Is it true that the samovar originated in Russia? Antique samovars: review, description, cost

Have you ever wondered since when did people boil water? There are references that the ancient Romans did this in a special way. A large hot stone had to be thrown into a vessel with water. As a result, we got boiling water. The Chinese used something similar to a samovar, but it was simple to prepare. hot water. But in Russia, the samovar appeared only in the 18th century.

Story

For some reason, there are rumors among people that Peter I brought the idea of constructing a samovar from Holland. In fact, they appeared after the death of the emperor. Judging by reliable sources, the start of production of the product dates back to 1778. The first copper samovar was made in Zarechye, Tula region, by the Lisitsyn brothers. People liked the invention and began to sell well. Over time, this allowed the brothers to expand production. They recruited more workers and created a factory for the production of samovars.

The demand for the product grew, other craftsmen noticed the profitability of production and began to open their own workshops in Tula. Now buyers were given a choice of the material from which the product was made. It could be cupronickel, copper, firebox or brass. For wealthy clients, craftsmen covered the container with silver or gold. They developed sophistication by changing the shape of the product, covering it with embossed patterns.

Device and principle of operation

A samovar is a container for heating and boiling water. A pipe is inserted inside the product, reaching the top of the samovar. It served to load fuel. The container and pipe were isolated from each other. It was covered with a burner on top. A faucet was mounted on the side of the vessel, and handles on the sides. Water was poured into the container. The pipe was filled with fuel in the form of wood chips, twigs or cones and set on fire. At the same time, it heated up and gave off heat to the water, which quickly boiled. It did not cool down immediately, since the fuel retained its temperature for some time. Thanks to the tap, boiling water was easily poured into the teapot, which was then placed on the burner. Maintaining a certain distance from the tap to the bottom prevented suspensions from boiling water from getting into the teapot. If the fuel became damp, the fire had to be fanned. According to the old grandfather's method, a tarpaulin boot was used for this, which served as furs.

Samovar as a gift

Modern samovars are associated with well-being and warmth hearth and home. They are bought for their own use, or given to newlyweds or birthday people. The beauty of the products and their variety are impressive. Khokhloma or Gzhel porcelain will decorate any table. For more demanding customers, souvenir or exclusive copies are offered.

Among water heating devices, a special place is occupied by the samovar - a Russian tea machine, as it was called in Western Europe. The word "samovar" has passed from us to almost all languages of the world. The origin of this word is now not clear to everyone, since the combination “cooks it himself” in conjunction with the word “water” seems incorrect. But just a hundred years ago the word “cook” was used not only in relation to food (boil soup, fish), but also in relation to water, along with the word “boil”. Moreover, in samovars they not only boiled water, but also cooked food and whippings.

The first mention of samovar production and samovars dates back to 1745. Established in Russian life to mid-18th century century, the custom of drinking tea and coffee contributed to the wider spread, along with traditional Russian dishes (brotins, valleys, ladles), new dishes and water heating devices - teapots, coffee pots and samovars.

Like most other inventions, the samovar had its predecessors. First of all, these are Chinese hot pots, which, like samovars, have a pipe and a blower.

But, unlike the samovar, from ancient times broths and soups were served (rather than boiled) in hot pots, and therefore they did not have taps. To this day, the Chinese brew tea in cups or teapots with a wire rack.

In ancient Rome, two types of vessels were used to heat water and cook food. The first type is autepsa. It was made in the form of a quadrangular platform surrounded by a double wall. Water was poured between the walls, and a fire was lit on the platform in the middle. This is how water was heated to be added to wine. A tripod was placed above the platform for heating or cooking food. The second type is vessels in the form of a vase with a tap, but without a pipe or blower.

The first samovars, both in appearance and in their design, were similar to the English so-called “tea urns” or “tea vessels”, which were used for boiling water and were used in England in the 1740-1770s. By the end of the 18th century, the samovar already had all the distinctive design and functional features necessary for heating water, which are familiar now. This allows us to consider the samovar a purely national Russian product.

Throughout the history of the development of the samovar, its appearance and decoration changed in accordance with fluctuations in taste. At first they bore the imprint of the Rococo style, then they gravitated towards the Empire style, and at the end of their existence they did not escape the influence of Art Nouveau. But the “internal content” remained traditional. True, at the end of the 19th century a kerosene samovar appeared, and the factory of the Chernikov brothers began producing samovars with a side pipe, which increased air movement and accelerated the boiling process.

Samovars entered every home and became a characteristic feature of Russian life. The poet Boris Sadovskoy in the preface to the collection “Samovar” wrote: “The samovar in our lives, unconsciously for ourselves, occupies a huge place. As a purely Russian phenomenon, it is beyond the understanding of foreigners. Russian people in the hum and whisper of the samovar have heard familiar voices since childhood: sighs spring wind, mother's dear songs, the cheerful inviting whistle of the village blizzard. These voices in the city European cafe Can not hear".
On the eve of the Patriotic War of 1812, the largest enterprise producing samovars was the plant of Peter Silin, located in the Moscow province. He produced about 3,000 of them per year, but by the 1820s, Tula, which was called the samovar capital, began to play an increasingly important role in samovar production.
The design of the samovar is quite complex:

Inside there is a brazier in the form of a pipe - a “jug”. A blower is made below the “jug” to enhance traction. The tank of the samovar-vase is equipped with a rim at the top, on which the lid rests with a ring. Two “bumps” are made on the lid - grips and steamers - these are small rotary lids on the holes for steam to escape.

The body of the vase rests on a tray or legs. The “jug” (broiler) is closed with a cap on top and is equipped with a burner for installing a teapot. A faucet with a wrench is used to drain the water. The pinwheels are being made various shapes, some of them are very intricate and difficult to perform.

The profiles of shaped holes (pistons) on blowers and burners are very diverse. The most important decorative elements of the entire composition were the burrs, arms and legs. The legs were made spherical, in the form of lion paws, bird legs, etc.

The great advantage of the samovar was that the fire tube in it was placed inside the tank and surrounded on all sides by water. Therefore, heat loss is small, and the coefficient useful action very high.

Samovar makers came up with an attached pipe that can be placed on the top of the firebox. First, teapots appeared that retained the shape of a spherical, squat dining room and kitchen utensils, then they were equipped with a blower and a combustion pipe, without changing their previous shape.

Thanks to its shape, which enhances resonance, the samovar has the ability to emit sounds that accurately convey the state of boiling water: at the first stage the samovar “sings”, at the second it “makes noise”, at the third it “seethes”. Since the samovar heats up slowly, it is very convenient to detect the fleeting second stage of boiling by the sound.

Moreover, a samovar is not just a boiler. It is also a chemical reactor - a hard water softener, which is very important, since tea brewed in hard water is tasteless. When boiling, the hardness decreases, since the resulting insoluble carbonates (scale) are deposited on the walls of the pipe and body (body), and the main part of them settles to the bottom. However, over time, the efficiency of the reaction decreases because of this, so the scale must be removed.

It is noteworthy that samovar masters never make the tap at the very bottom, but always slightly higher, so that the settled scale does not fall into the drink being prepared.

The 19th century is the “golden age” of samovar making in Russia. Each factory tried to come up with its own samovar, unlike the others. Hence such a variety of samovar shapes: conical, smooth, faceted, spherical, in the “neo-Greek” style, which reproduced the ancient forms of amphorae. The sizes and capacities of samovars were extremely varied: from a glass to twenty liters. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, samovars had a variety of everyday names, indicating the shape of the product: “jar”, “glass”, “vase”, “acorn”, “dula”, “turnip”, “ Easter Egg", "flame", etc.

At the same time, there was a search for universal use of samovars: coffee pot samovars, kitchen samovars, home samovars, travel samovars, etc. were created.

However, most of them did not become widespread, and in the 20th century they began to use only samovars for boiling water and serving tea table. Three typical shapes of samovars turned out to be viable: cylindrical, conical (like a vase) and spherical flattened (like a turnip). At the same time, the designs of taps, handles, legs, and burners became varied.

At this time, a bouillette (from the French bonillir - to boil) - a small vessel on a stand with an alcohol lamp - became a frequent companion of the samovar. The bouillotte was usually placed on the table, filled hot water. Using a spirit lamp, the water was maintained at a boil until the newly poured water boiled. cold water samovar.

How to make a fire samovar and what to heat it with? The best fuel for it is charcoal, dry logs and wood chips, pine cones. It should be remembered, however, that in dry pine cones a lot of resin that can get into the water. Under no circumstances should kerosene be used as fuel.

With low fuel consumption, the water in the samovar boils quickly; in addition, the samovar retains heat for a long time and does not require complex maintenance. The capacity of modern flame samovars ranges from 4.5 to 7 liters. The boiling time of water does not exceed 30 minutes. You can light the fuel in a samovar only by first filling the tank with water.

Samovar production in Russia reached its greatest development in 1912-1913, when 660 thousand samovars were produced annually in Tula alone. The First World War suspended the production of samovars, which resumed only after the end of the civil war.

IN Soviet time Both fire and electric samovars began to be manufactured. They are still produced today. Electric samovars are false samovars. They have nothing in common with a real Russian fire samovar. An electric samovar is essentially the same electric kettle, having the shape of a traditional fire samovar. It is a metal case, the inside of which serves as a water reservoir. Inside the tank there is a metal tube with a heating element.

“...Let’s stab some splinters,
Let's blow up a samovar!
For loyalty to the ancient order!
For living slowly!
Perhaps, and it will steam out the sadness
Soul sipping tea"
Alexander Blok

A samovar, as defined by V.I. Dahl, is “a water-heating vessel for making tea, a vessel, mostly copper, with a pipe and a brazier inside.” This brief definition gives the main characteristics of the samovar design and explains its appearance among other utensils.

The darkest question in the history of the Russian samovar is its origin. Some researchers say that similar designs were used back in ancient Rome and give examples of vessels autepsa and caeda, in which used the idea of an internal heater. Autepsa (lat. Аutepsa) was a semblance of a Roman fortress, made of bronze, with towers and battlements and double walls. Hot coals were placed in the middle, over which food could be cooked by placing a cauldron on a tripod. In the same time water was heated in double walls, then it was released through the tap . Such devices also served in Southern Italy and Greece for heating the home, along with braziers and portable stoves.

Caeda (lat. Caeda) was used to prepare a hot mixture of wine, honey and water . The appearance of the vessel resembled pot on three legs . Coals were placed in the middle, empty space, equipped with a grate at the bottom. There was a drink around this space. The vessel was closed with a lid, excluding the holes above the space for coals. Such bronze vessels were very expensive. They were found during excavations of rich villas in Pompeii, a Roman city that was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the 1st century AD.

Others believe that the samovar came to us in Russia from Persia, where it is called a distorted Russian word - “semizar”.

Some researchers believe that we borrowed the samovar from China, where there is a fire kho-go cauldron, a round vessel with a brazier pipe with a grate and a blower, somewhat similar to a saucepan. The "ho-go" pan stands on legs and rests on a cylindrical tray with holes for traction; in China it is still use "ho-go" for cooking. Others recall that the first domestically produced samovars were suspiciously similar to tea urns, common in English use in the 18th century, but in Russia the samovar appeared a hundred years earlier. The samovar gained worldwide fame only after it became the main attribute of Russian tea drinking.

TO 19th century the samovar became characteristic feature Russian life. A samovar on the table could not be seen only in the poorest families. They carefully polished him, and it is no coincidence that they said about the smart and self-satisfied man: “It sparkles like a copper samovar.”

The wide demand for samovars in Russia gave rise to a variety of offers, and samovars began to be made to suit all tastes and budgets. Ceremonial models of samovars were made of gold and silver, nickel-plated, decorated with gems, and covered with enamel. and gave it to famous artists to paint. We tried to impress the buyer with an original design.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the most popular samovars were in the shape of a barrel and a Russian tower. During the Patriotic War 1812 Russian officers -the winners brought such samovars with them to Paris and amazed the French. It was then that Europeans appreciated the simplicity of design and ease of use Russian samovar, and he began his victorious march through European countries.

Samovars, including those for export, are usually made with a tray - He protected the table from boiling water. The samovar kit also included rinse - a special cup, into which the remaining water from the bottom of the samovar and unfinished tea from the cups were poured. Expensive models were sold with special tea sets made of the same metal and in the same style as the samovar itself. In addition to the tray and rinse, they included teapot, creamer, sugar bowl, sugar tongs and teaspoons, tea strainer.

The most exquisite and artistic samovars were those that were ordered in a single copy to present as a gift to a noble nobleman.

Thus, in the Moscow Kremlin Museum there is a samovar made at the factory of the Chernikov brothers for Emperor Alexander I. It's made from tampaka - an alloy of copper and zinc, resembling gold in color. There are many applied gold-plated elements on its body - lion heads, armor and laurel wreaths, which were supposed to remind of victory in the War of 1812. The legs of the samovar are made in the shape of a lion's paws, the tap is in the shape of the head of a bird of prey, and the cap is a figurine of an angel playing the lute.

There was immediately a high demand for exclusive models, which were made in single copies - everyone wanted the same samovar as the Emperor himself. After waiting out of decency for some time, samovar factories launched mass production of unique samovars, for which there was a high demand - of course, simplifying the material, complex finishing and elaborate design.

It happened that famous artists agreed to make sketches for exclusive models of samovars. So, The sketch of the samovar “Rooster” for the World Industrial Exhibition held in Vienna in 1873 was created by Viktor Vasnetsov. The samovar stands on “rooster legs”, the tap ends in a “rooster head”, and the handles resemble outstretched rooster wings. This unique samovar was awarded a gold medal at the exhibition in Vienna in 1873 .

The past 250 years have not made the samovar a thing of the past. This copper miracle has a truly living soul because such concepts as hospitality and cordiality, friendly communication, home peace and comfort, the personification of which the samovar has always been and remains, remain eternally alive. To modern man The samovar helps to better understand what the ritual and traditions of real Russian tea drinking are, and to feel the genuine value of live, unhurried communication. Place it on festive table samovar and you will see how the “tea mood” of the entire feast during Maslenitsa week will change.

Drinking tea while drinking a samovar has long been considered one of the most striking and indicative features of Russian traditional life. The samovar was not an ordinary accessory household, but a kind of personification of prosperity, family comfort, well-being. It was included in a girl's dowry, passed down by inheritance, and given as a gift. Thoroughly polished, it was displayed in the most visible and honorable place in the room.

Many believe that the samovar is a truly Russian invention. However, devices similar to the samovar were known in ancient times, in ancient times.

For example, the ancient Romans, wanting to drink boiling water, took a vessel, filled it with water and threw a larger hot stone into it, causing the water to boil.

Over time, similar devices began to appear in Europe, but with a more advanced design. And in China there was even a device that resembled a samovar in that it had a pipe and a blower.
The Russian tea machine, as it was called in Western Europe, first appeared in Russia during the reign of Peter I. At that time, the Tsar often visited Holland, from where he brought many ideas and interesting objects, including a samovar. It was called, of course, differently, with a Dutch flavor, but that name has not reached our times and the device is known as a samovar.

The samovar owes its appearance to tea. Tea was brought to Russia in the 17th century from Asia and was used as a medicine among the nobility at that time.

Tea was imported to Moscow, and later to Odessa, Poltava, Kharkov, Rostov and Astrakhan. The tea trade was one of the extensive and profitable commercial enterprises. In the 19th century, tea became the Russian national drink.

Tea was a competitor to sbiten, the favorite drink Ancient Rus'. This hot drink prepared with honey and medicinal herbs in sbitennik. The sbitennik looks like a teapot, inside of which there was a pipe for loading coal. There was a brisk trade in sbiten at fairs.

In the 18th century, samovar-kitchens appeared in the Urals and Tula, which were a brotherhood divided into three parts: food was cooked in two, tea in the third. The sbitennik and the samovar-kitchen were the predecessors of the samovar.

Where and when did the first samovar appear? Who invented it? Unknown. It is only known that when going to the Urals in 1701, the Tula blacksmith-industrialist I. Demidov took with him skilled workers and coppersmiths. It is possible that samovars were already being made in Tula at that time.

During the time of Peter the Great, an unprecedented development of industry began in the Urals, construction great amount copper smelters and metallurgical plants. It was at one of these factories that they began producing household copper utensils for the population, where they began producing kettles with handles already in the 30s of the 18th century. A little later, factories began to produce cauldrons and distillery stills with pipes.

The first mention of a samovar in historical documents dates back to 1746, but it is impossible to name the exact date and place where the first samovar appeared. However, it is known for certain that by the end of the 18th century, the principles of operation and the structure of the samovar had already been completely formed, and still remain unchanged.

The first samovar factory in Russia was opened in 1766 in Moscow by A. Shmakov. But the real revolution in samovar art was made by the Tula people. From the second half of the 19th century, Tula became the “samovar capital”. At that time there were about 80 factories there, producing more than 150 styles of “tea machines”.

Externally, the first samovars were still somewhat different from modern ones. At that time they were intended mainly for use in hiking conditions, as a result of which they were small in size and had removable legs. The most common volume of samovars was 3-8 liters, although larger ones were also produced for large quantity people, 12-15 liters. Due to the fact that most of Russia has a rather cool climate, people drank several cups of tea a day. In addition, the heat of the samovar could warm up the room quite well. All this led to the fact that the samovar became very popular among the people, even despite its far from low cost. By the way, the cost of a samovar was determined depending on its weight, that is, the heavier the samovar was, the more expensive it was.

Making a samovar is a rather labor-intensive process. Workers of various specialties were involved in its production: pointers who bent copper sheets and set the shape, tinkers, turners, mechanics, assemblers and cleaners. Craftsmen in the villages made individual parts of the samovar, brought them to the factory, where they were assembled finished goods. Entire villages were engaged in the production of samovar parts all year round with the exception of summer, when work was done in the fields.

At first, samovars were made of red (pure) and green copper, cupronickel, and later they began to use cheaper alloys such as brass.

Over time, there were so many different factories producing samovars that in order to identify the manufacturer, they began to put a mark on the lids of samovars corresponding to each factory. It was something like trademark, by which one could identify the manufacturer.

Tula samovars penetrated into all corners of Russia and became decorations at fairs. Every year from May 25 to June 10, samovars were transported from Tula along the Oka River (to the Oka, samovars were carried on horses) to the Nizhny Novgorod Fair. The river route had a number of advantages: it was cheaper, and samovars were better preserved with this method of transportation.

The first places at the fairs were taken by samovars from Batashev, Lyalin, Belousov, Gudkov, Rudakov, Uvarov, and Lomov. Large manufacturers, for example Lomovs, Somovs, had their own stores in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tula and other cities.

During transportation, samovars were packed in boxes that could hold a dozen products of different sizes and styles, and were sold by weight. A dozen samovars weighed more than 4 pounds and cost 90 rubles.

It was not easy to master the craft of a samovar.

This is what N. G. Abrosimov, an old-time samovar maker in the village of Maslovo, recalls: “I started working as an apprentice at the age of 11. I studied this craft for three and a half years. For the wall (body), brass was cut to a certain size, then it was rolled into a cylinder, and this shape was created in twelve steps. The brass was cut into teeth on one side and then secured along the connecting seam with hammer blows, after which it was carried to the forge. Then the craftsman (fixer) repeated the operations of sealing the seam using hammers and files and each time secured it by annealing in the forge. Boy apprentices ran to the forge from master to master and back and gradually looked closely at how the master worked.

A lot of sweat was shed and sleepless nights were spent before the wall was made according to the manufacturer’s order. If you bring it to Tula to the manufacturer, sometimes the defect will be discovered. A lot of labor has been expended, but there is nothing to gain. The work was hard, but I loved it, it was nice when you made a miracle wall from a sheet of brass.”

The process of making the “Tula miracle” is complex and varied, which involved 12 steps. There was a strict division of labor in production. There were almost no cases when the master made the entire samovar. There were seven main specialties in samovar making:
The pointer - he bent the copper sheet, soldered it and made the appropriate shape. In a week he could make 6-8 pieces of blanks (depending on the shape) and received an average of 60 kopecks per piece.
Tinker - tinned the inside of the samovar with tin. I made 60-100 pieces a day and received 3 kopecks per piece.

Turner - sharpened the samovar on a machine and polished it (at the same time, the worker who turned the machine (turner) received 3 rubles a week). A turner could turn 8-12 pieces a day and received 18-25 kopecks per piece.
A mechanic - he made handles, taps, etc. (handles - for 3-6 samovars a day) and received 20 kopecks for each pair.

The assembler assembled the samovar from all the individual parts, soldered the taps, etc. He made up to two dozen samovars a week and received 23-25 kopecks from one.

Cleaner - cleaned the samovar (up to 10 pieces per day), received 7-10 kopecks per piece.
Wood turner - he made wooden cones for lids and handles (up to 400-600 pieces per day) and received 10 kopecks per hundred.

The process of making a samovar is long before it appears in the form in which we are accustomed to seeing it.

Assembly and finishing were underway at the factories. Manufacturing of parts - at home. It is known that entire villages made one particular part. Finished products were delivered once a week, sometimes every two weeks. They were transporting finished products for delivery on horseback, well packed.

On the eve of the Patriotic War of 1812, the largest enterprise producing samovars was the plant of Peter Silin, located in the Moscow province. He produced about 3,000 of them per year, but by the 1820s, Tula began to play an increasingly important role in samovar production.

The samovar is a part of the life and destiny of our people, reflected in its proverbs and sayings, in the works of the classics of our literature - Pushkin and Gogol, Blok and Gorky.

The samovar is poetry. This is good Russian hospitality. This is a circle of friends and family, warm and cordial peace.
A veranda window entwined with hops, a summer night with its sounds and smells, the beauty of which makes your heart skip a beat, a circle of light from a lamp with a cozy fabric lampshade and, of course... a grumbling, sparkling copper, steaming Tula samovar on the table.

Tula samovar... In our language this phrase has long become stable. A.P. Chekhov compares this absurd act, from his point of view, to a trip “to Tula with his own samovar.”

Already at that time there were proverbs about the samovar (“The samovar is boiling - it doesn’t tell you to leave”, “Where there is tea, there is paradise under the spruce tree”, songs, poems.

The newspaper “Tula Provincial Gazette” for 1872 (No. 70) wrote about the samovar as follows: “The samovar is a Friend of the family hearth, the medicine of a frozen traveler...”

The history of the Russian samovar is not too long - about two and a half centuries. But today the samovar is an integral part of Russian tea drinking. Samples of Russian samovars can be found on the antique market. The price of such samovars depends, of course, on the fame of the company or craftsman, on the safety of the sample, and on the material of the product. Prices for collectible samovars start at $500. The most expensive samovars are samovars from K. Faberge, prices for which can reach up to $25,000.

A samovar can create a surprisingly warm and cozy atmosphere in the house, add a unique flavor to family and friendly gatherings, and remind you of long-forgotten, but so pleasant Russian traditions.

It was getting dark. On the table, shining,
The evening samovar hissed,
Chinese teapot heating,
Light steam swirled beneath him.
Spilled by Olga's hand.
Through the cups in a dark stream
Already fragrant tea ran...

This story can begin with the question: “Russian samovar, is it really Russian?” Surprisingly, even in such a simple question there is a conflict between two old ideologies (Westerners and Slavophiles).

And in general, the history of the samovar has been overgrown with whole bunches of “cranberries”, and finding the truth will not be easy at all. Or maybe it’s impossible.

I suggest you follow the proven path: historical documents and, plus, simple everyday logic.

Since the story is old, you won’t be able to figure it out “quickly” - be prepared for a long text. However, if you are really interested, then you will not waste your time. It will be at least useful.

Legends about the Russian samovar

Of all the diversity of opinions and “old stories,” I would single out six (as the most common):

1. The samovar was brought to Russia from Holland by Peter I, and it was with the first emperor that the history of the Russian samovar began.

The legend is beautiful, but does not withstand the most basic test of authenticity. The fact is that in the time of Peter, Russia was already a writing country. In any case, there was a customs office, taxes were collected, and records were kept. And we can find the first written mention of the samovar (as an object of tax law) in documents that were compiled many years after the death of Peter (not to mention the time of the emperor’s trip to Holland). There is no mention of the Russian samovar in any other sources (including foreign ones).

2. The samovar was brought to Russia from China along with tea.

This version looks quite logical, but... Tea began to be imported into Russia in the seventeenth century. This is one fact. There is a well-known Chinese kho-go, which looks like a samovar. This is the second fact.

Chinese hotpot

But hot pot is not intended to “brew” tea. And in general it is not intended for cooking. Ho-go is a bowl (container) with a brazier (firebox) underneath it, which was used to maintain the temperature of food (i.e., keep it from getting cold). But only. Ho-to served not for cooking, but for serving hot dishes.

And besides, the Chinese have been using teapots and special tea cups for many centuries, and their tea culture does not involve the use of hot pot for preparing any dishes, much less such a noble drink.

In addition, similar “heating” devices have been known in history for quite a long time. For example, the Ancient Romans had them. The autepsa (this is the name of the Roman “heater”) was a cube with double walls. Water was poured between the walls, and a fire was lit in the center. In this way the water was heated and added to the wine. A tripod was placed over the fire, on which food was heated.

There were such “heaters” in Ancient Persia as well. The remains of a copper “heater” were found during excavations of the ancient city of Beljamen in the Volga region. It is believed that this device was of Bulgarian (pre-Mongolian) production.

3. The samovar came to Russia from England and is an analogue of the English “tea urn”.

Indeed, “tea vessels” or “tea urns” were used to boil water in England. However, these vessels were popular in the years 1740 - 1770. And by this time the Russian samovar was already known not only in Russia, but also in Europe.

They threw a hot stone into a vessel with water and the water began to boil. And since the water boiled, this is the samovar. The logic is simply incredible. It follows from it that the Cro-Magnons invented the airplane. They tried to get a hot stone out of boiling water, and since the stone was hot, they threw it to the side. The stone was flying... And so the plane appeared!

5. The samovar is the evolution of the sbitennik.

Sbitennik is a special vessel (device, if you like) for preparing sbitennik. Sbiten has been known in Rus' for more than 1,000 years. Before tea appeared, Russian people drank sbiten constantly and regularly. In any case, in the morning - definitely. This drink is tasty and healthy (much healthier than tea).

However, let's return to the samovar. Yes, the version is very strong - the sbitennik is almost like a samovar: a container with an inner tube for storing coal, there are devices for “supplying” the drink (a spout, like a kettle). And they cooked (cooked) sbiten in sbitennik.

Everything would be very logical and reliable if version No. 6 did not exist.

6. Ural samovar.

Tula residents consider themselves the founders of samovar construction in Russia. In 1996, Tula celebrated the 250th anniversary of the beginning industrial production samovars in the city of gunsmiths. In 1746, an entry was made in the inventory of the property of the Onega Monastery. This entry says that the monastery had a samovar made in Tula.

However (and let the residents of Tula not be offended), there is reliable evidence that the first samovars were produced in the Urals at the Suksunsky factories (the plant belonged to Demidov), Troitsky (the Turchaninov plant) and Irginsky (the owners were the Osokin brothers).

Very often, remembering the history of our fatherland, we talk about unknown heroes and unknown craftsmen. But there are no “unknowns”, but simply forgotten names.

Let's try to understand the events of the past years.

And I will start not from the beginning, but from (so to speak) the middle.

The State Archive of the Sverdlovsk Region contains a very interesting document from the customs service. It is dated February 7, 1740. According to the document, goods were delivered to the customs of Yekaterinburg from the Chusovaya River: honey in six tubs, nuts in six bags and “a tinned copper samovar, weighing 16 pounds, of our own factory work, with an instrument.” The victims in this case were the merchants of the Irginsky plant.

It is noteworthy that the customs officers were not surprised by the wonderful miracle that was discovered at the pier. And they wrote down confidently: “Samovar.” From which it follows that this was not the first time they had seen the samovar. And the cost was determined - 4 rubles 80 kopecks.

This story began in 1727, when the Osokin brothers received a place for a copper smelter on the Irginka River. The factory minted copper money (for the treasury), and when the need for money disappeared, they began to make copper utensils. It must be said that this business was profitable and the brothers became rich. They produced foundry and turned utensils.

And soon disaster struck - state-owned (state) chargemasters arrived at private factories, replaced the clerks and began to teach the craftsmen wisdom and reason. Today we would talk about strengthening the role of the state in regulating the economy. The production of utensils was stopped (at the request of a government official) and copper ingots began to be handed over to the treasury “at a fixed price.” As a result, the plant very quickly approached bankruptcy.

The owner of the plant appealed to the treasury with a request to save the plant and received permission to produce copper utensils. But, just once. And sell it wherever you want.

Around this time, the Bashkir uprising began, which gave birth to the “freedom” - volunteers from factories joined detachments to pacify the rebels. And if at other factories the artisans held on to their jobs, then at the bankrupt factory the people simply flocked to the war. After a few months, the “warriors” had fought enough and began to return home.

History has not preserved the name of that master warrior who returned to the factory from the war with the idea of creating a camp cauldron in which one could warm up on a cold night without a fire, quickly prepare hot food, and then hide this cauldron in a travel bag.

The craftsmen returned to the plant, but the plant was on the verge of ruin. There is permission from Yekaterinburg to make dishes and sell them, but only once. Who should I sell it to? Old ties have been severed and there are no reliable buyers. What to do? And then the breeder found a reliable buyer - private and state-owned distilleries, which required expensive stills, cauldrons and samovar pipes.

Samovar-kitchen

It must be said that the first samovars were very different in their appearance, and in design from modern samovars. There were samovars, divided into compartments in which it was possible to prepare the first, second, and third courses at the same time. There were also samovars for one dish. Small, 3-8 liters and 15 liters, which were popularly called “soldier’s” and “gypsy”. It was at that time that the famous kitchen samovars and heating kettles appeared.

The Golden Age of the Russian Samovar

The heyday of the Russian samovar is the end of the eighteenth century, and the nineteenth century. Until this time, tea was expensive, and only a very wealthy person could afford a samovar. Do you remember how much the merchants valued their samovar at customs? 4 rubles 80 kopecks. Nice hut cost 10 rubles, and for 20 rubles you could buy a house. A cow cost from 2.50 rubles.

Over time, samovars began to be mass-produced, which reduced the cost of samovars, and tea became more affordable.

Wealthy people willingly bought samovars, samovars appeared in taverns, and “public samovars” were also popular.

Before the Patriotic War of 1812, the main supplier of samovars was Pyotr Silin, who owned a factory in the Moscow province. He produced up to 3,000 samovars a year.

But after the war the situation changed and the main samovar production moved to Tula. There were 28 samovar factories in the city of gunsmiths, which were already producing 120,000 samovars and accessories for them.

Samovars of various styles appeared: “empire”, “crater”, samovar-jar, samovar-dula, samovar-glass, etc. Each factory tried to come up with its own samovar, unlike its competitors’ products. Kitchen samovars, coffee pot samovars, travel samovars, and kerosene samovars (which were very popular in the Caucasus) were put into production. But all these new products simply faded away by the end of the 19th century. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, only tea was drunk from samovars. And by the beginning of the First World War, Tula was producing more than 660,000 samovars per year.

The soul of the Russian samovar

With such production volumes, the samovar has become a fixture in every home. And he didn’t just enter - the samovar became a characteristic feature of national life.

The poet Boris Sadovskoy in the preface to the collection “Samovar” wrote:

The samovar in our life, unconsciously for ourselves, takes up a huge place. As a purely Russian phenomenon, it is beyond the understanding of foreigners. In the hum and whisper of a samovar, a Russian person imagines familiar voices from childhood: the sighs of the spring wind, the mother’s dear songs, the cheerful inviting whistle of a village blizzard. These voices are not heard in a city European cafe.

So it was - the samovar became part of the culture of the people. Pushkin and Gogol, Blok and Gorky wrote about him.

And how artists wrote (and write) it. In this post I included several paintings in which the main character is a samovar. If you have a desire, then you can see more voluminous collections of paintings dedicated to the samovar:

The samovar stands on an embroidered tablecloth. Artist Evgeny Mukovnin
Still lifes. Tea from a samovar
Russian miracle samovar photo

Romance and poetry of a table decorated with a samovar, and a summer night, and blooming hops, and honey smells... And the heart skips a beat from the cozy fabric lampshade, lace tablecloth, bouquet of lilacs, and the song of the samovar.

And a Russian samovar simply must be melodious. At first it sings subtly and tenderly, then it makes a noise like a winter blizzard, and then it bubbles like a spring stream. And this is no coincidence - a real samovar was made in such a way (the shape of the body) that it would definitely sing.

What kind of tea is in the samovar? This is not an electric boiler. A samovar is a real chemical reactor that effectively reduces water hardness. In a real samovar, the water is heated differently than in a kettle (from bottom to top. Warm water rises up along with salts, minerals, etc.). But in a samovar, the water is heated all at once and insoluble carbonates settle to the bottom (that’s why the samovar faucet is always higher than the bottom) and, to a lesser extent, on the pipe. Hence this incredible taste tea. Remember?