cast iron urn identification?

Hi, I have two cast iron urns. The diameter is 18" the height is 13" and the square base is 7". They had many, many coats of paint, which has now mostly been manually removed. I hope to have the remaining paint and rust removed and then have them treated, painted and restored. They are quite beautiful and very heavy.

I was told that they were from the 1800's and were definitely not made in America. Both France and Italy have been suggested. I'd love to know if anyone can tell me anything else about them. Other tips and information are welcome!

I didn't know how to get the pic to 1 MB or less, so I halved it....hope you can get a good idea of what it looks like with paint removed.

 

Urn't u gonna post more pics...?

 

I will try. The pics I have are 3 MB and the site only accepts 1 MB. That's why I cropped and cut the pic in half. Let me see what I can do.....I know there's a way to lower the MB of a pic.....

 

Send the pictures to yourself, doing that usually downsizes them.

I’m guessing unless they are marked, finding specific info will be difficult. Strange that people said they’re non-American-Made if u found them in the US, since the US had hundreds if not thousands of foundries, large and small, and some would certainly have been producing these or some very similar. If unmarked, you will need to go thru old catalogs with dimensions of yours and the design details in mind. After a lot of work you may have enough to say it possibly came from someplace specific. I dunno much about decorative cast iron so I’m guessing.

Sounds like you had one source say they weren’t American. I’d get second and third opinions.

 

Thanks, I didn't think of that (D'oh!)

 

Here are some more pictures....

 

Springfld.arsenal, I'm not sure what you're asking. Sorry, I'm not familiar with this forum and how to use it. I am just looking for information on these lovely urns....

 

don't worry.....he's expressing himself...
WEe say lots o' weird stuff here.....

 

My way of asking if there is some cast-in text I’m seeing there.

 

Hi,
Lovely urns. I have two cast iron ones that are 2 ft high and 20" around the top. I removed 25 layers of paint and then faux finished to look like old cast lead. I used latex house paint and several years later rust started to show through so I painted them flat black, I miss the lead finish.
greg

 

“Gasim's time has come, Lawrence. It is written.”

 

Arg. PLEASE do not repaint these! If they're British, especially, you will kill the value. I would do nothing more with them, other than to use a stabiliser solution.

 

I looked carefully and can't find any markings or text in/on the iron.

 

As you have guessed, I know nothing about cast iron....but the way they are now is just sitting with the paint manually scraped off. There is still rust and remaining paint. Shouldn't I have that removed before treating them with stabilizer? Will this stabilizer preserve them? Google searches tell me to get them to bare cast iron then treat with a rust-proofing before painting.....

 

Bear in mind I'm in the UK, and we see things differently, at times. The old paint is part of their history, and would add to value here. All I'd do is brush them off, now, then use a clear stabiliser.

Here's the V&A's take on it - http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/c/caring-for-your-iron-and-steel/

This is good, too: http://www.dorothearestorations.com...tectural-cast-iron-care-and-maintenance-guide

 

Thx for checking. Some have maker’s marks.