In February 1901, in the magazine “Church Gazette”, the Holy Synod published a decree on the excommunication of Count Leo Tolstoy from the church. Irons with portraits of Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy are a kind of response to his anti-church activities.
A schematic portrait of the writer was depicted on the flap of a charcoal iron. Sometimes the craftsmen depicted the count with a long nose, which served as a handle for the flap. Thus, any housewife could “roast” the count “in hell” by pouring hot coals into the iron, could pat his nose and even spit in the face of the heretic, checking whether the iron was well heated.
The word “utyg” (iron) came to Russian from the ancient Turkic language, where the word “utyuk” consists of two roots: “ut” — “fire”, “yuk” — “put”. The iron was quite an expensive thing, it was inherited from mother to daughter. The presence of an iron in the house was considered a symbol of prosperity and well-being, sometimes it was even displayed as a decoration on a napkin next to the samovar. Simple irons were made from cast iron, and more expensive ones were made of bronze, which was inlaid with copper or silver. The handles of the irons were often made of wood, so that they would not heat up.
Industrial production of irons in Russia began in
the 18th century. For example, the Demidov factories became famous for their
irons. At the same time, irons with a replaceable insert were invented, which
was heated, snatched from the fire with a special rod and inserted into the
hollow body. An all-cast iron was produced in Russia until the 1960s, and the
latest copy, with two interchangeable soleplates, was released in 1989.
