The device of the samovar
Such a cup was put under the samovar tap, the remainder of the water from the bottom of the samovar body was poured into it, the rest of the tea from the cups after the tea-drinking. The rinsers were low and wide vessels on a pedicle with a wide flat base. The form of the body of the rinser was in the form of a round bowl ("Ordinary" style) or in the form of a wide and short cylinder, slightly narrowed upward, with the upper edge bent outward ("Raphael" style). Silver and Melchior samovars of exquisite forms relied on metal sets, which formed a single ensemble with them. In the samovar service, samovars in Moscow except for a tray and rinser, there was also a teapot, a creamer or a milkman, a sugar bowl, a rinse cup, tongs and teaspoons. Sometimes a tea strainer was added. The tray in these cases was only rectangular, special "service", that is, it is wide enough, almost square, so that all items could be placed on it together with the samovar. Such samovar services, in particular, were presented at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 by the factories of the successors of V.S. Batashev, the brothers Shemarins, Alexey and Ivan Batashev (younger representatives of the famous company "Batashev brothers"). In rich families, two samovars were planted: one for each day, one for holidays and guests. They put the samovar in the living room, the samovar in Moscow, in a corner, or at the wall to a special samovar table or half-buffet. There were houses where a special tea room was set up, in which, of course, samovar dominated. Traditional (folk) styles of samovars.
By the middle of the XIX century, the nobility had ceased to be the only consumer of the production of samovar production. Tea drinking in Russia entered the everyday life of the general population.
The variety of styles of life and tastes of buyers of samovars of that time brings to life the variety of samovar styles. It was in the second half of the 19th century that many forms of samovars appeared that had not existed before, but which later became traditional.
Samovars differ in shape, volume, material: copper, brass, brass-nickel (two parts of copper + one part of zinc), brass nickel, tombakovy (82% copper and 18% zinc), nickel (An alloy of copper, zinc and nickel, most similar to silver), as well as artistic design: the shape of a pallet (round, square), handles, twig (lattice, branch).
In the XIX century, a number of standardized samples were developed, convenient for mass production. Technical progress has led to a narrower specialization of craftsmen in the manufacture of individual parts and parts of the samovar. Over time, large factories begin to deal only with the assembly and final finishing of samovars. The form, the interpretation of details, the decor motifs become more a sign of the era, the tastes of time, and not the face of the factory, the workshop or the creative handwriting of the master.
Standardized details of samovars, and along with them-shapes and decor. The division of labor and technical innovations (for example, nickel plating) from the second half of the XIX century lead to a reduction in the price of samovars and at the same time to a decrease in their overall artistic level.
In the second half of the XIX century, the sizes and capacities of samovars were extremely varied - from a glass to twenty liters. The color of the products depended on the metal from which they were made: silver, red copper, brass, tombak (an alloy of copper and zinc, had a rich reddish hue), overhead silver, although for some samovars used and uncharacteristic materials - steel and cast iron.