Regina Karolyis kleine Bücherwelt

Hier nun also die Innenansicht und einige Details eines antiken Samowars, hauptsächlich am Beispiel des Samowars aus der Zeit des Zaren Alexander, den Sie schon von Bild 1 der Hauptseite her kennen. Auch diese Fotos mit freundlicher Genehmigung des jeweiligen Urhebers. Weiter unten folgen Informationen über die einzelnen Teile von Samowaren sowie technische Aspekte der Samowarproduktion .
See the interior and further details of an antique samovar, mostly shown by the samovar you already saw on picture 1 of my main page. (I state again that I've got owners' permission to publish the pictures on my webpages.) Further below, you will find some information about the different parts of samovars and technical aspects of samovar production.

a) Gut zu sehen: Heizrohr/Kamin und verzinnter Kessel (mit altersbedingten Ablagerungen/Kesselstein) a) See the heating tube (chimney) and the tinned kettle (with scale, caused by long use)	b) Samowar, geöffnet b) The samovar without lid	c) Der Samowar von Bild 2, geöffnet c) Samovar from photo #2, without lid
d) Der Samowar v. Bild 1: Stempel der Fa. Bataschew aus Tula d) Samovar from #1: Hallmark of the Batashev factory in Tula	e) weiterer Stempel dieses Samowars e) Another hallmark of this ancient samovar	f) Stempel mit Zarenporträt f) Hallmark with the tsar's portrait
Erst in der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts begannen die meisten Samowarhersteller, ihre Namen, das Firmenwappen, gewonnene Medaillen/Preise u.ä. auf ihre Samoware zu stempeln. Den Kessel schmücken vor allem Medaillen mit von Modellen der Firma gewonnenen Preisen, etwa der Weltausstellung in Chicago 1893 oder der Jahrhundertausstellung von 1876 in Philadelphia. Firmen, die vom Zaren autorisiert waren oder ihm gehörten, stempelten Porträts des Zaren auf die Samoware; oft findet man auch den zweiköpfigen kaiserlichen Adler. Wenn keine andere Datierungsmöglichkeit besteht, kann das Datum der letzten gewonnenen Medaille hilfreich sein. Only at the second half of the 19th century, most samovar producers started stamping their name, company hallmark, acquired medals/prizes and so on onto their samovars. The kettles are stamped mostly with medals displaying prizes won by models of the company e.g. at the 1876 Centennial Exhibitions in Philadelphia or the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Companies which were authorised by the tsar or belonged to him stamped portraits of the tsar onto their samovars; moreover, you often find the double-headed imperial eagle there. If you don't find the exact date of the production on the samovar, the date of the latest (most recent) medal may be helpful.

Und hier noch mehr Details - see some more details:

g) Weitere Stempel mit Zarenporträt

More hallmarks with the tsar's portrait

Griff

h) Griff des Samowars: Die Griffe wurden meistens an den Corpus genietet oder geschweißt. Meistens waren sie über en Gelenk vertikal beweglich. Ihre zum Anfassen bestimmten Teile bestanden aus schlechten Wärmeleitern wie Holz, Elfenbein, Knochen oder Horn; im 20. Jahrhundert kamen Bakelit und andere Kunststoffe hinzu.
Handle of the samovar: The handles were riveted or welded to the body. Usually they had joints to allow vertical movements. The grips were made of poor heat conductors like wood, ivory, bone or horn; during the 20th century they were mostly replaced by bakelite and other plastics.

i1)

i2)

i3)

i) Der Hahn - Tropfen gehört dazu ...
Die Form des Auslasses bot künstlerische Möglichkeiten. Tier- und Pflanzenformen waren bei extravaganten Exemplaren beliebt. Auch das Küken (das Teil zum Öffnen und Schließen) wurde oft schön ausgestaltet, wobei die Form des Schlüssels sowie abstrakte und Pflanzenornamente überwogen.
i1) Hahn des Samowars von Abb.1 der Hauptseite - i2) Hahn mit Hahnengriff (Samowar #2an aus der Galerie antiker Samoware) - i3) Kopf eines Drachens als Hahn (Samowar #2r aus der Galerie antiker Samoware).
The spigot - there's rarely a Russian samovar which does not drip. The faucet was often designed according to animal and plant motives. The key was a challenge for artists too - it actually had quite often the form of a richly decorated key or consisted of abstract and plant ornaments.
i1) Spigot of the samovar from picture #1 of the samovar main page - i2) spigot with cock-shaped key (grip) (samovar #2an from the antique samovar gallery) - i3) spigot with the shape of a dragon's head (samovar #2r from the antique samovar gallery).

i4) Diverse Hahnküken antiker Samoware. Den beiden unteren Exemplaren fehlt der hölzerne Knopf zum Anfassen.
Auf Englisch nennt man diese Teile "keys", Schlüssel. Und tatsächlich war die Schlüsselform weit verbreitet - s.o. Ich halte sie jedoch für eher unpraktisch, denn die Gefahr, sich an solchen Griffen die Finger zu verbrennen, muss erheblich größer als bei den anderen Formen gewesen sein.

i4) Several spigot keys of antique samovars with different shapes. The two keys at the bottom of the photo are missing their wooden knobs. You can see that in some cases the word "key" is well applied for the device - key shape is very common in old samovar spigot keys (see above). However,in my opinion the other shapes are more practical - probably there was much danger of burning your fingers with a key-shaped key.

j) Der Sockel mit weiteren Stempeln . Er wurde meistens gegossen und bestand
üblicherweise aus schwererem Metall als der eigentliche Samowar, damit dieser nicht umkippen konnte .
The base with further hallmarks. It used to be cast and usually consists of heavier
metal than the kettle in order to prevent the samovar from tipping over.

Samowar von oben

k) Und hier sehen Sie diesen wunderbaren Samowar noch einmal von oben, mit Deckel. Nicht zu
sehen: das Überdruckventil, im Prinzip eine in den Deckel eingelassene kleine Öffnung mit einem
beweglichen Deckelchen, das sich bei übermäßiger Dampfentwicklung hob und den Dampf
abließ.

See this wonderful specimen with closed lid from above. You cannot see the steam vent which
is basically a small hole in the lid with a movable small lid of its own, which raised when the
samowar developed too much steam. The surplus steam then passed through the steam vent.

Das Innere des Kessels war üblicherweise verzinnt (was Lebensmittelechtheit garantierte), wobei die Zinnbeschichtung an den Stellen dicker war, an denen Undichtigkeiten drohten, vor allem den Verbindungsstellen des Kessel mit dem Heizrohr, den Griffen und dem Hahn. Wenn die unvermeidliche Kesselsteinschicht (bestehend aus den im Trinkwasser enthaltenen Salzen) die Heizleistung gravierend minderte, musste sie entfernt werden, wobei meistens auch die Verzinnung verloren ging, weshalb speziell ausgebildete Schmiede die Reinigung und Neuverzinnung vornahmen, manchmal auch Sinti und Roma, die durch die Dörfer wanderten und sich damit auskannten.
Weitere Sachinformationen, allerdings in englischer Sprache, finden Sie hier . (Nachschauen lohnt!)
The inner wall of the kettle used to be tinned (this made the samovar "food-proof"); the tin layer was thicker at the spots where there was danger of leaks: the connection of the kettle with the heating chimney, the handles and the spigot. When the unavoidable scale layer (consisting of the salts tap water inevitably contains) got thick enough to reduce the heating capacity, it had to be removed, but this usually also took off the tin layer and so smiths with a special training had to clean and re-tin the samovars. Sometimes also gypsies travelling from village to village did the job.
Find more information about samovar making and history here , you'll surely enjoy it.

Brennkammer

l) Brennkammer (des Samowars 2as in der Antiquitäten-Galerie). Wenn die Aussparungen der Rosette (Komfort) ein anderes Muster aufweisen als der Rand der Brennkammer, ist dies ein Hinweis darauf, dass die Rosette nicht original sein dürfte.
l) Burning chamber (of samovar 2as in the antique samovar gallery). If the pattern of the holes in the rosette is different from the pattern of the holes in the burning chamber wall, this is a hint that the rosette might not be original.

Typische Detailabbildungen weiterer Samoware ganz unterschiedlichen Alters - here are typical details of several samovars of much differing age:

		2.1.
		Unterseite Letzte Zeile: "GOST" bedeutet "Richtlinie" Vorletzte Zeile: "Zena" bedeutet "Preis" Bottom - last line: "GOST" means "guideline" 4th line: "Tsena" means "price" 2.2.
		2.3.
		Rechts: Blick in die Aschen- und die Brennkammer (Holzkohle/Kohle) 2.4. Right: Ash and burning chamber (charcoal/coal)
		2.5.

Auf dem rechten Bild von 2.4. ist sehr gut das Gitter zu erkennen, durch das die Asche des Heizguts fiel. Unter der für die Asche vorgesehenen Kammer gibt es eine Tür, mittels derer die Asche entsorgt werden kann. Das zweite Bild von rechts zeigt die Belüftungslöcher für die Brennkammer. Ihre Form variiert je nach Modell und findet sich meistens auf dem Muster des Komforts (der Rosette) wieder, wie auf dem zweiten Bild von links erkenntlich. Dieses Foto lässt auch das Überdruckventil erkennen (in der vorderen Mitte des Deckels).
On the second photo of 2.4. you can see the grate through which the ashes of the heating materials dropped. Under the chamber for the ashes there's a door which allowed to take th eash out. The second picture from the right shows the holes for airing the burning chamber. Their form varies according to model and is usually repeated by the pattern of the komfort (rosette) - see the second picture from the left. This photo also shows the steam vent in the center of the lid (facing you).
2.5. zeigt zwei wichtige Accessoires: die Tropfschale und das Tablett. Die Tropfschale kompensierte die mangelnde Dichtigkeit des Hahns. Das Tablett diente v.a. zum Auffangen von herausfallenden heißen Brennstoffteilchen, wurde aber meistens von Form und Größe her so konzipiert, dass es außer dem Samowar auch die Tropfschale und manchmal das Verlängerungsrohr des Kamins aufnehmen konnte. Übliche Formen: Rund, Oval und Schlüsselloch.
2.5. displays two important accessories, the dripping bowl and the tablet. The dripping bowl had to compensate the leaking of the spigot, whereas the tablet served for catching hot fuel particles which might drop from the burning chamber. Often the shape and size of the tablet allowed to put not only the samovar, but also the dripping bowl and in some cases also the chimney extension onto it. Common shapes: Circle, oval and keyhole.

Extract from the book/album "Russkiy Samovar - Russian Samovar", ISBN 5-268-00426-3, from 1991, summary on page 199 and 200:

Samovars are a necessary feature of the Russian mode of life and consequently a part of Russian applied art. Russian master craftsmen specialising in samovars did and still do rank high by making their produce of different forms, outlines and decors.
It is difficult to say when the first ever samovar was made, but they became widely spread throughout the country with the introduction of tea and coffee. Samovars were produced in the Urals, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl and Archangel, but most famous was Tula, an old centre of metalworking. Skilful Tula blacksmiths and armourers could easily master the new trade for the metal-working skills and habits of art work descended down from fathers to sons. The first Tula samovar workshop was opened in 1778 by the Lisitsyns, but as early as the beginning of the next century other producers appeared. As a rule, such shops included two or three rooms in a wooden house. The samovars were hand-made and the whole process consisted of several operations with the most simple instruments - hammers, tongs, scissors, cutting tools, a vice, saws and forms for forging samovars.
Tula samovars were famed highly on the inner market and abroad. Especially popular were tombac (alloy of copper with zinc) samovars from the factories belonging to the Lomov and Vorontsov brothers.
Russian samovars vary in interior construction and exterior decoration and purpose. They were made of different metals - copper, iron, silver, silver plating on copper, steal, cast iron, and their decoration testifies to different stylistic art trends echoing the general tendencies in the artistic tastes of the period.
The earliest samovars resembled English tea urns or tea vessels. They had already the principal characteristic element - a tube situated inside and a wind box, but a spout and a carrying handle instead of a tap. The vessel was used for boiling water as well as for making a hot drink of honey with spices (sbiten).
Eighteenth-century samovars often imitated the traditional Russian cups and bratinas made of copper. Later, at the end of the century, samovars began resembling vases and antique urns.
The main principles of artistic decor in the genre have been established, and richly ornamented samovars, though an inalienable household object, became works of decorative art and were rightfully included in the interior decoration and table layout.
The nineteenth century saw various types of samovars including conical, faceted, plain, in the form of a ball, a jar, a wine-glass or a small barrel, the so-called "egg-samovars", acorn-, pear, turnip-samovars, whose name were dictated by the vessels' association with certain objects.
Sizes and volume were also rather different, ranging from a glass-full to twenty litres each. By the late-19th century samovars had won popularity, both here [Russia - addition of the website owner] and abroad and such a great demand led to the unification of forms and decor. A number of standard models for mass production, differing merely in cast details, were worked out.
The samovars became the symbol of Russian hospitality and family comfort as well as a sign of prosperity. Even travellers in this country [ Russia - see above] could not manage without it and for this purpose special travelling samovars and tea caskets for all necessary accessories were invented. Step by step a peculiar ritual of tea-drinking emerged and was adopted in every Russian home. According to it, a hostess or her elder daughter poured the tea. In rich families tea was poured in an adjoining room and served by a servant. Sometimes a samovar was replaced by by a bouillotte on the table. Silver or German-silver samovars demanded a metal tea strainer, sugar-tongs and tea spoons. Some families held two samovars, one, more plain, for everyday use, and a dearer one for receptions and festivities. Samovars were usually kept in a reception-room on a special table or a side-board. There were homes with separate samovar-rooms whose interior was crowned by the samovar.
The story of samovars continues. Many old factories produce them now, such famous centres of metalworking as Tula and Suksun (the Urals) among them. Electric vessels were added to the traditional models.

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