A pre-WW1 stove, pre-1908 I'm inclined to think, designated as Svea No.1A. I know Svea stoves cannot be dated precisely, but at least they can normally be put into some sort of sequence order using the old catalogues and comparison with other examples. Unfortunately I can't even manage that with this one. None of the catalogues I can find list a '1A' and the burner is not the size listed for any date of standard 'No.1'. The pump tube cover is marked 'C.R.NYBERGS PATENT SUNDBYBERG': There are only a handful thus on the gallery, and they are all early. The pump rod mechanism is a form which only seems to appear up to the 1908 catalogue: The tank base marking is not the usual 'AKTIEBOL.MAX SIEVERT' shown on other comparable stoves on the gallery. This is what is on the base: The burner is the small size cross type shown in 1908 and later catalogues as fitted to the '0' and '10' stoves and the very elementary burner top provenance mark is clearly quite an early form: Note too the slightly domed top to the jet nipple: Is this '1A' possibly a precursor to what became the 'No.10' by the time of the 1908 catalogue? Clearly there are many questions raised by this one. Not least whether it is right to think it must date from earlier than 1908. Maybe someone out there can put together the various clues in the illustrations above in a different way to produce a better answer? Definitely something of a conundrum; but at least it fires up nicely: ps. I deny any responsibility for the agricultural soldering! Sorting that out is one of those things on the 'manyana' jobs list.
the stove itself is a real eye opener but that you fired it up and it works like new is a mind blower!!!
Lovely job, stove and post. Early Sveas with an external non-return valve are a particular favourite of mine. You've evidently been thorough in your research and I couldn't do any better from those sources. Good to get it running. John
Another very early stove, well restored! Congratulations! The "agricultural solderings" are something which is interesting me. Why are they made like this? There were many more apt craftsmen (tinsmiths) in the times before WWI and WWII, than today, because many products were manufactured in the local area. I have seen the last plumbers working with gasoline blowtorch and soldering iron, when I was a boy. I think, repairing a brass stove was really a problem with the blowtorch. The soldering iron alone does not conduct enough heath to let the solder flow well. A second man with blowtorch would be needed to preheat the workpiece. This brings the danger of melting the other soldered parts. A plumbers blowtorch has a large flame, not the well pointed flame of a propane blowtorch or a gas-welding kit. Maybe they found this too risky and tried to add solder in several layers. A ugly but usable solution. Barthel blowtorch with soldering iron mounted. Weight 1½ kg, length 48cm. Not easy to handle! Regards Radler
As in the case of an earlier posting of a Svea No.12 this dating guestimate for the '1A' has now been superseded by new documentary evidence. A more reliable dating suggestion I would now offer would be 1908/9 as there is now good evidence that Max Sievert did not take over the marketing of Nyberg's Svea stoves from Andreas Willander until 1908 (see discussion in this gallery entry).
Hi Nicola, the tank of this '1A' is the same as the No.10. It may simply have been a market tester for some territories or a special order from a particular retail outlet? Other than those possibilities I am out of ideas. Ian
@igh371 Oh ok, as I suspected it is a 1 pint tank as no 0. In fact, also this model showcases the “bubble” font type in common with all the early smaller tanks. Thanks, Nicola