Vintage samovars: review, description, cost

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

For a century and a half, samovars have been an integral part of Russian life. They are a device for boiling water and making tea. Initially, the water in them was heated by an internal firebox, which was a high tube filled with charcoal. A little later, kerosene, electric and other types of samovars appeared. They have now been almost universally replaced by teapots.

Vintage samovars: a bit of history

Today these vintage devices with exquisite artwork are popular with collectors and connoisseurs alike.

In Russia, the tradition of tea drinking, as you know, came from the East, where there were special utensils for making tea drinks. But it was Russian craftsmen who invented the samovar in the form of a familiar device for all of us.

It is difficult to name the exact date of appearance of such products, but the peak of their popularity is considered to be the 19thcentury. At this time, many factories were opened throughout the country, producing such products. But among them, it was the masters of Tula who became especially famous. Manufacturers such as the Lisitsyns, Kapyrzins, Lomovs, Shemarins, Gornins, Vorontsovs, Batashevs, Teile and many others were known both in Russia and in Europe.

The first manufacturers of samovars in Tula were the Lisitsyn brothers, who opened a samovar establishment at the end of the 18th century. Their products were famous for their exquisite forms. Also well known are the old Tula samovars of the Lomovs, who at that time produced about 1000 items a year.

As a rule, the whole family was engaged in the production of products, and their experience and tools were inherited. That is why there could be several hallmarks of masters on one product. Tula samovars were made not only directly in Tula itself, but also in its environs, but this did not stop us from calling all samovars from these places Tula.

Copper was originally used for manufacturing (more precisely, an alloy of copper and zinc). But since it was customary to polish these products to a shine, the copper samovar broke down very quickly. After some time, the craftsmen began to use brass and cupronickel.

Next, we will look at what vintage samovars are and their cost.

Types of structures

According to the method of heating water, old samovars are divided into:

• Fire (coal, wood), from which the history of samovar business actually began. For heatingwater, you can use almost any wood combustible material (coal, wood, cones, etc.).
• Electrical. Water is heated by a heating element. The main advantage is the absence of smoke and soot.
• Combined, combining two types of water heating - from electricity and from the heat of burning fuel.

At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, new types of samovars began to be produced: kerosene, Parichko products and Chernikovs' copper appliances with a side pipe.

Also, ancient samovars differ in shape. Banks are considered the cheapest, then, in ascending order, a glass, a ball, and then a vase, an egg.

Volume of samovars

These devices vary in displacement.

The most popular vintage samovars are coal from 3 to 7 liters. Products smaller than 3 liters are usually more expensive than their larger counterparts as they are more difficult to manufacture and are rarer.

Electric samovars are from 1.5 to 3 liters. Large sizes are quite rare.

Material for making

Samovars are made from different materials. The most common are brass products, as well as copper, cupronickel and tombac.

Copper samovars were considered festive, so they are the most expensive. Now sold mostly copper-plated brass products, but you can also find an old copper samovar. On sale, gold-colored brass devices are most often found (they look veryelegant, but need careful care of their surface) and nickel-plated brass (they have a silver color, they also look beautiful, but do not require special care).

Painted brass samovars are also widespread.

Heating samovars

From the point of view of antique value, it is coal-fired samovars that have the greatest attraction, where the main fuel is coal. Since in those days coal was far from affordable for everyone, firewood was often used for the furnace, which was laid in the inner pipe.

Ancient wood-fired samovars are no less in demand among antique dealers. Visually, they differ little from their coal counterparts. But true connoisseurs of antiquity will distinguish them instantly.

Genuine products of the 17th - early 19th centuries are of the greatest value, each of which is unique in its own way and is a work of art. The mark of the master is considered the standard of the highest quality of an old samovar.

Advantages and disadvantages of wood-burning samovars

These are real old samovars, which means you can touch the real Russian tradition of tea drinking, which is almost two hundred years old. The advantage of fireware is that the heated water in them cools down more slowly.

Among the disadvantages are:

1) Old flame samovars (prices for them are very different) need to be heated when they are completely filled with water. If this rule is not observed, they can be soldered. Therefore, if it is necessary to heat the water in a cooled device, it is imperative to add liquid, and only then reheat it. However meltan extinct samovar is not easy, therefore, most likely, you will have to drain the water, remove the old fuel, pour water and melt it again.

2) You can melt coal samovars only in open areas, or insert the pipe into a special hood.

3) Flame samovars are much more expensive than similar electric ones.

Electric samovars

These products have replaced the flame counterparts already in the era of developed socialism. By their design, they are much simpler and do not have the traditional sophistication of forms and elements. That is why electric samovars have the least collectible value.

Advantages and disadvantages of electric samovars

Electric options are more convenient to heat up, and with any volume of water (if only the heating element is covered). They can be used indoors. Most electric samovars have a thermal switch.

The main disadvantage of an electric samovar is that it is not a samovar, but rather a non-standard electric kettle. Here you can not smell the cones or apple twigs. After heating, it will cool faster than the flame one, since there are no slowly cooling coals inside it. It cannot be used outdoors as there is no electricity.

Combined vintage samovars

Since progress does not stand still, the purchase of a combined samovar will be a very successful acquisition, combining the advantages of flame and electric counterparts. You can melt such a device with firewood, and when the water cools down, heat it up with electricity. Useit can be both outdoors and indoors.

The only disadvantage of combined samovars is their cost, which is higher than both wood-burning and electric versions of similar size and shape.

How much does an old samovar cost?

Those who want to have an old samovar in their home without any problems can buy it at the antique market, which very successfully supplies everyone with such products that differ in appearance, quality, artistic merit, manufacturing time, volume and price. It is quite difficult for ordinary buyers, unlike collectors, to understand all the subtleties, although sometimes even collectors do not know how to evaluate a particular product. After all, for example, only one Tula factory of V. S. Batashev produced more than 50 shapes and sizes of various samovars, and if you take into account other manufacturers, it becomes not so easy to determine the price of this popular product.

As we have already said, the cost of vintage samovars can be very different, depending on many factors. And first of all, it is the age of the product that is important here (the older it is, the more valuable). For example, a device that was produced in tsarist times is several times more expensive than its Soviet counterparts.

The uniqueness of the samovar is also important. Exclusive things, handicrafts have always been highly valued, and if the age of the product is solid, then this is, without a doubt, antiques. The same can be said about the form.

Another criterionInfluencing the price of a samovar is the popularity of the manufacturer, the presence of the manufacturer's stamp or the brand of the manufacturer. So, for example, an old samovar with medals is much more expensive. In addition, the preservation and artistic value of decorative elements is important.

All samovars can be conditionally divided into 3 categories:

1. Old samovars (their prices are very different). They are made, as a rule, at the highest artistic level and made of expensive material. On the antique market, such copies are rare, and the price here is determined, as a rule, by the seller. The buyer is left to either purchase at this price, or look for another price. The cost of such a product reaches several tens of thousands of dollars.
2. This category includes products that have a good artistic elaboration, non-standard shape, covered with silver. There are many more such samovars on the market, so the seller and the buyer can agree on a price. The price range is around $10,000.
3. This category includes mass-produced products, ordinary and purely functional. The price for such goods is usually offered by the buyer. Such samovars can cost approximately $500.