Family Heirlooms

[Vernon Holt]

Here are two items which some may find interesting. Both are of cast iron and are family heirlooms.

One is a three legged cookpot that could be placed on the hearth of an open fireplace. Hot coals would then be placed around the pot for cooking. The pot could also be hung on a "crane" which was built into the fireplace, then suspended over the fire.

The other item belonged to my Grandfather who was a Civil War Veteran. I will give any who are interested in old things an opportunity to identiffy it and state its intended use. It is 12 inches high and weighs about 40 pounds.

Vernon

[beardgitter]

Mr. Vernon, it looks like a large crucible, but I can' imagine what it would be used for......
HHH

[CAL]

It is a mortor and passel,used to grind different ingredients for medicine or grind anything that needs to be ground.Like you Mr.Vernon,I have one that has been in the family for a while.It looks identical to the one you have.

[southernclay]

I say morter and pestle also(SP?). It looks to be a pretty large one. Do you know what this one was specifically used for? Just wondering if the Civil War Vet was a hint. Thanks for sharing.

[MISSING RIDGE]

It's a motar and pedistel. Seen a lot of them but can't remember seeing one that large. Looks big enough to grind black powder materials.

[Branchminnow]

First thing I thought of was black powder.

[Vernon Holt]

As several have stated, it is indeed a mortar and pestle. As such, it could be used to pound a range of items.

My Grandfather was a gold miner and the son of a gold miner. Most of the gold in Gilmer County was found in veins of quartz rock. In order to extract the gold, the quartz was removed with a pick. It was brittle and thus usually broke up in relatively small chunks.

These chunks were than placed in the mortar and pounded by the pestle until it was reduced to the consistency of sand. The sand was then panned in a stream until nothing was left except "black sand" and gold, both being very heavy. Mercury (quicksilver) was the placed in the pan causing all of the gold to adhere to the mercury. The mercury was then heated over a fire causing the mercury to evaporate leaving nothing but pure gold.

The size and weight of this mortar and pestle indicates that it was intended for heavy duty hand pounding, such being the case with the gold bearing quartz.

I added the civil war note to the original post, not to deceive, but just to date the mortar and pestle.

Vernon

[CAL]

Great post Mr.Vernon.Thanks for sharing.

[southernclay]

Thanks for filling us in. Awesome heirlooms.

[bukhuntr]

Looks like a mortat and pestal, but was it used for melting lead for bullets?

[Vernon Holt]

Looks like a mortat and pestal, but was it used for melting lead for bullets?
Bukhuntr: Negative, the device was used for pounding. Please read Post #8 in this thread for the whole story.

Vernon

[Nicodemus]

Fine lookin` stuff Mr. Vernon. As a side note--black powder was NEVER ground in any iron containers. Only brass or porcelin could be used because you can`t get a spark from them.