Revolutionary era skillet

[Thom]

As a boy I visited the Von Stuben House museum and was shown a black, cast iron skillet with a portrait of George Washington painted in the bottom. At the time I was told that it had been painted by Peter Bourdette, one of my maternal ancestors. In the intervening half-century I have researched the Bourdette (or Burdette) history in Fort Lee and Edgewater where they operated a ferry that played an important role in November, 1776, when Forts Washington and Lee were captured and abandonded respectively. I recently completed an as-yet unpublished young adult novel about that episode. Ms. Powell has located the aforementioned skillet and provided photos of it; I'd love to delve into its provenance, to determine if indeed it was painted by one of my ancestors and if so under what circumstances. I'd be most appreciative if someone could help me with this quest.
Thanks,
Thom Schwarz

[Steenrapie]

Having been the state curator at the Steuben House for nearly 20 years and a BCHS past president, I am quite familiar with the frying pan. I will look through the catalogue records and accession files and see if I can find anything. I will also check to see if it was mentioned in the ceremonies surrounding the dedication of the Fort Lee Monument in 1908, which prominently featured the Bourdette descendants.

I must say that the portrait of Washington appears to be a twentieth-century copy of the popular Stuart portrait in an old long-handled frying pan, so the artwork is not of great antiquity, however interesting. But it is certainly worth looking into.

[DPowell]

Hi Thom
Here are images of the skillet, taken during an inventory.

[Thom]

Thanks, you all, for the help, so far and to come, I greatly appreciate it. Determining the identity of the artist is paramount, of course. To discover that the artist might be "family" would be a stirling bonus. Beyond that, can the skillet itself be dated? Do the maker's marks on the long handle help that effort?
Thom

[mbourdette]

My husband is a direct descendant of Peter Bourdette b. 1735 and our family is in possession of the family bible dating from that time.