This Looks Old

[Wulfdog]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1217&item=3775007295&rd=1

Event the wooden handle looks old.  

[Steve_Stephens]

I've never seen anything like that pan.  Handle old?  Not so sure.  But the pan looks ancient.  European? or where from?
Steve

[Thomas_Callaway]

I don't think it's a skillet. Perhaps something for carrying hot coals?

The handle looks like hickory to me. Notice how it isn't burned where it connects to the piece. That's a round head nail which would put it late 19th century. Of course the new handle could have been added then as well. Another clue is that the piece is cast all in one piece and the hollow for the handle was cast at the same time too. Pretty fancy casting for something that looks as old as it does.

My conclusion is that it might have been a machine part that lent itself to the modification with the wooden handle by an "inventor out of necessity" type.

TC - who could be way beyond left field.

[C. B. Williams]

I'm not so sure that is a round headed nail. It looks more like an iron pin that was flattened on one end by a blacksmith. I agree the wood is hickory. The only reason that I can think of to go out of the way to put a wooden handle on it is for insulation from heat. Maybe a babbit melting pot? Or something similar. ( for the younger people, babbit was used to make sleeve bearings when ball bearings were very difficult and expensive. I have seen this done many times in a cotton gin that my grandfather ran. There was a cast pot (ladle) used for this.) The problem with that theory is there is no pour spout. It is a very interesting piece.

[Wulfdog]

I agree with yall the handle is hickory, but I have no idea what the pan would have been used for.  Looks a whole lot like a really small version of a gold panning pan. (minus the handle)  I know one thing, I wouldn't cook any kind of food in it that I was planning on eating unless I was sure there was no lead or other heavy metals soaked into the pores of the iron.  If I had it, it would be for display only.

John

[Wulfdog]

Looks like someone got it for a steal.

[Steve_Stephens]

The seller got to keep it and only paid his listing fees.  No bids!
Steve

[Wulfdog]

Woops! I wasn't paying any attention.

[loebster]

Might be an old lead smelter. Lead smelters are about his size and shape. But I have only seen electric ones. you can use a skillet if you need to, but something of a smaller volume would be preferible for heating and skimming.