Friday, June 28, 2013

Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Neoceram - First Neoceram Find???

It has finally happened, or at least I think it has.

As I have divulged earlier, Corningware products produced in France for other markets other than the United States were sold under the name Pyroflam or Arcoflam instead of "Corningware" or "Pyroceram".  (though in the early years, when manufactured in the Netherlands, they were marked "Pyrosil Ware" for U.K. consumers)

That being said, I think I have run across my very first piece of foreign made Corning/Pyroflam/Pyrosil Ware. 

The shape is different than what I normally see on the U.S. Market, but the shapes sold in Europe are different than what was available here as well.  It does have handles that are the same size as "P" series pieces in the United States, meaning they are narrower than the later post-1972 handles.  But I don't know if (or when)  foreign market Corningware made a "handle-size change"

It has a "flame" on the bottom which makes me believe it is older Pyroflam from the Asia-Pacific region, but there is no way for me to ultimately tell, since I cannot read the language.   Maybe this is a piece of Anchor Hocking Cookware. (yep, Anchor Hocking had a "Corningware type" product that was pulled from the U.S. market because they lost a court battle with Corning over patent infringement)

Evidently, a well traveled piece.

UPDATE:  02/16/2014 - A fellow enthusiast from a Facebook group happened across another piece of this particular cookware.  Though the design was different, it was the same shape and had the same foreign language on the bottom.   Luckily, her piece also included the name of the company in English as well.  So now I know that this is Neoceram made by Narumi.  Not Corningware at all.

Narumi is a Bone China Manufacturer in Japan that "invented" a ceramic glass product of their own in 1962.  The formulation of Neoceram is slightly different from "Corningware" and "Visions".  The differences in formulation are small but Neoceram contains Phosphorus Pentoxide and lacks the Zinc Oxide & Ferric Oxide found in Corningware.

UPDATE:  03/26/2014 - New evidence has come to light regarding the FIRE & ICE brand of ceramic glass cookware that Mikasa use to sell in the late 80s.  This product, made in Japan, may have been constructed of Narumi's Neoceram formula...  Narumi had been producing some of Mikasa's china already, as evident in their Bolero pattern.......



UPDATE: 9/24/2014
Another piece of Narumi Neoceram.

Same shape (though slightly deeper) as the Vegetable pattern above, however this piece has absolutely nothing printed on it.

The patter looks like an extreme close up watercolor interpretation of Corning Ware's Wildflower pattern.


Interesting.  But what makes this pattern even more interesting, is that this pattern, known as "Just Flowers" was the replacement pattern for Sears' Merry Mushroom (which was made by Corning, of course). 

This IS indeed Narumi Neoceram, and the china pattern that matches was also available from "Mikasa/Narumi"

Here is a picture of what I call the Avocado Tulip patternI think this particular design is significantly older (1960s) than either the Vegetable or the Wildflower-ish pattern.


I also found, what I believe to be, another pattern on Ebay recently done in a wrap around fruit design.



Where is your Corningware?? or Fire & Ice?? or Narumi??
~~

3 comments:

  1. Thank you for your post with pics! Today I found that exact same piece of (what I now know to be...thanks to your blog) Narumi Neoceram with the Poppies and Bluebells on it. It seems to be 3 or 3.5 Liter. There was no lid with it, but I found an interesting lid with the number 3 on it that fit perfectly. I thought the lid was Anchor Hocking but maybe it is the original lid. Anyway, I have a lot of Corning Ware and use it every day. Even though I'm not big into flowers, I love this new piece because it will go so nicely with my Centura round buffet servers. Thanks again for your help with identifying it!

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  2. You realize the wide assortment will stun you, that it won't settle on your choice any simpler, and briefly you are very desirous of your grandma for having made some simple memories, for having had one fry skillet (until you recollect that it was so hard to wash that one container and you are, once more, glad to go out to shop). ceramic frying pans

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  3. which ever, i really love neoceram narumi and corning wares..❤️❤️❤️

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