Objects Database

Primus 221 (1926)

Accession Number

1573.2020.1

Object Name

Primus 221 (1926)

Created

03/11/2020

Creator

Hermione Cooper

Accession Date

03/11/2020

Brief Description

Brass Primus 221 with three pot stand legs and retractable feet.

Materials

Brass

Dimensions

20(H) x 16.5(Diameter) cms

Number Of Objects

1

Inscription Description

“TRADE MARK PRI. MUS. PRIMUS NO. 122 MADE IN SWEDEN”

Colour

Gold

Maker

Primus

Object Production Place

Sweden

Provenance

A Swede, Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist, is credited with producing the first pressurised paraffin stove back in 1892 and, unsurprisingly perhaps, called it Primus meaning foremost or first in Latin.
There followed a vast array of models in the following decades, each with a different number and a multitude of variations.
The date stamp on the 221 we have here indicates that it was made in 1926 and it’s pretty much in mint condition, though as usual there is a wee anomally.
These stoves were one of the first to be collapsible and stored/ carried in a tin which unfortunately we don’t have. To collapse it the legs can be removed and the burner unscrewed. A replacement is then required to fill the hole where the burner was to stop fuel leaking out.This is normally stored on top of the filler screw. Unfortunately, we don’t have a filler screw which doesn’t allow that to happen - see picture opposite.
We can only assume that there would have been a spare screw in the tin, or maybe the original has been replaced somewhere along the way.
Doesn’t really matter- we love quirky!

Acquisition Date

03/11/2020

Condition Check Date

03/11/2020

Rules

Spectrum : UK Museum documentation standard, V.3.1 2007

Modified

03/11/2020

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