1955.0103.008 Pot, Cauldron
  • 1955.0103.008 Pot, Cauldron
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Pot (Cauldron)

  • Category:

    Metals

  • Creator (Role):

    Saugus Ironworks (Probable maker)

  • Place of Origin:

    Lynn, Massachusetts, New England, United States, North America

  • Date:

    1646-1670

  • Materials:

    Iron

  • Techniques:

    Cast, Wrought

  • Museum Object Number:

    1955.0103.008


  • Complete Details



Object Number

1955.0103.008

Object Name

Pot (Cauldron)

Category

Metals

Credit Line/Donor

Museum purchase

Creator (Role)

Saugus Ironworks (Probable maker)

Place of Origin

Lynn, Massachusetts, New England, United States, North America

Origin Notes

Probably created near Lynn or Braintree, Massachusetts (colony) at one of the Saugus Ironworks sites.

Date

1646-1670

Materials

Iron

Techniques

Cast, Wrought

Dimensions (inches)

10.252 (H) , 13.626 (W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

26.04 (H) , 34.61 (W)

Object Description

Web - 08/28/2017

This cast iron cooking pot (also called a caldron or cauldron) has a bulging, compressed globular shape body with cornered lugs all supported by three pentagonal-shaped splayed legs. All the components were cast at one time and the tapered, pointed center of the bowl has a sprue on the underside. The wrought iron bail handle is possibly not original and there is a large section of the upper wall on the pot that has cracked and broken away. When it was acquired, the seller stated this pot was discovered during plowing activity in a field in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Remarkably, if this vessel was created at one of the Saugus Ironworks sites, it is one of two known hollowware examples attributed to the colonial iron furnace. Confident attribution is still debated, but scientific analysis reveals it was created from bog iron with a process used during the colonial era.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Book] Fennimore, Donald L. 2004 Iron at Winterthur.
Published: pp. 90-91, cat. no. 37.
[Book] Tyler, John. 2013 Early Amercian Cast Iron Holloware Pots, Kettles, Teakettles, and Skillets 1645-1900. 160.
Published: p. 69.
[Book] National Geographic Society. 2007 Reading Expeditions (Science: Life Science): Plant Power (Nonfiction Reading and Writing Workshops).