Cookware includes equipment such as pots, pans, and dishes used for cooking and preparing food. Although some cookware is made from ceramics, glass, or stoneware, most cookware is metal. Metal cookware is made from materials like aluminum, cast iron, copper, pewter, tin, stainless steel, and various alloys. Collectors of cookware look for practical items and rare or specialty items.

Many early cookware items were made from earthenware. As people mastered metal work, metal cookware became much more prevalent. By the 18th century, a typical household possessed a variety of metal cooking objects used to prepare food over a large open hearth. People cooked with various cast-iron andirons, footed skillets, and pots in the fireplace.

Cookware made from tin appears in inventories of households in the American colonies as early as the 17th century. Most of this early tinware was made in England and brought to the colonies by settlers. By the 18th century, colonists had begun to produce tin cookware domestically. Tin kitchens became prevalent towards the end of the 18th century. These gadgets contained a rotating spit to allow meats to cook consistently.

In the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution ushered in a profusion of simple and complex labor-saving metal kitchen gadgets. New inventions included apple corers and peelers, colanders, corn poppers, egg beaters, graters, grinders, mixers, slicers, strainers, and whisks. Manufacturers used metal like cast iron, tin, or sheet metal for everyday items. Some cookware was created from copper and even sterling silver.

Manufacturers introduced colorful cookware at the end of the 19th century. Granite Ware, also called enameled ware, enamelware, or porcelainware, is a type of metal cookware introduced by the Lalance & Grosjean Manufacturing Company. Early pieces made during the Victorian era incorporated ornate details such as wooden handles and pewter trims, but later pieces used cast iron coated with several layers of baked-on enamel. The enamel coating came in an array of bright colors and bold patterns, enlivening kitchens previously equipped with dull metallic gray.

The 20th century introduced plenty of collectible cookware. As homes became equipped with modern appliances, cookware followed. Aluminum cookware became popular, with companies like Guardian, Kitchen Fair, Mirro, Wagner Ware, and Wearever churning out large quantities of cooking equipment. Companies like Griswold and Wagner produced cast-iron ware. Le Creuset and other manufacturers in France and Belgium focused on enamel-coated iron cookware. Some manufacturers like Calphalon focused on non-stick cookware made with hard anodized aluminum.

What is the Value of your Cookware? V​iew more in our Cookware Price Guide.

Antique copper, iron, pewter, and tin cookware is often not marked. Some of the earliest items display a handmade rustic quality that also attracts collectors of primitive antiques. Victorian pieces are more likely to be marked, but some Victorian items have been reproduced. 

Granite Ware items are still produced for camping and outdoor use, and some popular vintage patterns have been reproduced for home kitchens. Older pieces are heavier and contain an iron core, while newer pieces are made of stainless steel covered by porcelain.

Griswold and Wagner cast iron wares can be identified by item numbers. More modern cookware lines like Le Creuset rely upon a numbering system that can be helpful to collectors.

Find the Value of your Cookware. WorthPoint is the largest resource online for identifying, researching and valuing antiques. Explore over 425 Million “sold for” prices with item details and images.

Antique and vintage cookware pieces are often not marked with manufacturer information. More recently produced metal cookware items are marked with the name of the manufacturer and company symbol, as well as patent or other information such as production location or item numbers.

Identify your Cookware Marks.

In the WorthPoint Library

Cast Iron Goods Lodge Manufacturing Co. 1910 by Lodge Manufacturing Co.

Graniteware Identification and Value Guide by Fred and Rose Booher.

Books and Periodicals

Pewter by John Bedford.

The History & Folklore of American Country Tinware, 1700-1900 by Margaret Coffin.

Web Resources

Lalance & Grosjean www.library.si.com.

Our Story www.graniteware.com.

The Cast Iron Collector www.castironcollector.com.

Vintage Le Creuset Is the Ultimate Score www.foodandwine.com.