Cast Iron Plate

Patrick Jones

New member
My 80yo Mom was out and about again today, and said she had something for me. She picked this up because of noting the gate mark and 3 molder's marks on the back. Was told seller's mother had it on the wall as long as she was born. Plates are new to me now I guess :), never thought of cast iron dinnerware.
I'm seeing 6-53 or 6-83, and OSW with a semi open/closed 3 finger hand above, the letters. I get a masonic vibe from this molders mark for some reason.
Thoughts?
 

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Now theres a new one for me too.I alway wondered if they were ever made, and if they were really made for food, or just to hang up? No clue about the maker, but Its very cool! Youre Mom has good eyes!
 
At first blush, cast iron dinner plates for everyday table settings don't seem to make much sense given the weight and brittleness combined with cost of manufacturing, but they would work well as steak plates, etc., similar to fajita pans-skillets-griddles-plates of our era. Plus they are oven safe as long as they're not over-heated.

How large is the plate? Standard dinner plate size? Your mom's find and your gain certainly has my noggin' joggin'!
 
Thanks Sean. Motak it is approximately 9 1/4" wide weighs about 2 lb 10 oz. It's a brick of a plate. I'm thinking it's useless to carry on a wagon trail, or hiking.
 

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Yep, that's it Doug. I wonder if the 5-53 means May 1953? I would have never thought that was a grasshopper. But the weight had me wondering about the plate, it was much heavier than any of my mid 19th century skillets. So is this classified as a counterfeit or reproduction since it sports gate and molders marks?
 
Having now seen a few other pieces by them, I think the marking being a date would be a reasonable assumption.

Re: counterfeit. It seems you may be extrapolating various characteristics seen on vintage cast iron cookware, as well as some that happen to pertain to reproductions of same, to those of this unrelated piece. Articles and descriptions on the website are concerned with those characteristics, but only as they apply within the context of vintage cast iron cookware. Makers of cast iron items outside that purview may have employed casting techniques and marking conventions like those which we use to date and identify late 19th and early 20th century cast iron cookware, but they don't necessarily translate directly between those worlds.
 
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