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30cm saucepan “BG”

VFC

VFC


There are no makers’ marks on this hefty saucepan, but I suspect it’s Gaillard.

30cm saucepan “BG”

  • Type: Tin-lined saucepan in hammered finish with iron handle fitted with three copper rivets
  • French descriptionCasserole étamée et martelée avec queue en fer munie de trois rivets en cuivre
  • Dimensions: 30cm diameter by 17cm high (11.8 inches by 6.9 inches)
  • Thickness: 4.3mm at rim
  • Weight: 8260g (18.21 lbs)
  • Stampings: “H E” on pot body, “BG” on handle
  • Maker and era: Unknown, but possibly Gaillard; antique/Golden Age (1920-1940)
  • Source: charmantiques

Saucepans are the workhorses of French cuisine but they’re also pretty nondescript. They’re round with a stick handle, and traditional French kitchens have a multiplicity of them in a range of sizes for everything from melting butter to producing large batches of sauce or stew. This one, at a generous 30cm (11.8 inches) diameter, would have served a restaurant.

There are no makers’ marks on it, but it is stamped with two sets of initials. The first set is on the body of the pot, stamped into the copper next to the handle.

30cm saucepan “BG”

The second set of initials are more difficult to spot: a faint “B G” stamped twice into the iron of the handle between the rivets. I’ve never before seen initials on the handle itself. I suspect these initials may be older than the “H E” on the pan body; copper is soft and will accept stampings over its lifetime, but iron is much harder and it’s possible these initials were added when the pot was made.

30cm saucepan “BG”

Marks like these are from a previous owner. Whoever H. E. and B. G. were, they had excellent taste in saucepans. This one is thick and sturdy with a rim that is 4.3mm thick.

30cm saucepan “BG”

As I mention above, I suspect this is a pot of Gaillard make. I am no expert but I own a few pieces of various makes and I am developing a sense of how each house made its products. The handle here looks like other Gaillard pieces I own, and in particular, the fat copper rivets.

30cm saucepan “BG”

The interior of the pan has flush-set rivets as Gaillard did for other big pans in my collection.

30cm saucepan “BG”

I took this pot to Jim Hamann at East Coast Tinning and he did a beautiful job with it. I’m happy to have this in my collection.

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3 Comments

  1. How often do you use this “Big” saucepan ? I’m in the process of picking up a 28cm sauce, and I have to say I’m going back and forth on weather I should do it ? Debating if I should get something smaller to start with.

  2. Hi Tammy! 28cm is great for big utility cooking, like stews and big batches of sauce, or for boiling big things like seafood and corn on the cob. If you can find a good thick one, 3mm or better, it can do long slow all-day simmers for things like Marcella Hazan’s famous bolognese with minimal attention because the copper spreads and stabilizes temperature so well. And you can also use it as a stovetop braiser — it’s big enough to take a big piece of beef or lamb. Big saucepans are more versatile than you might think because they offer both floor space as well as ceiling room, so to speak.

  3. Thank you so much Betsy, I went ahead and ordered it, and yes it is a 3mm! which are hard to find now days in that size. Than k you for your input

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