Rue De Rivoli Stove.

Antique iron and ceramic stove manufactured in Ireland by the Musgrave foundry. The flip-up fuel lid is embossed with the flowing: "Paris 240 Rue De Rivoli; Poele Musgrave; Veritable Calorifere Irlandaise; Fabrication Irlandaise." The plaque at the bottom reads: "EN LEVEZ LES CENDRES REGUL IEREMENT ET TENEZ LA PORTE FERMEE." The Musgrave company first appears in the Belfast Directory of 1843 - 1844, where it is entered as Musgrave & Bros. Hardware Merchants, at 99 High Street. By the 1850's they were well established, not only as Hardware Merchants but also as manufacturers of their own patent slow combustion stoves. In 1891 production had reached about 100 per week, and Musgraves claimed that their Irish stove had become a household word on the continent.

There must have been some truth in this, for by 1899 the firm established a showroom in Paris. The stove features a lift off lid revealing a removable black enamel plate, and stunning ceramic floral tiles on two sides and front. The four pane door has the original mica (mica is a Plexiglas like mineral used in stove windows because it is transparent, withstands high temperatures to around 600 degrees, and is flexible so it can be used for curved windows). The stove came from The Café des Promenades in Tonnerre, established in 1880. It was locked and untouched for 41 years until the key was turned in January, 2009. Ca. 1905.

Musgrave stove (No. C553). Dimensions: 46"H x 16.5"W x 16.5"D. Shipping: $175.