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"Le non pareil"

Art Nouveau

log burner

by Deville

Price: £550

This is a superb little stove coming from the middle part of the Art Deco movement about 1920-1930 but done in an Art Nouveau style. You don’t need to have a huge drawing room to get the benefit from this refined stove. The casting designs on the front of the stove are exquisite.

This unusually coloured stove benefits from a complete nut & bolt restoration, having a new firebox made from modern steel twice as thick, so this stove should last at least twice as long.  The firebricks have been replaced and will also last a long time. The door and the bright work have been re-nickelled. This stove is complete with the optional hook on ash pan.

It was made by the well known manufacturer Deville & Cie of Charleville in the Ardennes between 1920 and 1939, and can be found in their 1930 catalogue. This is medium sized stove, described as a 'pôele à bois' visible et continue' by the manufacturers was revealed at the 1925 Paris exhibition which put France at the forefront of industrial design and caused a fever of creative activity throughout the world. They named this beautiful stove 'no equal'  and it was developed to produce rapid heating for Parisians returning to their homes at the end of the their working day. Its not difficult to imagine how style conscious the decor in their homes would have been during this period.

It is in excellent condition, and really benefits from the quality of casting and enamelling associated with Deville. This stove epitomises the best in Art Nouveau style and design.

It has been a working stove, and as such has one or two small chips to the enamel, but you have to search for them. It is more or less 70-80 years old and their condition is consistent with the usual wear which is to be expected of any piece like this stove that is of a certain age, and that has been used to give heat and warmth to its previous owners. All working parts are in excellent condition, just connect the flue, light the match and away you go!

The le non pareil was designed for all types of wood, however I would recommend using hardwoods.
  This is a beautiful, unusual stove and these photos do not really do it justice.

 If you look carefully at the film Chocolat, you can see a honey brown "le non pareil" in Grandma's (Judi Dench.) parlour!

The dimensions are:

• Height 55cms (21½”)

• Width 53cms (20¾”)

• Depth  35cms (13¾" )

• Width with the door open 72cms (28½”)

• the flue size is 9.7cms (3½”) 35cms from the floor

• Weight 50kgs (110 lbs)

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Original advertising from 1928