I found this Samovar at the local Goodwill, and thought it would make a nice decorative brass piece for my dining room. It seemed fairly new and in beautiful shape, but looking it over I found it was actually copper, plated with what seemed like something other than brass. I took it to a local jewelry store where they told me it was the wrong color to be brass and thought it looked like gold, but the plating was too thin to test by normal methods. It doesn't seem to need any polishing so I'm thinking they are right and it doesn't seem to have a plastic coating.
Underneath it looks as if it has had a lot of use and there is a broken piece, but there is no hinged ash guard. It is very apparent it's copper underneath the plating, and the lining which appears to be tin or nickel.. Also, a marking which is almost worn away is apparent around the back of the base, and some kind of marking is under the tip of the spout as well.
The wood handles look way too new to be original....and the screws holding them on look too new also, so I'm thinking this was an older piece that may have been plated and repaired with new handles added.
If anyone can tell me anything more about this Samovar, I would appreciate it.
Thanks!
Lori
