Antique Copper Boiler Wash Tub with Wood Handles

A turn-of-the-century copper wash boiler with the kind of surface only a hundred years of Monday mornings can produce. Iron end-brackets carry turned wood handles, each one worn smooth where generations of hands lifted the full weight off the stove. Rolled rim, double-ribbed sides for rigidity, and a galvanized interior gone soft gray with mineral deposit and age.

Boilers like this sat on cast iron ranges in farm kitchens and back porches from roughly 1890 through the 1940s, holding gallons of water heated to a rolling boil for the week's laundry. Sheets went in first, then shirts, then darks — the boiling step that came before the washboard and wringer.

CONDITION

Good with strong character. Heavy paint loss revealing copper underneath, surface corrosion and oxidation throughout including the iron handle brackets, a soft dent to one lower side, and age-appropriate wear across the body. Wood handle grips are intact and sound. Galvanized interior shows patina and mineral residue from working use. Unmarked.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Overall with Handles: 13" H × 29" W × 13 1/2" D
• Body Width without Handles: 24 1/2"
• Construction: Copper body, galvanized interior, iron brackets, turned wood handles
• Markings: Unmarked
• Campbell's Soup Can (4" H) Shown for Scale — Not Included