Traditional decorative tea cup holders still crafted by hand скачать в хорошем качестве

Traditional decorative tea cup holders still crafted by hand

(24 Nov 2017) LEADIN: If you want to drink tea in Russia the traditional way, you need a cup holder - a metal receptacle designed to hold a piping hot glass of tea. The Kazakov factory in Nizhny Novgorod is still crafting cup holders by hand and prides itself on its ornate filigree designs. STORYLINE: Travel by sleeper train in Russia and you're likely to see a couple of these on the table. Drinking glasses in traditional decorative metal holders branded with the railway logo. Cup holders, or "podstakannik" as they are called in Russian, were invented in the 18th Century so people could drink hot tea from glasses without burning their fingers. The train conductor delivers glasses of hot water from the samovar at the end of the carriage, ready for passengers to add tea bags and sugar or a spoonful of jam as a sweetener. The Imperial Russian railway minister Sergei Witte introduced cup holders on trains in the late 19th Century and they've become a fixture of Russian train travel. Passengers appreciated having something that made their drinking glasses less likely to tip over. As tea drinking became increasingly popular in Russia in the 19th Century, ornate decorative cup holders became an integral part of upper class life. These delicate filigree cup holders are on display here at the cup holder factory museum in Kazakovo, Nizhny Novgorod. In the 19th Century, they reflected individual tastes and became indicators of wealth and prestige, sometimes even decorated with precious stones. Even the House of Faberge jewellery firm was engaged in decorating them. General director Vadim Skryanin says the Kazakov factory still makes cup holders the traditional way. "A Kazakovsky cup holder is traditionally made in the filigree technique. It uses a twisted copper filament of various profiles, from which an openwork pattern is created. And after that it is turned into a cup holder," he says. The Kazakov factory is the largest of its kind in Russia and every stage of the production process is carried out by hand. Workers use a template to create an intricate pattern out of copper or silver wire. The outline of the future cup holder gradually takes shape in this painstaking process that requires considerable skill. "First we receive a picture. Then, according to the template, we make certain shapes and stick them on the pattern. Then we hammer the metal," explains worker Natalya Kravtsova. After that, the piece goes to another workshop, where it is heated until it fuses together and carefully hammered into shape. The ornate design is then soldered onto its metal base. The process is less labour-intensive than the original design, but it still requires skill and extra care. The temperature of the gas burner is several hundred degrees Celsius. Finally the cup holder is cleaned and sanded down, before being given a silver coating. "After the product is assembled we degrease it in sulphuric acid, wash the carton pan, handle, rinse and hang it in the bath for silvering," says worker Lyudmila Larina. It takes up to a day to produce one cup holder. The tradition of decorative cup holders lasted until the October Revolution of 1917. During Soviet times, expensive ornate cup holders were replaced by cheap, practical ones. But many cup holders were preserved and passed down the generations, and to this day they are the subject of family pride. Deputy head of the Kazakov factory, Ana Tarasova, says there is something special about drinking tea with a traditional, handcrafted cup holder. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...