Your guess is as good as mine, although I'd lean towards Helios. The puzzle is worth the four euro the stove cost me!
Isn't that first letter a 'C' - look at the top, which more or less mirrors the bottom with a serif. I think CELF C
I've now gone back to not being able to see anything in it. Honestly, it's got me like one of those 'magic pictures' or optical illusions.
The elf it is then ! I wondered if it anything to do with what became ELF the petroleum company . However this seems doubtful as ELF means ‘Essence Lubricants France’ . Another true but useless fact
@frg7700 : The "L'ELF" trademark stands for "Les Établissements L. Fontaine" (Neuilly-sur-Seine/Paris), so it is of French origin. Up to now, I'd known that trademark only from 1920s wick lanterns. At least for some of the lanterns Fontaine seems to have acted as a reseller (e.g., lantern models made by A. L. Guillouard in Nantes, but labeled with the "L'ELF" logo). Thus, your stove may or may not have been manufactured by another company, but seemingly was distributed by Fontaine. Special thanks to Jörg Wekenmann (subscribed to CPL, but apparently not here) who provided me with Fontaine catalog pictures years ago. Best regards, Christina
Thank you very much! Still in France but home this week and I'll be attempting to get it and a '43 dated Vapalux 300 I found too back on the "working list".
