The presented cup holder is a kind of illustration of Ivan Krylov’s fable “The Fox and the Grapes”. The product resembles a fence. The handle is decorated with an ornament in the form of a vine, and the top of the handle shows the head of a fox. The cup holder is made of alloy and covered with a layer of silver. A stamp with the inscription “GEBR BUCH WARSHAU”, an early stamp of the company “Buch Brothers”, is preserved on the bottom. The stamp is made in the technique of silver overlay.
The company Gebreder Buch, later known as the “Buch Brothers”, opened a factory in St. Petersburg in 1809. The company produced mainly buttons for army uniforms. In 1872, at the Moscow exhibition, the company was awarded a gold medal, and it received the right to depict the Russian State Emblem on its products.
As an object familiar to the audience, the cup holder took shape at the end of the 18th century. It is from this period that there are references to the cup holder as an element of Russian tea drinking, which has an independent artistic value. It is believed that in pre-revolutionary Russia, women were allowed to drink tea from porcelain, and men - only from glass. The tea was hot, and the glass heated up. There was a need to invent a device that protected the palms from burns.
This device was a cup holder, i.e. a stand with a handle that supports a glass cup.
The 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century was a period when the design of cup holders became especially highly artistic. Numerous private workshops were engaged in the production of the cup holder. The main technique was artistic casting. The emphasis was on exclusivity of production and precious materials. Often the style of the product reflected various artistic movements, whether it was gothic or modern. In the middle of the 19th century, the design of the case and handle was dominated by neo-rococo and neoclassical motifs.
Since the 1870s, in accordance with the aesthetics of “Russian style”, cup holders were created as log peasant houses, high wooden fence, barrel, small tub, or braided birch bark basket. The case of the cup holder was decorated with cast plates, carved flower garlands, and engravings depicting rural or urban romantic landscapes.
The company Gebreder Buch, later known as the “Buch Brothers”, opened a factory in St. Petersburg in 1809. The company produced mainly buttons for army uniforms. In 1872, at the Moscow exhibition, the company was awarded a gold medal, and it received the right to depict the Russian State Emblem on its products.
As an object familiar to the audience, the cup holder took shape at the end of the 18th century. It is from this period that there are references to the cup holder as an element of Russian tea drinking, which has an independent artistic value. It is believed that in pre-revolutionary Russia, women were allowed to drink tea from porcelain, and men - only from glass. The tea was hot, and the glass heated up. There was a need to invent a device that protected the palms from burns.
This device was a cup holder, i.e. a stand with a handle that supports a glass cup.
The 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century was a period when the design of cup holders became especially highly artistic. Numerous private workshops were engaged in the production of the cup holder. The main technique was artistic casting. The emphasis was on exclusivity of production and precious materials. Often the style of the product reflected various artistic movements, whether it was gothic or modern. In the middle of the 19th century, the design of the case and handle was dominated by neo-rococo and neoclassical motifs.
Since the 1870s, in accordance with the aesthetics of “Russian style”, cup holders were created as log peasant houses, high wooden fence, barrel, small tub, or braided birch bark basket. The case of the cup holder was decorated with cast plates, carved flower garlands, and engravings depicting rural or urban romantic landscapes.
