CHINA

"Samovarayuschie" devices in China are called "ho-go" (literally - "fire boiler"). They have a deep metal bowl mounted on a pallet. Like a samovar, it has a pipe and an ash-pit. The bowl can be closed with a lid, or it can be opened. The pipe is closed with a hinged lid consisting of two differently sized flaps, which allows you to regulate the burning speed of the coals in the pan to the temperature in the bowl. The crane for such devices was not - for not need. In the northern regions of China, in such units, soup was prepared - first boiled water, then added to boiling spices cut into very thin strips of meat, fish, vegetables, greens, etc. As soon as they were ready, these components were taken out of the soup with chopsticks and were eaten when all the "snacks" were cooked and eaten, which turned out very thickly: the broth was supplemented with noodles, which, boiling, absorbed all the remaining liquid. The noodles in the northern regions were considered the main food and ended the meal.} Thus, in the same dish immediately prepared several dishes and ate them hot, as they were ready.

For the heating of water, the Chinese have traditionally used special jugs with a lattice - cibati or kettles. The tea was brewed right in the cups. Styles antiques samovars.

Samovars-aristocrats

Throughout the history of the development of antique samovars, its appearance and decoration changed in accordance with the fluctuations in public taste. Until the middle of the XIX century, tea was distributed mainly in aristocratic circles, for the rest of the population, tea remained an expensive and little-known drink, therefore, the forms of samovars reflect primarily the tastes of educated, aristocratic layers of society.

In the XVIII century, the samovar already had all those distinctive features and constructive-functional features necessary for heating the water, which are familiar to us and now is the presence of a pipe-brazier in the form Russian copper tableware - brothas, bowls, often used the form of a barrel.

In the first period of its existence, the samovar was used only in the upper stratum of Russian society - the nobility. It was due to the fact that tea appeared in Russia only at the beginning of the XVII century, and tea drinking traditions were formed only by the middle of the XVIII century.

The forms of samovars of the second half of the 18th century already gravitate towards vertical construction, even in those cases when the master is still under the charm of traditional forms of Russian utensils. The distinctiveness of its design becomes more tangible, some parts of which are already played out decoratively.

The surviving samovars of the 1740s and 1760s consisted of two parts: a spherical removable body, inside of which was a soldered conical tube serving for traction, and a stationary pedestal with a pedestal on which a brazier for coals in the form of a low cylinder was attached.