The style of this stove suggests that it is very early. The burner is of a similar design to that later chosen by the South Koreans although this one only seems to take a silent damper. I think that the damper belongs to the stove as it fits the recess perfectly although there is a notch filed in the lower rim that appears to have no function The stove is unusual in several aspects. It does not have a spirit cup. The burner and rising tube are one fitting which is soldered to the tank so there never could have been a spirit cup The pump assembly unscrews to allow the tank to be filled in a similar way to some blow lamps. I foolishly removed the pump rod to make a new pump washer and promptly lost it. The pump lid screws inside the pump tube so it is not possible to make a replacement. The airscrew head is unusually big. The feet have rounded brass plugs in their bottoms. The housings for the legs are 8 mm diameter instead of the normal 6 mm diameter. I presume that the legs were probably tubular as the rest of the stove is lightweight. The bottom of the tank does not have the normal bell cast shape to support the top whilst the bottom is fitted. Instead it has a groove running round it which would perform the same function Part of the lettering on the tank is missing however AZ is clearly visible I think that there is a letter G missing from the front which would make the maker GAZ BLEU PETROLE Regards Bryan
Hi Bryan What a little gem that's the most unusual stove i have seen i don't think there is one in the reference gallery what a shame you have lost the pump rod. what i find unusual is the fact it has no spirit cup even though it says petrole i assume it means petrol fueled and to light it would i imagine the same procedure as a primus 70 and to extinguish for safety having a air release screw the flame would have to be blown out first and then the pressure can be released. But to me it looks more like a paraffin fueled stove that would need another means of priming IE one of those small petrol coil burners i know petroleum in dutch and German means paraffin but i am not sure what it means in french
Hi Brian It is a paraffin stove. Whilst I think that is a Gaz this is not certain. I presume that Gaz was a forerunner of Camping Gaz although again that is not certain Regards Bryan
It says "pétrole" which is french for paraffin, if it would have had "essence" on it, it would have been a petrol burner! Regards, Wim
Hi Ian It has an airscrew which a petrol stove would not have. Opening an airscrew on a petrol stove would allow a jet of highly inflammable fumes to escape. Even with a big gap between the burner and airscrew it would still be dangerous. Very early petrol stoves had no adjustment to the flame intensity. You put them out by blowing the flame out and then releasing the pressure by loosening the tank lid. The tank lid in this case is the whole pump assembly The airscrew would have been superfluous on a petrol stove Regards Bryan
Nice stove Bryan. Unusual by world standards but so were many French stoves, which often feature unusual variants on the usual features we are used to. The French also had their own unique 'variants' of the Swedish brands Optimus & Primus. This one was probably primed with an asbestos priming torch, dipped in alcohol, then clipped to the burner riser. Camping Gaz was started in 1949 - making butane canister stoves so no connection there. I reckon Gaz Bleu Pétrole will be the name of the company.
Hi, Check out "France Brand" on Dutch Stove Collectors: http://www.dutchstovecollectors.nl/ Best Regards, Kerophile
Hi All I have now found the pump rod so have added it to the stove The pump knob is in two parts. The lower part is an unthreaded spacer and the top flange is threaded and holds the two parts together to form a knob. Regards Bryan
I realize I am a few months late on this one, but this stove looks uncannily like one featured in the Mystery Stove Gallery. I suppose there still is not conclusive indication of who made it, nearly everything about it appears similar or identical. Regards, Doug E.
This stove is from Pinchard et Moreau (France). 88 boulevard Richard Lenoir (Paris). Perhaps is it a heater because the burner is very large. Could be missing the 2 legs and a dome and a deflector
No Michel, I don't think this one is a heater, but an early Pinchard stove, but maybe wrong burner cap. No support for the cook stand on the heaters. This type of stoves were made in two sizes - No.1 and No. 00 (see attached image!). I have three different Pinchard (Gaz Bleu Petrole) heaters and I believe font and burner (parts) could be similar (or identical) for one of the heaters and the stoves. The catalogue page from Trevor is from my 8 pages Pinchard catalogue from probably early 20,s and this and the 4 page Pinchard & Moreau catalogue from Bo Ryman, are the earliest and only known papers from this Pinchard (Moreau) company. Later in the 30,s the "Gaz Blue Petrole" brand is associated with the brand name of Mirus, with another paperwork. /Conny