Of all the types of copper pots and pans I have, it is the daubières that seem to have the most personality. This one is named Charlemagne.
- Type: Tin-lined daubière in hammered finish with brass handles fastened with three copper rivets; cap-style lid with brass handle fastened with two rivets on each bracket
- French description: Daubière étamé et martelé avec poignées en laiton munies de trois rivets en cuivre; couvercle emboîtant avec poignée en laiton munie de deux rivets en cuivre
- Dimensions: 40cm long by 22cm wide by 22cm high (15.7 inches by 8.1 inches by 8.1 inches)
- Thickness: 2.1mm at rim
- Weight: 6812g (15 lbs) without lid, 8884g (19.6 lbs) with lid
- Stampings: “DUVAL 2 R. MIROMESNIL”
- Maker and age estimate: Duval; prior to 1896
- Source: Etsy
A daubière is a box-shaped vessel with a tight-fitting lid designed for daubes, a braised French stew. This one, at 40cm by 22cm (almost 16 inches by 8 inches) can take a chicken or a couple of game hens or a nice pot roast. I haven’t used it yet but as I write this, winter is settling in and it’s prime braising season. The lid of this one has a couvercle emboîtant with a slightly indentation intended to direct condensate back into the food.
That said, this particular daubière has some structural flaws related to its age and it probably won’t be my first choice. I still love it, of course, but it’s got issues.
Like many non-round pots (this cocotte, for another), this box-shaped daubière was hand-formed using dovetail seams to join separate pieces of copper. The seams are sealed with brass and you can see them if you look closely. Here’s the dovetail seam that runs around the perimeter of the base of the pot, where the copper that makes up the bottom of the pan is joined with the panels that rise up to form the sides.
Look closely above and below the handle and you’ll see dovetail seams continuing vertically up to the top of the pan. This is where the two panels forming the sides were joined together to enclose the box shape.
Unfortunately it looks like one of the seams on this pot has started to fail: there’s a crack at the point where the base dovetail intersects with the side dovetail.
This crack penetrates all the way to the interior. Here’s a photo from the interior showing the crack.
What does this mean for the pan? Well, it may no longer be water-tight, which means it’s not useful for cooking until the crack is repaired. And yes, it can be repaired — coppersmiths and retinners routinely check and repair failed dovetail seams. (Some failures are more fatal than others, of course, so check with your copper specialist if you have a pot in need of a fix.)
Despite this, I’m not throwing this pan away, but I’ve retired it to a display area. I’m sure the pan would prefer to be used but until I can make arrangements for repair of such a special pan, it’s better off relaxing. And this is a very special pan. If you haven’t caught it already, take a look at this maker’s mark:
Duval is a lesser-known chaudronnerie that went out of business at the turn of the 20th century, and there don’t seem to be very many stamped products out there (or at least that I can find). The best source of information I’ve found on Duval comes from TJFRANCE at France Lorraine Collection:
Duval is simply the old boiler factory which was located at 2 rue de Miromesnil before LEGRY. LEGRY took over this boiler making by buying it from the widow of Monsieur Duval!….Concerning your pot DUVAL, I forgot to tell you that it dates from before 1896. It is an old grandmother!
UPDATE (October 2020): I’ve had the opportunity to do some deeper research on Duval.
The very first Duval, chaudronnier I can find is in 1842 at 72 Popincourt (colocated with Duval, charcuterie). In 1856, a new Duval chaudronnerie appears at 11-13 passage Vaucanson. In 1857 appears Duval et David, chaudronnier, at rue Greffuhle in the 8th arrondissement in Paris. There were several Duvals in the city in various enterprises but the next chaudronnerie Duval was in 1864 in the 9th arrondissement at 11 rue Mogador. In 1870, chaudronnerie Duval had relocated from 11 to 7 rue Mogador, and there was a new entrant: Jean Duval, chaudronnier, in the 13th at 129 bis Avenue de Choisy. Duval at 7 rue Mogador continued operating until 1886; Jean Duval continued at Choisy until 1882, resurfacing in 1883 as a plombier-couvreur (plumber-roofer) and then vanishing completely.
When Duval, chaudronnier first appears at rue Miromesnil in 1885, it is at two numbers: 17 rue Miromesnil is the business and 2 rue Miromesnil is the domicile (residence). This is a little odd, as the property at 2 rue Miromesnil had been a chaudronnerie since the late 1860s. It was briefly a glazier in 1864 but the next available records in 1870 show 3 rue Miromesnil as chaudronnerie Hanschotte, shifting to number 2 in 1871. From 1877 to 1883, the proprietor was listed as “Hanscotte (Ele)” — I believe for the name Emmanuelle, suggesting that the proprietor was female. For the single year 1884 the proprietor of the chaudronnerie is Creton, and then in 1885 it becomes Duval.
I believe the proprietor of Duval on rue Miromesnil was Alfred Marie Duval (1834-1894). The business used number 17 for a storefront and 2 as a residence through 1891, but from 1892 to 1896 settled at a single spot (reported variously as 2, 7, and even 27). The final listing I can find for chaudronnerie Duval in in 1896 at 2 rue Miromesnil. In July of that year, “Duval (Vve.)” (veuve, widow) sold the business to Legry (which is odd, as she passed away also in 1894), and in 1897, the listing for 2 rue Miromesnil is “Legris, chaudronnerie” corrected to “Legry (successeur Duval)” in 1898.
- 1842: Duval, chaudronnier at 72 Popincourt (colocated with a Duval charcutier at the same address)
- 1856: Duval, chaudronnier at 11-13 passage Vaucanson
- 1857: Duval et David, chaudronnier, 3 rue Greffuhle
- 1864: Duval, chaudronnier appears at 11 rue Mogador
- 1870: Hanschotte, chaudronnier appears at 3 rue Miromesnil
- 1870: Duval moves from 11 to 7 rue Mogador; Jean Duval, chaudronnier appears at 129 bis avenue de Choisy
- 1871: Hanschotte street number changed from 3 to 2 rue Miromesnil
- 1875: Jean Duval chaudronnier moves to 7 Avenue de Choisy
- 1877: Emmanuelle becomes proprietor of Hanschotte
- 1883: Jean Duval at avenue de Choisy becomes plombier-couvreur (plumber, roofer)
- 1884: Creton is proprietor at 2 rue Miromesnil
- 1885: Duval, chaudronnier appears at 17 rue Miromesnil, domicile (residence) at 2 rue Miromesnil. Likely Alfred Marie Duval (1834-1894).
- 1886: Final listing for Duval, chaudronnier at 7 rue Mogador
- 1892: Duval, chaudronnier listed at 27 rue Miromesnil (likely an error in the street number)
- 1893: Duval, chaudronnier listed at 2 rue Miromesnil
- 1894: Duval, chaudronnier listed at 7 rue Miromesnil. Alfred Duval and his wife pass away that year.
- 1896: Final listing for Duval, chaudronnier at 2 rue Miromesnil.
- 1897: Legris, chaudronnerie appears at 2 rue Miromesnil
- 1898: Legry (successeur Duval) listed at 2 rue Miromesnil
Based on this I feel fairly confident that this daubière is from 1896 or earlier. It’s gone through several retinnings and polishings that have softened the hammered finish to a subtle undulation. Still, that texture is enough to catch and scatter light like the surface of water, and is beautiful.
The years have weakened this pot’s dovetail seam to the point that it has failed, but I don’t mind. This may be one of the oldest copper pots I own (and the date of the end of the Duval mark helps to pinpoint its age), if not the oldest.
It is for this reason that I named it Charlemagne. Those of you who are late Roman and early Medieval history nerds (don’t all shout at once) will recognize Charlemagne, “Charles the Great,” as the first emperor of France in 800 AD. Such a storied name seemed to me to suit this magnificent daubière, which now reclines in peaceful reflection, gazing benevolently upon its younger brethren, as is only fitting for so august a personage.
