Help identifying antique Godin cast iron parlor stove

[william eppler]

I want to bid on the following piece more for my wife but was hoping anyone could help me with some details the seller does not know.

1. Can someone tell me how old this is? I'm guessing 1890-1910?
2. Would it be safe to use if properly ventilated in our living room occasionally?

(broken link removed to http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140963083138)

Thanks, and any replies with help are appreciated. I'm not much of an expert.

Bill

 

[BrotherBart]

Godin has made so many stoves for so long it is pretty much impossible to know when it was made. As to using the stove it is a safe bet that if you can get a permit to install it your homeowner's insurance won't cover it due to lack of UL safety certification.

It is a nice ornamental piece.

 

[fossil]

It's a real pretty old piece, but I wouldn't bother going to the trouble and expense of installing a flue on it thinking I was going to burn in it. Rick

 

[begreen]

It would be good to get a professional appraisal of the stove by someone that is an expert on Godins. It could be quite old, Godin is one of the earliest cast iron stove makers. It looks like it was a coal or briquette burner. I agree with fossil that I wouldn't buy this for heating, but more for its aesthetics.

Some Godin history:
http://www.antiques-bible.com/godin-stoves/

Godin Guise Aisne - seems to place this stove as made at the original Godin factory, perhaps during the life of Jean-Baptiste André Godin (inventor of the cast iron frying pan). If so it would date in the mid to late 1800's. In France he is also known for his work on social reform. He grew up in poverty and vowed to do his best to eliminate it in his towns of Guise and Aisne. His is well known for creating Le Familistère which was an early progressive housing project for the workers of the town.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_André_Godin