Steve Wertz said:
Mark Thorson said:Is the $300 offer still open? It seems more
reasonable the more I learn about it.
It appears to be a candy kettle. The bowls alone, without lid or
stand are going for $300-$500. Probably made about 1905-1910 or
so, judging from wild assed guesses (that's when they made candy
molds). Looks like they made ovens (ranges) at one point, too.
I think that's low for this one, because it's
jacketed. Do a search on "steam jacket" on eBay,
any you'll see lots of examples, but they're all
modern ones in stainless. Yours would have value
both for its function (if it is in working order)
and as an antique.
I'd already made the same guess about date, but
with a wider range. It could be almost any time
in the second half of the 19th century up to
the first quarter of the 20th century.
I don't think you can nail down its function
so narrowly. Kettles like this have many uses.
Because it lacks the tilting feature, I doubt
it was used to make molded objects or to fill
jars or cans. I'd say that whatever it held
was removed with a ladle, or it may have been
used for dipping.
I believe the most common food-related use
of these things is cooking soup and keeping
it warm. Because of its small size (for a
jacketed kettle), I believe that would rule
out many industrial production uses (though
not candy, which is often made in small batches).
