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Gridiron 2016-99
1708-dated Gridiron
Gridiron 2016-99

1708-dated Gridiron

Dateca. 1708
OriginGreat Britain
MediumIron
DimensionsLength: 25" Width: 13 3/4" Height: 3"
Credit LineGift of Michael Weber
Object number2016-99
DescriptionFour-legged rectangular gridiron with a cooking surface made of straight and undulating bars of rectangular section. Its tapering handle is punched with geometric decoration, the initials RH, FC, the date 1708 and terminates in a fleur-de-lis.
Label TextThe direct ancestor of today's barbeque grill, the gridiron of the 18th century was amongst the handiest devices found in many kitchens. Used to suspend meat, fish or fowl above a pile of hot coals sent directly on the hearth floor, it is easy to see the relationship between the colonial era gridiron and today's devices. While this early example is of a distinctly English style, simpler American versions were often more simple and made with non-intersecting parallel bars. Such cooking devices were so common throughout America that when a nickname was needed for a football field, the wholly appropriate term "gridiron" was adopted!