Table and Bench

Close to the Red Corner stood a table, covered with a hand-woven linen tablecloth. The tablecloth on display is made from two long pieces of linen joined at the edge and richly embroidered with traditional red thread. Honored guests were usually seated on a bench in the Red Corner, by a brightly polished samovar (‘self-boiler’) for heating water, a necessary feature of a Russian house of the period. The late 19th century samovar on display was made at Shemarins’ factory in Tula, the largest manufacturer of samovars in Russia.  Intended both for sleeping and sitting, wooden benches lined the unpainted log walls.

Table Covering, late 19th-early 20th century. Vologda region, Russia. Private Collection of Susan Johnson. Cloth, thread.