a woodstove eye smaller than its overall diameter, the eccentricity saving valuable stovetop space by allowing the majority of the pan to be positioned nearer or slightly off of an edge. The feet preserve a backwards compatibility, allowing it to sit on a level surface and be used on a hearth as well.
 
I'm not having a lot of luck reading the maker on the bottom but I would choose I.A.S. & CO. - ISAAC A. SHEPPARD & Co. Philadelphia, then Baltimore 1859-c.1930
I have seen: bulge pots,straight pots, pit bottom pots, spiders, skillets, ham boiler,waffle irons,tea kettles, long gridirons, long pans & cake griddles, 3-leg eccentric kettles
 
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