Brilliant Sunshine Help Inquiry

Hello everyone!
I previously posted in a different forum, and someone suggested that I start a new thread and post my inquiries here to get the best results.
I have a Reading Stove Works "Brilliant Sunshine". I am not sure of the model number.
I recently acquired this stove and did some cleaning and polishing. It looks great now! I don't know if this has been restored or not, but the finishes seem to be original, and the stove seems to be fully complete and in working order.I think it will be a great addition to heat my "Man-Cave".
I know how to light it and use it's general functions, and have been told that I should only burn Anthracite coal, as other types of coal will ruin the unit. Other than this, I know little information about it. It would be great to obtain more information about this unit, as I have found very little through my research. If anyone has any information you feel may be useful, please enlighten me! If opossible, I was also interested in knowing what this stove could possibly be worth??? I have only found auction pricing for similar units, and not an actual "retail" value.
Thanks for your help!

It looks excellent! Yep those are dedicated anthracite burners and are/were a popular design that was copied by many. As far as what it's worth, that is subjective. They are worth whatever someone is willing to pay so to speak.

Welcome Artguy,

I have not seen a colored mica stove like that, is it enamel coated ?

All you could ever read is in a 50 plus page thread a member here has called "bride" something something or something by Nortican.

Great looking stove, I hope to find a mica stove someday to restore as I have always liked their looks. They have to look fabulous in person when loaded up with coal and to be able to view the fire from all those windows.

Welcome to NEPA Crossroads.
Take a look at this thread for starters:

Reading stove works brilliant sunshine

Thanks CoaLen, I previously read that thread and that's where I saw that I should probably only use Anthracite coal... Then SteveZee confirmed it.
I am not sure that I actually need to know any more about the unit, but thought if anybody had any constructive input or knew of an approximate value, it would be nice to know and couldn't hurt to post an inquiry.

Very unique stove! Price? There's am antique stove shop in Maine..... I'll bet if you saw that stove there it would be priced around $4,000. I'll also bet it would be there a long time. What have you seen for auction prices?

Freddy wrote:Very unique stove! Price? There's am antique stove shop in Maine..... I'll bet if you saw that stove there it would be priced around $4,000. I'll also bet it would be there a long time. What have you seen for auction prices?

That's a bit steep. I'd say that Bryants (in Thorndike, Me) who are one of the lowere priced of the antique stove guys would sell that for between $1500-$2000. They actually have several of that design in the store that are unrestored. They only restore them after a customer desides to purchase one. It's was a very popular design but all those mica windows created allot of maintenance. They also radiate allot of heat thought too on the upside.

I could be wrong but would they have used blue enamel when that stove was built?

That is a beautiful stove...a work of art really.

Smokeyja wrote:I could be wrong but would they have used blue enamel when that stove was built?

It looks original to me Josh, just because it is enameled. They had some weird colors on the cookstoves in the 30's. That tan with the dark edges and that green color.

SteveZee wrote:

Smokeyja wrote:I could be wrong but would they have used blue enamel when that stove was built?

It looks original to me Josh, just because it is enameled. They had some weird colors on the cookstoves in the 30's. That tan with the dark edges and that green color.

It sure does. Was it still considered the "art deco" period?

I know the Deville Express I have came in a enameled blue like that as well. Come to think of it it was the same period.

http://antiquefrenchstove.com/Antique%2 ... 20sale.htm?

Smokeyja wrote:

SteveZee wrote:

Smokeyja wrote:I could be wrong but would they have used blue enamel when that stove was built?

It looks original to me Josh, just because it is enameled. They had some weird colors on the cookstoves in the 30's. That tan with the dark edges and that green color.

It sure does. Was it still considered the "art deco" period?

I know the Deville Express I have came in a enameled blue like that as well. Come to think of it it was the same period.

http://antiquefrenchstove.com/Antique%2 ... 20sale.htm?

Thanks guys; it probably is enamel...I don't know the difference of some finishes by looking at them. Regarding it's age: I wish it was required to have date stamps on these things!
Found article a little interesting at this link:
http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/porclain.htm
This is interesting too! :
http://goodtimestove.blogspot.com/searc ... y%20Stoves

No it is not from the 30's. It most likely dates from around 1910-1915. Some stoves had enamel finishes they weren't very common but they did exist. Mica base burners of this type were made from the early 1880's up to around 1920. By the early 20's central heating had become common place. It is a later, simplified style of Art Nouveau.

wsherrick wrote:No it is not from the 30's. It most likely dates from around 1910-1915. Some stoves had enamel finishes they weren't very common but they did exist. Mica base burners of this type were made from the early 1880's up to around 1920. By the early 20's central heating had become common place. It is a later, simplified style of Art Nouveau.

Thanks Wsherrick,
I looked at other stoves of that time-frame and found that Sears Roebuck sold a similar looking mica unit by a different company. Though the finishes weren't as brilliant, the art Nouveau styling was very close.
Do you (or anybody) know what "type" of stove to call this? It doesn't seem to really fit in the "Potbelly" catagory, someone said they wouldn't really call it a "Parlor" Stove. So, (not that I'm looking to do so, but) if I were to post it for sale, what would I call it other than: Reading Stove Works "Brilliant Sunshine" Coal burner???

Thanks for your input!

I would call it: Antique Stove, Radiant Base Burner. Then go on to maker and model.

Auction prices are generally accepted as market prices for most things. For stoves though Ebay prices can be misleading because so many listings are so badly done and don't contain near enough information which discourages bidding. Very few will bid $1,000 or more without knowing all about the item unless it happens to be a bargain price where allowance can be made for shortcomings. I have seen what looks to be very desirable stoves get no bids for this reason.