Perth Amboy evening news., 1904-08-31
RUSSIAN KITCHEN ANTIQUES
Brass and Copper Utensils Much in
Demand Among New York
Art Collectors.

There is not an old world country left
that has not added its mite to the de-
yelopment of the art spirit in the new.
Russia was one of the last to take its
lurn, and the interest in Russian an
tiques has recently been increased by
the war with Japan, says the New York
Tribune. 1t is only a few years since
o1e Of New York's Russian %colonists
made a trip to his home country and
came back with q small stock Of Rus
sian brass and copper utensils gathered
principally from Russian kitchens.
Year after year he has repeated the jour-
ney, each time bringing a large stock;
each time finding that the people in Rus
sia were wiser than before. The average
Russian kitchen is a place to arouse the
envy of a lover OF antiques, for before
his eyes hang in shining row a rare col
lection. Nearly every woman, ON the
marriage Of her daughter, gives her a
complete outfit of kitchen furnishings.
Where people of ampler means have sill
yer and copper those of poorer classes
have copper and brass; and what a
woman received on her wedding day was
expected to last her as long as she
needed them.
But collectors have been depicting
these Kitchens, and thousands of pieces
are now adjoining library shelves and
dining-room racks and parlor mantels in
America. AS the demand has increased
so the supply has increased, and to-day
the streets of New York's great Russian
quarter are full of shops whose windows
shine with these copper and brass wares.
Some stores claim to import all theie
goods. An honest dealer Till tell his
customers which are the real antiques
and which are the pieces made now in
factories after the old patterns.
In certain shops in Allen street
the goods are made in considerable
quantities, whether the owner of the
shops will admit it or not. If one goes
proving into dingy cellars from which
the sound of hammering comes he will
find the walls hung with all sorts of
hammers and tongs and pincers. Large
sheets of copper and brass lie about, and
heavy shears for cutting them in the
proper patterns. Rude furnaces are
built lear the long tables, anil here the
METAL is heated before the hnmmering
begins. Once heated, the metal is NAL
leable. and stroke by stroke it is beate&
into the desired shape. Where several
workmen are at work the noise is like
nothing so much as the music Of a Chi
nose orchestra. but slowly from under
their hands come beautiful v~eestls, al
ways showing the marks Of the hammer,
which give them the peculiar interest
that handwcrk always has over ma
chine-made things. To please buyers
who are merely "faddists' and have no
real art Judgment. these brass and cop
per workers have q habit Of denting
some of tbs pieces. a sorry way of giving
a palnably brand new piece the SEM
blance of having seen service.
1t is q common sight in these shops to
zee among the ~wcll-dressed buyers and
people who como to lcok and ask prices
some old Russian woman, her head
wrapped in a shawl. poking around
among the furnished brass and black
ened copper vessels that leave no doubt
as to their age. 1t is always a tea-kettle.
a big drinking cup or cooking vessel Of
some kind that she fingers lovingly and
looks at with eager eyes-tlie things she
used in her own home over there and
would like to have again. She sets them
out and looks at them and asks the
f.tstOo. h1af urhon che HAAS ~ eh1 .1A.
theIa back again in their places, shak-
ing her head. It is so absurd and i'm
possible to pay four or five times what
she used to pay just because the thing
is old, particularly when she can buy
for a few cents from a puahcart Just
outside the door a vessel Of tin or gran
ite ware that will serve the same pur-
pose. And so, while they sometimes
come and ask prices, the Russians never
buy from the collectors of antiques, who
live by art lovers and 'faddists' alone.
While the sun shines these men are
making hay and hating one another.
Always the spirit of rivalry is strong;
and If one tells aman his price is high
tr than his neighbours on a certain can
dlestock, he will shrug his shoulders and
say:
"This Is solid brass, not castiron, like
his" or "A cup made by hand must
cost more. no sell cups made by ma
chine" And then. lest one turns away
to buy the castiron or machine-made
goods, he adds, coaxingly,
But | want to do business with you.
What do you want to pay?" And there
is a chance which many a woman buyer
loveA