[Sca-cooks] Cast iron pots

[Philippa Alderton]

--- Mercy Neumark <mneumark at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Not to yet again wave the banner of asia and how
> advanced they were in
> period (who me?), in China, GIANT cookpots were
> caste in bronze and used for
> cooking.  And small ones too.  My metal teacher (THL
> Robindra of Isles) told
> me he heard of a recent pour that was several tons
> in bronze, done by those
> cool chinese metalworkers!
>
> I have a book on Chinese porcelain and Chinese
> bronzes and it shows shards
> from huge molds (the molds were made of a kaolin
> clay, which is a hifire,
> pure claybody) that were done in pre-period (I don't
> have the book in front
> of me, but I'm thinking it was like B.C. sometime).
>
> Not sure if this technology passed into europe, but
> as far as I can tell
> from the woodblocks I've seen from period, it looks
> to me like some sort of
> pot was made in metal.  Clay is WAY to heavy to prop
> up on those spit-like
> tripods.  I'm probably wrong though.
>
> Just my two yen here. :)

FYI, Dick Wild posted me the following:

> A little trivia:  The three legged Chinese bronze
> Deng which I observed in San Francisco several years
> ago at the Peoples Republic of Chinas
> Archeological Exhibitions weighed 250 kilos!!  Most
> of the surviving Dengs were funerary objects in
which > mourners partook of a last meal in honor of
the
> departed and then were buried with the deceased.
> Smaller Deng or those found by grave robbers were
> frequently recast into farm implements or other
items > for daily use.

I'd be very interested in references and information
relating to metalworking techniques and skill in
period. no matter which culture used what, when. Is
anyone aware of a reasonably accurate reference, with,
hopefully, period examples of various related metal
working skills?

Phlip



=====
Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....

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