Keywords
Ural metal art, British-Russian artistic connections, Ural copper tableware, sketches of metal tableware, tea urn, samovar,
How to Cite
Borshсh E. V. The question of the British origin of the Ural copper tableware models of the second half of the 18th–19th centuries // The Art of Eurasia, 2025. № 3 (38). P. 44-55. URL: https://doi.org/10.46748/ARTEURAS.2025.03.002.
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Abstract
The shapes and decor of copper tableware from the Ural factories of the 18th century are usually associated with the European Baroque and Rococo styles, as well as Old Russian and Eastern models. The reflection of neoclassicism in Ural artistic copper has not previously been the subject of a special study, nor has the problem of British influence. Open access to designs for tableware from foreign collections and items of Ural artistic copper from domestic museums provides conditions for a comparative study of engraved sketches and museum items made of metal in order to confirm their relationship. Initially, a hypothesis was formulated about the influence of British samples on Ural copper products, and the source of the study was determined — a samovar. Then, British collections of metal tableware designs and identical items from the second half of the 18th century were found in foreign museum collections. Next, samovars of Ural production from the second half of the 18th–19th centuries were found in domestic museums. Finally, a comparative analysis of the materials was carried out in order to establish the similarity of graphic samples and metal objects. The preliminary results of this study, which clarifies the origin of the models and attribution of copper samovars of Ural production, provide grounds for continuing the comparative study of British design engraving and domestic artistic metalwork of the second half of the 18th–19th centuries.
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