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.
It was getting dark. On the table, shining, the evening samovar was hissing, the Chinese teapot was heating up, swirling beneath it. light steam. Spilled by Olga's hand. Already fragrant tea was running through the cups in a dark stream... "Eugene Onegin", Pushkin.
Samovar - Russian tea machine - that's what 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 (cook 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. So the samovar can be considered the great-grandfather of today's multicookers
There is a legend according to which Peter I brought the samovar to Russia from Holland, but in reality samovars appeared half a century after the death of Tsar Peter. Initially in Russia, the samovar began to be made in the Urals. 275 years ago, the first samovar appeared at the Irginsky plant in the Urals. The history of its creation is quite interesting and instructive. Good example crisis management during the period of another “strengthening of the role of the state in the country’s economy.”
In China, from where tea was brought to Russia, there is a related device, which also has a pipe and a blower. But there is no real samovar anywhere else, if only because in other countries they immediately brew tea with boiling water, much like coffee.
Chinese hotpot, "cousin" of the 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 most extensive and profitable commercial enterprises. In the 19th century, tea became 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 storing coal. There was a brisk trade in sbiten at fairs.
In the 18th century, kitchen samovars appeared in the Urals and Tula, which were a silo divided into three parts: food was cooked in two, and tea in the third.
The sbitennik and the samovar-kitchen were the predecessors of the samovar. Externally, the whipped pot resembles a teapot with a large curved spout, but inside it has a soldered jug into which coals were placed (later we will see such a jug arrangement in a samovar), and at the bottom of the whipped pot there is a blower. Such sbitenniks were made in Tula. They were used to prepare hot, aromatic folk drink(sbitnya) from water, honey, spices and herbs.
Samovar-kitchen, first half of the 18th century. The sbitennik and the samovar-kitchen were the predecessors of the samovar.
URAL SAMOVAR. WAS HE NOT THE FIRST IN RUSSIA?
N. KOREPANOV, Researcher Institute of History and Archeology, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Ekaterinburg)
In 1996, Tula celebrated the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the domestic samovar. According to most researchers, industrial production of this unique product began two and a half centuries ago in the city of gunsmiths. The initial date - 1746 - was taken from the mention of a samovar found in the inventory of the property of the Onega Monastery. However, not everything here is clear and indisputable. In addition to Tula, three Ural factories are also called the birthplace of the samovar - Suksunsky, which belonged to the Demidovs, Troitsky, which was owned by the Turchaninovs, and Irginsky, its owners were certain Osokins. When talking about the history of technology and its achievements, we often mention “lefties” - nameless Russian craftsmen. Although there is nothing nameless in history, there are only forgotten names. Let's try to find out who was the “author” of the first samovar?
Let us turn to historical documents stored in the State Archive Sverdlovsk region. One of them is very curious and belongs to the customs service. It says that on February 7, 1740, some seized goods were delivered to the Yekaterinburg customs from the Chusovaya River, from the Kurinskaya pier of Akinfiy Demidov, namely: six tubs of honey, six bags of nuts and a copper samovar with a device. The victims in this case were the merchants of the Irginsky plant. Customs officials weighed out the honey and nuts and described the product: “Copper samovar, tinned, weighing 16 pounds, factory-made own work". As we see, the customs officers did not show surprise at what they saw. And yet it should be noted that the word “samovar” had not previously been found in the documents of the mining Urals. Therefore, it is necessary to explain where the merchants were coming from and where they were bringing the samovar, which, according to customs information, 16 lbs copper and tin.
Since 1727, two companies have been fighting for a place for a plant on the Irgina River, a tributary of the Sylva, near the ore mountain Krasny Yar: three Moscow merchants with a Kaluga resident against the townspeople from the city of Balakhna - Peter and Gavrila Osokin, cousins. The treasury supported the Osokins... The Irginsky plant produced the first copper in December 1728. Although copper had a high iron content, it was still suitable for coinage.
No one really knew where the Osokins recruited people to their plant from, only occasionally in Yekaterinburg they received complaints from the Kungur governor: “Many numbers of newcomers come to the Suksunsky and Irginsky factories incessantly, but what kind of natives they are, they don’t announce that, and the clerks don’t say that They don’t give it. And the newcomers, coming from these factories, start fights for the peasants of the Kungur district... But it’s impossible to catch them, because they walk around in large numbers and, starting a fight, run away to the factories.” Factory clerks also complained, but to each other. Endless litigation began over mines and forests: Irgina and neighboring Suksun turned into rivals.
The Suksun plant of Akinfiy Demidov had its own craftsmen. On Irgina, the newly minted breeders had nowhere to find masters. Two masters from Yekaterinburg taught locals how to smelt copper in Saxon furnaces with water-powered bellows. Kazan sent copper boiler master Stepan Loginov, and Perm sent copper cookware master Alexey Strezhnin. At that time, the making of copper utensils was second in profitability only to coinage. As a matter of fact, factory-made copper utensils were born here from money supplies. When in Yekaterinburg they stopped minting square money - the so-called plat (how much it costs by weight - this is the denomination), and the minting of new coins was not yet expected, the Chief Commander of the Urals Mining Plant, General Gennin, decided to at least somehow reimburse the factory expenses. This is how the Yekaterinburg Copperware Factory appeared, and behind it there were similar ones in other places.
But let's return to the specialists sent. Kotelnik Loginov trained two craftsmen for the Irginsky plant, crockery maker Strezhnin recruited nine students and, after studying for a year, went home without permission: he could not come to terms with the need for continuous production. For him, who grew up from a self-taught sheet metal worker, each product had to be unique, inimitable. And then there was mass production. And nine of his teenage students were assigned to complete their studies with the young Semyon Zylev and Ivan Smirnov trained by Loginov. These eleven people made up the staff of the boiler factory.
And here's what's interesting. Besides Zylev, the other ten people spoke “Nizhny Novgorod” - they were fellow countrymen from Nizhny Novgorod province. Master Smirnov is a schismatic from the village of Malinovka, Nizhny Novgorod bishop's village; seven of the nine students were born into schismatic families in the villages of Koposov and Kozina (patrimony of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery). Their parents fled to the Urals in 1728-1730 along with thousands of other schismatics. And it was his clerk, a fugitive peasant from the same Koposov, Rodion Fedorovich Nabatov, who paved the way for them all to the Irginsky plant. He hid as much as he could what in the mid-1730s, with the beginning of factory censuses, stunned the mining authorities. Then it was discovered that the Irginsky plant consists entirely of fugitive schismatics, mostly from the Nizhny Novgorod province! Those same ones from the Kerzhenskaya volost, nicknamed “Kerzhanians” in the 18th century, and “Kerzhaks” in the 19th century.
Meanwhile, by 1734, Irgina was already producing foundry utensils (pots, cauldrons and copper pots) and turned utensils (mugs, kungans, tubs, quarters and teapots), and also made distillery utensils (cauldrons with pipes). The dishes, of course, ended up in the Osokins’ master’s house, but the main flow of them went to Balakhna, to the Irbitskaya and Makaryevskaya fairs, for sale in Kungur, to the state-owned Yagoshikha plant (where present-day Perm is), and to Yaik. The dishes were also sold at the factory. In four years, they produced this product with a total weight of 536 pounds, and a third of it - 180 pounds - was sold at the plant. The dishes were also allowed for free sale, and in case of chronic lack of money, they were also allowed to pay workers.
On September 25, 1734, the Osokins split: Pyotr Ignatievich received the Irginsky plant, Gavrila Poluektovich received the Yugovsky plant, built a year ago. But a month later, the winds of change blew: in October the Chief Commander of the Urals Mining Plant was replaced in Yekaterinburg. Instead of the Dutchman Willim Ivanovich Gennin, Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev came.
Soon, state-owned charge masters scattered around private factories, stood on par with clerks and began to explain how to live and work. On Irgin, an order was read to the clerk Nabatov: to stop trading in utensils, and to deliver copper ingots to Yekaterinburg at a fixed price. The clerk responded by explaining that the explored ores “have been cut short, and those that have been dug up will only last until the summer.” If the treasury cannot do without copper, then let it borrow up to 25 thousand poods of ore. And indeed, in the summer of 1735, Irgin received about 20 thousand pounds of borrowed ore from the Yagoshikha plant. And that same summer the Bashkirs rebelled. And in the fall, persecution began against schismatics who had grown bolder while living under the leadership of the tolerant Dutchman Willim Gennin.
In September last time served the Rodion Nabatov plant. He signed a petition with three of Demidov’s clerks “for all Old Believers,” asking to send two or three priests “who want to keep the faith according to old printed books.” He also honestly warned that the owner Osokin would not be able to pay for the borrowed copper ore unless he spent all the smelted metal on dishes, preferably on a distillery.
The Bashkir uprising of 1735-1740 gave birth to the then famous “freemen” - voluntary detachments of factory residents and assigned peasants to pacify the Bashkirs. So, on March 14, 1736, the artisans of the Irginsky plant stopped work in an organized manner, divided into groups and marched to Kungur - to enroll in fighting hundreds to the "Bashkir war". At first they signed up without any order, until the authorities set a limit: a fifth of those able to work from a factory or village. And only two factories - Irginsky and Yugovskoy - experienced the “freedom” in full. Almost all of their workers and more than half of the assigned peasants had plenty of fun with camp life.
The first, Irginskaya “freemen” returned to their homes by July, although about forty people remained on the campaign. These were schismatics who saved themselves as best they could from harsh pressure, from peaceful and non-peaceful exhortations to go over to the fold official church. And here the new clerk, Ivan Ivanovich Shvetsov, could not do anything, because enrollment in the “freedom”, in other words, escape, was allowed.
So which of the volunteers from that distant forgotten war with the Bashkirs, who knew a variety of copper vessels on Irgin, did the idea of a portable kitchen arise? About a camp boiler that would quickly heat up without a stove or fire, could easily be hidden in a travel bag and could create home comfort in the most difficult conditions? In the end, every invention comes into being when there is a need for it.
Meanwhile, factory life continued. The borrowed ore melted disgustingly. From 20 thousand poods they received only 180 poods of pure copper. This is not bankruptcy yet, but... Clerk Shvetsov bombarded the Yekaterinburg bosses with petitions: “I ask that my masters be ordered to convert smelted copper from borrowed government ore into dishes and sell it to free hunters.” In July 1738, Yekaterinburg made a decision. In September, it became known on Irgin: make dishes and sell them wherever you want. But - for the last time!
And so, having received freedom of action, the breeder Pyotr Osokin and the clerk Ivan Shvetsov had to think hard. Traditional, ordinary copper utensils will no longer surprise anyone; many people use them. But what might really interest you is distillery equipment. Rodion Nabatov also warned: the owner Osokin will pay off the debt only by selling the expensive equipment needed there - cubes, cauldrons and pipes - to the Kungur circle yard, to private and state-owned distilleries. Pipes and cauldrons. Pipes and... So this is a samovar?
So, in September 1738, Irgina had 180 pounds of threatened copper and special permission do the dishes for the last time for the foreseeable future. A pound of pure copper at a fixed price for the treasury cost 6 kopecks, but it was allowed to make a certain product from the same copper “at your own discretion” and sell it at a higher price in order to repay the debt in money.
And now let us again remember the 16-pound product seized a year and a half later by Yekaterinburg customs officers. It was valued by merchants during interrogation at 4 rubles 80 kopecks. At that time, for a cow, depending on the season and age, they paid from two and a half to four rubles. Cost ten rubles mediocre house, twenty - a decent house.
In September 1738, there were seven remaining boilermakers on Irgin, the same ones who learned the craft from Alexei Strezhnin and Stepan Loginov. Their names were: Ivan Smirnov, Pyotr Chesnokov, Sergei Drobinin, Fedos Zakoryukin, Larion Kuznetsov, Matvey Alekseev, Nikita Fedorov. Now, from the customs documents of the 18th century, with which this story began, we know that the hands of these Irginsky craftsmen worked between September 1738 and February 1740 “their product,” as they called it.
It is generally accepted that the samovar appeared thanks to the spread of tea drinking in Russia. But the schismatics did not drink tea; they drank sbiten, a honey-based drink. (It is no coincidence that in February 1740, tubs of honey were delivered to Yekaterinburg along with the samovar.) And any connoisseur will tell you how much the samovar has in common with the sbitennik.
Pear-shaped samovar. 1940s.
Samovar with vase. Renaissance. Nickel plated brass. Beginning of the 20th century.
Samovar Florentine vase. Copper. Coinage. 1870
Samovar Egyptian vase. Nickel plated brass. 1910s.
True, in late XIX century, a kerosene samovar appeared, and the factory of the Chernikov brothers launched the production of samovars with a side pipe, which increased air movement and accelerated the boiling process.
The day before Patriotic War 1812 most large enterprise The plant of Peter Silin, located in the Moscow province, produced samovars. He produced about 3,000 of them per year, but by the 1820s all big role Tula, which was called the samovar capital, began to play a role in samovar production. In 1850, in Tula alone there were 28 samovar factories, which produced about 120 thousand samovars per year and many other copper products.
The following styles are typical for the beginning of the 19th century: ovoid with loop-shaped handles, “empire”, “krater”, reminiscent of an ancient Greek vessel, a vase with concave ovals looks especially solemn because of the legs in the form of lion paws. Everything at that time was subject to the dominant style, characteristic of the decorative and applied arts at the beginning of the 19th century. In addition to ordinary samovars, road samovars were made. The removable legs were fixed into special grooves. Shape - rectangle, cube, polyhedron. Such samovars are convenient for transportation, on a hike, for picnics.
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.
The samovar is egg-shaped. Brass. Early XIX V.
Travel samovar. Copper. Beginning of the 19th century.
Empire style samovar. Brass. Beginning of the 19th century.
Pantry samovar. Nickel plated brass. 1923
Samovar Tula - Hero City. Nickel plated brass. 1978
Samovar Teremok Brass. Beginning of the 20th century.
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 it to the 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.Samovar production in Russia reached its greatest development in 1912-1913, when 660 thousand of them were produced annually in Tula alone. First World War suspended the production of samovars, which resumed only after the end of the civil war.
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: “He began working as an apprentice at the age of 11. He 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 with teeth on one side and then secured along the connecting seam with hammer blows, after which it was carried to the forge. Then the master (the operator) repeated the operations of sealing the seam using hammers and files and secured each time by annealing in the forge. the forge from master to master and back, the boys-apprentices 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 out of a sheet of brass.”
The process of making the “Tula miracle”, which involved 12 steps, is complex and varied. There was a strict division of labor in production. There were almost no cases when a master made a complete samovar. There were seven main specialties in samovar making:
The pointer - 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 inner part 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 - 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 carried finished products for delivery on horseback, well packaged.
Samovars entered every home, characteristic feature 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 a village blizzard. These voices are not heard in a city European cafe.”
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, proverbs were formed about the samovar (“The samovar is boiling - it doesn’t tell you to leave”, “Where there is tea, there is paradise under the spruce”), 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, a medicine for 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.
The history of the appearance of the samovar in Rus'
A samovar is not just a boiler. Today the samovar is not in fashion. However, some families still have a wonderful tradition of tea drinking, when the whole family gathers around the samovar. True, now samovars are electric. And some 50 years ago, almost every family had this amazing household item.
Originally from Holland
The question arises: how did the word “samovar” appear? Some philologists claim that it has Turkic roots, and it comes from “sanabar”, which means “teapot”. This may be so, but it is quite possible that everything is simpler - this is a purely Russian combination like “steamboat” or “plane”, since in Rus' they cooked not only food, but also water.
It is interesting that the device that has become a symbol of Russia is not a national invention. It, along with other wonders, was brought from Holland by Peter I.
Peter I
Classic Dutch samovar
The cold climate played a significant role in the fact that the samovar took root in Russia. To keep warm, people drank 15-20 cups of tea a day! In addition, the samovar, heating the water, also heated the room.
Like most other things, the samovar has predecessors. These are Chinese hot pots that had a pipe, but no taps, because they were used to serve soups and broths.
Hogo
As well as devices that were used in Ancient Rome for heating water and cooking food.
Roman devices for heating food (autheps and caeda)
They also had Russian relatives, for example, devices for preparing sbiten - a hot drink with honey and herbs.
Sbitnik
It's all in the pipe
The first Russian samovars, both outside and inside, resembled English vessels for boiling water and were in use in the middle of the 18th century. By the end of the century, the samovar acquired its own design and functional features, which were preserved for many years. In addition to the pipe placed inside the tank and surrounded on all sides by water, the craftsmen came up with an attached pipe that was put on top and equipped the samovar with draft. At the same time, the entire device retained its spherical shape for a long time and was quite squat.
Samovar-ball 1760
Samovar Late XIX - early XX centuries. Tula
A samovar is not just a boiler. It is a real chemical reactor in which water softening occurs, which is important, because tea brewed in hard water is simply not tasty. The water boils, scale forms, which is deposited on the walls of the pipe and body, the main one settles to the bottom. Therefore, true masters of their craft never placed a tap at the bottom of the unit.
In order for the samovar to start heating water, it must be ignited. And this is a whole art. After pouring just a little water into a special container (just to prevent the metal from melting), they put smoldering coals into the burner, and then filled it with wood chips or cones. They put a pipe on top and fanned the coals. Water was poured into the melted samovar, and the process began. When boiling, the samovar “sang” at the first stage, made noise at the second, and seethed at the third.
The first samovar manufacturers in Russia were Ural craftsmen. Then workshops appeared in Yaroslavl, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vologda, Kostroma. The leader among them was Tula, which rightfully received the status of “the capital of the samovar.”
The first samovar workshop was created by gunsmith Fyodor Lisitsyn, and in 1778 his sons made the first samovar. In 1803 the workshop turned into a factory.
Samovar Lisitsyn.
The Lisitsyns produced very interesting products with chasing and engraving, with intricate figured taps (for example, in the form of a dolphin), with twisted and loop-shaped handles, square and oval, barrels and vases.
Lisitsyn's samovars.
Ivan Lisitsyn's samovar from 1810 is on display at the Bukhara State Historical and Architectural Museum.
An elegant samovar with loop handles by Nazar Lisitsyn adorns the collection of the Kaluga Museum of Local Lore.
Initially, samovars were made from red copper, brass and tombac (an alloy of copper with a very small addition of zinc). Sometimes they were silvered, gilded, and sometimes made of silver and cupronickel. The shape of samovars was very diverse - about 150 types were produced in Tula alone. Sketches of these products were drawn by famous artists and sculptors, hence the real works of art in the Rococo, Empire, and Art Nouveau styles.
Samovar Vorontsov (tompak)
Samovar “Vase”, 5 l. - brass, nickel, 19th century. Tula
The samovar entered and firmly established itself in all layers Russian society- from the royal court to the peasant hut. He became not only the personification of the Russian way of life, but also a certain expression of material wealth. Thus, among the peasants, the samovar was considered a luxury, because not only were metal products quite expensive, but tea itself was not cheap.
But in the cities it was a completely different picture. Samovars were placed in taverns and inns, where they were used not only for boiling water, but also for preparing food and keeping it hot. And from the beginning of the 19th century, coffee was also brewed in samovars.
Tavern samovar
Samovar “kitchen”.
Many “kitchen” samovars could prepare a full meal. From the inside, they were divided into compartments by walls, each compartment had a separate lid, a tap was attached to one of the compartments, and at the same time they prepared two dishes plus boiling water for tea. Of course, such miracle stoves were used only in road conditions, when they did not pay much attention to the sophistication of lunch.
You could also find similar cuisines at post stations and roadside taverns.
Coffee samovar.
The difference between a coffee samovar and an ordinary one was only external form- slightly flattened body cylinder and flat handles parallel to the body. The coffee samovar came with a frame with a loop into which a bag for pre-ground coffee beans was hung.
The samovar was also found in Jewish towns; it was not without reason that the foxtrot “At the samovar, me and my Masha,” which was extremely popular in the 1930s, was written by Jewish girl from Yalta Faina Gordon (married Kvyatkovskaya).
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 the first written mention of the samovar (as an object tax law) we can find 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. Chinese hotpot is famous, 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 was not used 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. Remains of a copper “heater” were found during excavations ancient city 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 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 both in 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 that time, tea was expensive, and a samovar could only afford very wealthy man. Do you remember how much the merchants valued their samovar at customs? 4 rubles 80 kopecks. A good 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 have included several paintings in which main character- 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
The 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. This is where the incredible taste of tea comes from. Remember?
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 brothers Lisitsyn. 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 yourself” 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.
The custom of drinking tea and coffee, which had become established in Russian life by the middle of the 18th century, contributed to the wider spread, along with traditional Russian dishes (brotins, valleys, ladles), new 
dishes and water heating devices - 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. TO end of the XVIII centuries, 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, it appearance And decoration changed according to 
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, 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. You can’t hear these voices in a city European cafe.”
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, he began to play an increasingly important role in samovar production. 
Tula, which was called the samovar capital.
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. Pinwheels are made in various shapes, some of them are very intricate and difficult to make.
The profiles of shaped holes (pistons) on blowers and burners are very diverse. The most important decorative elements The entire composition consisted of 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 put on top of the firebox. First, teapots appeared that retained the shape of spherical, squat tableware 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 warms up slowly, 
It is very convenient for sound to catch the fleeting second stage of boiling.
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 - 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 it to the 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 bouillette was usually placed on the table, filled with hot water. Using an alcohol lamp, the water was maintained at a boil until the samovar, filled with cold water, boiled again.
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. Be aware, however, that dry pine cones contain a lot of resin, which can leach into the water. Under no circumstances should it be used as fuel. 
use kerosene.
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.
For the Russian way of life and everyday life The samovar was not just an object for heating water, it was a kind of symbol of a family hearth, comfort, and pleasant friendly communication. The presence of a samovar in the house was evidence of material wealth. Relatives and friends gathered over a mug of aromatic tea, heated discussions took place, and serious issues were resolved.
Today in life modern man A samovar is not a mandatory attribute that should be on the table when the whole family gets together. Rather, it is a curiosity that is quite often purchased as an element of the interior.
