The collection of the Sheltozero Veps Ethnographic Museum named after Rurik Petrovich Lonin features a fairly large number of vessels from Riga balsam of various volumes. This was a common drink among the Veps and, apparently, it was brought from fairs in large cities. The vessel of classical shape is made in the form of a tall jug with a small round neck and with a small handle in the upper part. Riga balsam was produced only in ceramic bottles, as they kept the drink reliably protected from sunlight and sudden temperature changes.
The vessel was donated to the museum by Maria Fyodorovna Guseva (Karginskaya), a resident of the village of Sheltozero. She got it when she bought the Vanyukov house in the village of Sheltozero in 1960. Maria Fyodorovna’s daughter was Anna Petrovna Lonina (Kyarginskaya), the wife of the founder and first director of the Veps Ethnographic Museum, Rurik Petrovich Lonin. It is known that the first objects that marked the beginning of the museum collection were donated by relatives of Rurik Petrovich, who supported the idea of creating a national museum.
Riga balsam is a strong alcoholic drink with a bittersweet taste. The homeland of the drink is Latvia. The first mention of the balsam dates back to the middle of the 18th century, when the Riga pharmacist Abraham Kunze made a drink based on an ancient recipe for vodka infusion of medicinal herbs and called it “Kunze Balsam”. During her visit to Riga, Empress Catherine II got rid of an attack of renal colic precisely thanks to the “Kunze Balsam”. The grateful Empress granted the pharmacist special rights and privileges for its further production. However, the drink similar to the modern Riga balsam appeared only a century later. Today, the balsam contains 24 ingredients, and the taste is emphasized by additives of natural extracts of a variety of berries, flowers and roots. The herbal infusion is aged for about a month in special oak barrels. Often, the balsam is used not only as an alcoholic drink, but also as a medicinal product.
