Background
A samovar is a way to heat and serve
hot water and was intended for
making tea. This set was purchased by my mother in China around
1920.
She said at that time this was a very nice one. Made in Tula
Russia at the factory of Vasiliy Stepanovich Batashev. The handle
has become separated form the chimney and needs to be
braised or newly riveted back on. I've tried solder, but it's not
strong enough.
This was fired up for winter family gatherings like Thanksgiving or
Christmass but not in the summer time since it adds a lot of heat to a
room.
Parts
Samovar - to heat water, about 18" high
to top of pot holder.
Tray - catches drips & protects table from Samovar feet
Sump Bowl - catches and water dripping from the spigot
Chimney - to make fire hotter
Chimney Cap - to smother fire
Chimney pot holder - to support a tea pot and still let smoke to vent
Operation
- Lid is lifted up and water poured inside
- Burning charcoal is put down the chimney
- When the water is hot, just open the spigot
- When more charcoal is added install the chimney to make a draft
to fan the fire
- When done put the chimney cap on to smother the fire
- When cool open the door at the bottom to remove the ashes.
There are wooden handles on the main Samovar body as well as on the
spigot, lid, chimney and chimney cap. This helps when working
with any of these when the Samovar is hot. But more insulation is
recommended.
Russian Cyrillic Stamps
Left are the 6 circular stamps surrounding the 3 lines of letters on
the removable lid.
The 2 circular stamps on the base surround what appears to be the same
3 lines of lettering as on the lid.
The stamp with "1870" means that the factory won an award in 1870 and
so this samovar was made not too long after that date.
Other methods of Boiling Water
Kettle on the Stove
To me this seems to be using way more
energy than needed, a good amount of which goes to heat the room.
Maybe a good thing in the winter.
Hot Water Tap at Sink
Again it seems the focus is on
convience but the ones I've seen have no insulation. The idea is
water is heated to boiling shortly after the tap is opened.
Electric Hot Pot
Just a well insulated pot with a thermostatically controlled heater to
hold the water at 140 deg F. This is far from 212 deg F for
boiling but fine for a hot drink. There's a button to force a
boil it that's needed.
I feel this is a much more efficient way.
This particular one probably was on what I call a "Rita sale".
That's when my wife walkes into a store and finds something marked down
by 90%, i.e. she gets it for 10¢ on the $.
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