Have you ever come across a samovar in Russian art and literature, a curious metal object that seems to master the scenes during tea time and beyond? The word “samovar” (самова́р) is derived from the Russian “samo,” meaning “self, from itself,” and “varit,” which literally means “to boil.” Compounding the two words, its meaning is “to boil by itself,” which exactly describes the samovar’s task of almost perpetually boiling the water inside it. This object has a very long history and over the years, thanks in part to the arrival of tea in Russia, it has taken on strong social and convivial meanings, so much so that it is considered the patron saint of Russian families, as well as the prince of the Russian tea ceremony. Read on and I will reveal everything you need to know about the samovar!

What is the samovar and what does it look like?

We have said that the Russian samovar is a kind of kettle. Speaking of its form and thus also of its operation, it is important to point out that there are different types of samovars that differ in their power supply. The main ones are three:

• Traditional samovar, thus fueled by combustion (using coal, wood or dry pine cones);
• Electric samovar, whose heat is produced by electricity;
• Mixed samovar, which can be powered by fuel or by electric cable.

The materials used to make up samovars can be diverse and range from brass and steel to precious metals such as gold and silver.

It is an extremely complex object in its constitution and composed of so many different pieces (so many that its construction in the past involved the work of entire villages), but we will look at the main ones. Starting from the bottom we first find the legs. These have not only a supporting or merely aesthetic purpose, but in combustion samovars they become essential to separate the brazier from the table and tablecloths, warding off any fires. Going up, just above the legs, we find precisely the brazier or the electrical control unit in the electric samovar. Both are connected to an internal metal tube that has the function of heating water throughout the height of the samovar urn. On the urn are placed the handles and the tap from which the boiling water is drawn. On the top of the urn, which is the main body of the samovar, however, we find a very special lid equipped with a system that allows it to be screwed onto the urn so that it does not move, and in the center of the lid the samovar continues with a protuberance equipped with holes and the support for the teapot, which is kept hot precisely because of the boiling steam that comes out of the holes in the samovar lid.

History: the travels of the samovar

You would think that the samovar originated in Russia, but in fact it did not! Its history is much longer and more troubled than we imagine. Early traces of the samovar’s ancestors date back even to ancient Roman and Greek societies. Initially it was the aenum, a rudimentary earthenware pot of Latin origin, used for purely culinary purposes, in which red-hot irons or stones were placed so that the water inside the pot remained hot. The aenum in ancient Greece evolved into authepsa (from the Greek for “self-heating”), which was a vessel shaped like a vase, with a central tube inside in which hot coals were placed. Authepsa moved away from kitchens and onto banquet tables, becoming more and more finely crafted and even conquering the very luxurious tables of the domus of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Given the vastness and extent of the empires from which it originated, this object traveled a great deal over time, adapting to cultures and countries as diverse as Iran, Mongolia, and Holland. Legend has it that it was from Holland that Peter the Great brought the first samovar to Russia. Actually in Russia itself the samovar already had its own ancestor named sbitennik! The sbitennik, an object very much in vogue in the 17th century, was used to prepare sbiten, a hot drink made of water and spices, and was shaped like a sort of teapot with a space inside to be reserved for hot coal.

The first official samovar found dates back to 1701, coming from the city of Tula and built by a shipowner named Demidov. In the mid-18th century, several official historical documents begin to be found testifying to an increasing production of samovars, which in Tula and the Urals had now taken hold involving entire villages in their construction. But let us pause for a moment: why is it precisely in the eighteenth century in Russia that this almost inordinate production of such objects begins? Because in the 1700s, tea arrived in Russia. Tea also has its evolution and instead of being used only in the medical field, it begins to take on a social connotation: the Russian tea ceremony is born, a ritual initially in need of an identity that it finds in the samovar.

 

Eighteenth-century production went wild, even going so far as to invent kitchen-samovars, or samovars comprising three different compartments: two for cooking and one for making tea.

In about 1780 the samovar also officially became an industrial object. Mass production by Fedor Lisitsyn began in Tula. And it is precisely Tula, a few decades later, that will be named the samovar capital in 1830. And it was in the nineteenth century that the samovar completely conquered Russia, became its symbol and expressed the social status of the families and people who owned it.The wealthiest and noblest people had in their homes samovars of handcrafted workmanship, very large, composed of precious materials, while those with less economic possibilities would have to make do with simpler objects.

 

The 20th century sought to modify the forms of this object that had become almost mythical. In the early 1900s, fossil-fuel samovars were patented, which would never catch on because of the foul smell. During World War I the samovar is de-magged, depleted, and made essential for military use and the alternative use, to the construction of weapons, of raw materials. The story ends, so to speak, in the mid-1900s when the electric samovar is patented and nickel-plated metal or steel is used as materials.

How to use the Russian samovar

After this very long story it is time to get comfortable and finally use the samovar for what its purpose is: to prepare tea according to the Russian tea ceremony.

Before proceeding with any operation, it is essential to clean and polish the samovar thoroughly. A clean samovar is an indication of great hospitality and shows consideration for the host. Once it is well cleaned you insert water inside the boiler or urn and turn on the samovar. Now you have to wait for the water to heat up and prepare the zavarka inside the teapot. The zavarka is an infusion of black tea, very strong and very concentrated, which will only fill the teacup one quarter full, while the remaining three quarters will be filled with the water kept hot inside the samovar. The samovar allows you to be able to have the tea constantly hot and thus prolong the pleasure of tea time!

Buying a samovar

The samovar is certainly an object of great charm, whether to be kept in one’s home or in a catering business. Finding Russian artisans who make samovars is next to impossible, but these are items that are fairly easily found in the vintage and second-hand markets or that you can have shipped new from Russia.

Online you can find several sites devoted to selling these items, tea store sites or on Amazon. It is definitely an expensive item, of no small value, so if you decide to buy it you have to be very careful about its condition, especially if it is a second-hand item. In fact, prices range from 100 to 500 dollars or more if you are dealing with an antique samovar.

It is essential to check that the faucet and boiler are in excellent condition. The former must absolutely not leak water, and the latter must have a smooth surface without excessive welding. In case it has a brazier, this must not be ruined and the lid must remain firmly on the base of the urn. The material must be of good quality. Nickel-plated brass is preferable, but there are also excellent steel products. The handles should be strong, firm, and of a heat-resistant material.

Fun facts about the samovar

We discovered together an object with a very long history, which was able to conquer a whole and immense country (and perhaps not only one). Around the samovar many stories have revolved and sprung up, some good, some less so, and many small curiosities have developed. In this paragraph I leave you with some of them:

• Samovar is conviviality, but not only that. There are small samovars that can hold, in volume of water, a few or even a single teacup, which are called selfish samovars or tête-à-tête samovars.
• The world’s smallest samovar is a small work of art. It was built by Nicolai Aldunin, is 1.2 mm in size, made up of 12 parts, and the only material used is gold.
• The world’s largest samovar is located in Ukraine, currently in operation at the Kharkiv station. It weighs more than three quintals, is 1.80 m high, holds 360 l of water, and can serve up to ten thousand people! Of course, it takes hours for the water inside to heat up and days for it to cool down.
• There is no limit to luxury, the samovar itself is an expensive object, but in the late 1800s and early 1900s, jeweler Carl Fabergé built the world’s most valuable samovar. A silver and gold jewel that touched a price tag of 274,400 pounds and is priceless today.
• Samovars in the past were sold by weight! Yes, just like food products. The more a samovar weighed, the more the price of it increased.
• A little more history and politics. Vladimir Lenin declared about the city of Tula the following words, “The significance of the city of Tula for our republic is enormous, but the people who live there are not of ours.” This is a sentence due to the fact that the Tula shipowners lived very well by building and selling samovars, and when they were required to build weapons for free for the revolutionaries they did not show the enthusiasm Lenin expected.
• “I must drink a lot of tea or I cannot work. Tea releases the potential that slumbers in the depths of my soul.” This is a phrase from Lev Tolstoy, who loved tea so much that he kept a samovar on his desk.

There are a great many sayings in Russia in which the samovar features prominently. I leave you with a saying used for inviting or letting guests stay in one’s home, which expresses how fundamental this object is in conviviality and Russian society: “The samovar is boiling, order not to leave.”