Brands on old bricks. History of Bricks and Brick Collection Horseshoe Brick

Kuritsyn E.M.

The start of a personal collection of bricks, which is more than 600 units, was, on the one hand, random, and on the other hand logical, since I was from a family of hereditary builders and architects and since childhood have been interested in building and building materials. The first brick that marked the beginning of the collection, of Danish origin, was found in masonry during excavations of the old Finnish foundation in a summer cottage near the town of Priozersky, Leningrad Region. The unusual stigma on the brick aroused interest, and served as an incentive to search for information about it. Gradually, on the streets of St. Petersburg, old bricks with brands that I took with me began to come across. This hobby eventually developed into a conscious search and collection of other exhibits.

Brick in our time is the most common building material. Its versatility and practicality is appreciated throughout the world. His invention is no less important for us than the invention of the wheel, and history goes back into time. Of course, the brick is one of the very first building materials. The word "brick" itself is of Persian origin, and it entered the Russian language through Turkic languages. Its history has been going on for several millennia, but no one can say for sure by whom and when the first copy was made. The most ancient burnt clay objects were found in the parking lot of the Old Stone Age (Paleolithic) in Slovakia, their age is 25 thousand years. The first references to brick as a building material date back to 5–4 millennium BC. in the architecture of the pre-dynastic period (Ancient Egypt). During excavations in Dzhemdet-Nasra, traces of the construction of the end of IV - beginning of III millennium BC were discovered. e. of thin flat bricks (the so-called "Rimechen").

At the beginning of the III millennium BC hand-made one-sided convex brick was replaced by bricks made in wooden forms, at first oblong (20 x 30 x 10 cm - Old Babylonian brick).

It is known that the first people who built houses from unfired brick were the Sumerians (3000 BC). A clear example of this is the wall of the Sumerian city of Ur, whose thickness reached 27 meters. Brick played a particularly important role in the architecture of Ancient Rome, where complex structures, including arches, arches, etc., were laid out of bricks (45 × 30 × 10 cm).

In pre-Mongol Russia (mainly “wooden”), brick masonry was similar to Roman, insofar as “brick architecture” came to Russia from Byzantium, which is the successor of Rome.

A striking example of the use of brick construction in the Russian state of the times of Ivan III was the construction of walls and churches of the Moscow Kremlin, which was in charge of, including Italian masters. In 1485-1495, Russian and Italian masters erected new Kremlin walls and towers of red brick. Brick walls were placed along the line of old white-stone bricks, with a slight retreat to the outside.

Brick began to produce a different form than before, and greater strength. For this, a new brick factory was built in Kalitniki, near the Peasant outpost. Day and night, bricklayers baked strong burnt bricks for the new Kremlin walls, towers, and cathedrals. It took a lot of brick. 600 pieces each went to one wall tooth (merlon), and more than a thousand of such teeth. Yes, another 20 towers, and the walls themselves stretched for two and a quarter kilometers.

Smaller brick was used for cathedrals, and towers and walls were made of semi-pond brick, which was called “two-handed” (30x14x17 cm or 31x15x9 cm) weighing up to 8 kg each.

For the first time, mechanization of construction work was applied: brick and stone were not raised up manually, but with the help of a special machine, which the Russian carpenters nicknamed the century (squirrel). Front walls were laid out of brick, which were filled with white stone. The highest walls were erected along Red Square, where there was no natural water barrier. The Moscow Kremlin, built on the last word of fortification, was, above all, a fortress that protected all the inhabitants of the city.

And since the highest secular and spiritual authority, the most revered temples, monasteries and all-Russian Christian shrines were concentrated there, the Kremlin began to be recognized as a place of "special state holiness" for all of Russia.

Recently, the Uphill Consulting Group evaluated the Moscow Kremlin. The value of the Kremlin as an object of real estate (taking into account socio-cultural value) as of November 2012 amounted to 1.5 trillion Russian rubles (50 billion US dollars).

Brick production in St. Petersburg began with the efforts of Peter I in 1703. However, there is another version on this score. According to which, the Swedes, long before the Russians, took a fancy to the swampy Neva shores just with the goal of setting up brickwork here. Indeed, swamps indicate the presence of clay, the forest provides the necessary wood for the stoves, and the river is a convenient way for transportation.

It is known that after the expulsion of the Swedes, Peter I continued to create brick factories, as this was required by the construction of a new the capital, which Peter planned to create from brick and stone. Even he ordered his wooden house (the house of Peter the Great) to be painted “brick-like”, while the then-famous Flemish masonry was imitated by many at that time.
  In 1713, Peter I issued a special decree on the construction of new factories near St. Petersburg, ordering their owners "so that everyone in his factory makes at least one million bricks a year, and more is better." To work in the brick factories of the city began to collect craftsmen from all over Russia. In the same decree, under the threat of ruin and exile, the king banned the construction of stone buildings in all other cities of the country. This was done specifically so that the masons and other artisans, who were left without work, themselves reached for the construction of St. Petersburg.

Everyone entering St. Petersburg was obliged to pay the brick brought with them as fare. According to one version, the Brick Lane in St. Petersburg was named so precisely because at the place where it is located, the "brick tax" for entering the city was accepted and stored.

During the reign of Peter I, the quality control of bricks was very tight. After the bricks were transported by water on ships (the most convenient way), they were loaded onto bogies. After arriving at the destination, the bricks were dumped from the cart, and if at least three bricks were cracked, then the whole lot was considered defective.

How did bricks (weight and size)

Until the 19th century, bricks were formed manually. This process took a lot of time and effort. They only dried it in the summer in the sun and burned it in outdoor temporary ovens.

But already in the middle of the XIX century, the first ring kiln and belt press were built, which made it possible to make a revolution in the technique of brick production. Clay processing machines-runners, rollers, and clay-mines appeared next. And at the end of the XIX century began to build special dryers. Nowadays, brick production is almost completely mechanized.

The weight of a brick on average is about 4 - 4.5 kilograms. But there are also “babies” of 2.5 kg, as well as six-kilogram giants. Since the manipulations during the construction of brick occur manually, by the hands of masons, the greatest amount of work per unit of time is achieved only if a certain average weight of each brick is observed. From here the most advantageous, and therefore the most common size and weight of bricks is born.

The shape and dimensions of the brick changed over the centuries, but always remained such that it was convenient for the mason to work with it, i.e. so that the brick is commensurate with the size and strength of the hand of the mason.

So, for example, the Russian GOST requires that the weight of the brick does not exceed 4.3 kg. The modern standard brick got its dimensions in 1927 and remains so today: 250 x 120 x 65 mm.

Each facet of a brick has its own name: the largest, on which a brick is usually laid, is called a “bed”, the long side is called a “spoon”, and the small one is a “poke”.

It is also worth adding here that for a denser connection between the parts of the masonry, it is necessary to lay bricks in it, then along, then across to each other, this also explains the appearance of some common prevailing format that is attached to the brick. As a result, the length, width and thickness relate to each other approximately as 1: 1/2: 1/4, usually with some excess thickness, against this exact proportion.

Hallmarks

Products of the XVIII century mainly testify to the imperfection of hand-made technologies and for the most part have no stigma. The first hallmarks on bricks appeared under Boris Godunov with the image of a unicorn and a double-headed eagle. Samples of ceramics of the XIX century, on the contrary, are distinguished by the correct geometric dimensions, high strength characteristics and the presence of brands on almost all samples. Brands are of particular interest and allow you to determine the name of brick factories and firms, as well as the geography of brick production.

In the Russian Empire, at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries, in connection with the beginning of mass stone construction, the "Rules for the production of bricks in state-owned and private factories" were adopted (January 27, 1847). According to them, the owners of factories on each brick made had to put their own brand, which was squeezed on the raw material during its formation or drying. The stigmas were animalistic (similar to the paws of animals), abbreviations (initials of owners) and rarely numerical (year of manufacture). Stamping bricks was also obligated so that in the event of any disasters or destruction (which really happened), it was possible to determine their manufacturer.

In the practice of today's restoration work, various methods and techniques are used for dating buildings and structures, their individual structures and parts according to architectural, stylistic and technological features, according to the chemical, physical and metrological characteristics of building materials. One of these methods is the stamping of building materials and products. It should be noted that the concept of “dating by marks” is used as a collective and conditionally applies not only to the brands themselves, but also to factory, factory and trademarks and signs, all kinds of tags and plates, labels, as well as labels, markings and symbols used on building and finishing materials and products.

Of course, the ideal brand would generally be the presence of a date in it, the designation of the manufacturer and information about the place of production. Such stamps on Russian products are not common and mainly relate to the second half of the XIX - early XX centuries. Of the stamps dated, the oldest is the stamp “1777” on a poke of bricks from the buildings of the estate of Marfino, Mytishchi district, Moscow region. It can be assumed that with the introduction in 1700 by Peter I of the Arabic designation of numbers on various products, including building materials, including bricks, stamps with the Arabic designation could appear even in the first decade of the 18th century.

It should also be noted that the appearance of stamps on bricks with the image of a double-headed eagle coincides in time with a similar marking of silver items by the eagle, i.e. to the middle of the XVII century. (as applied to this time, the term “stigmatize” rather than “stigmatize” is appropriate). Branding letters with bricks is information about the manufacturer. Sometimes this is the initials, sometimes the name of the area, or a combination of both. However, speaking about the digital stamps of the Arabic script, it is necessary to remember about possible exceptions. In 1979, when examining the eastern facade of the Ascension Church in the village of Kolomenskoye, the date was found in Arabic numerals, carved on a white stone capital - “1533”. It is likely that it was performed by a foreign master.

On white stone parts, markings, marks and graffiti are extremely rare. In 1986, the stigma of the master was revealed on a stone-embedded mortar plate in 1532 in the patrimonial Blagoveshchensk church of the village of Seredinsky ex. Vereisk district of the Moscow region. Multiline inscription made in ligature. In the lower right corner is a cryptogram in the form of a swirling volute (rose) with the name of the master. The text ends with the words "... wrote" and further - a cryptogram that has been severely damaged by time.

In addition to the stigma, bricks are “recognized” by color: for example, St. Petersburg modern brick (“marine”) is uniformly ocher.

Ancient freshwater - in a wide range: Kolpino clays taken from the Izhora River gave the brick a red color, Tosnensky clays - pink-yellow, clay taken on the Neva - mountain ash.

Studying and "solving" the stigma is a very fascinating and informative process involving extremely important disciplines - history (local history), architecture and archeology. Brick hallmarks can tell funny, tragic, and sometimes mystical stories.

For example, in the St. Petersburg Brick Museum there is a wolf-paw brick found near Georgenburg Castle in the Kaliningrad Region. According to legend, when the Teutonic knights conquered Prussia in the XIV century, huge flocks of wolves came out to defend their lands and began to besiege the castle occupied by the knights, leaving imprints of their paws on the stone.

Sometimes the stigma could become a successful marketing move against the background of competitors - for example, Major General Viktor Aleksandrovich Spechinsky, owner of the Podkova plant, was allowed to stamp bricks with this famous symbol for the military services of an officer of the cavalry Life Guards Regiment. It is not surprising that the business of an entrepreneur who used such a lucky "trademark" quickly went up.

There is an interesting story about the secrets of brickwork: Russian and foreign firms worked on the supply of building materials for the Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood. The brick suppliers were Pirogranit, the largest plant in Russia, and Germany's Siegersdorf factories, which made glazed brick for facades. The Estonian company Kos and Dürr participated in the cladding of the walls of the building with Estland marble. Facing the basement with granite was performed by the famous sculpture workshop of Grazioso Bota in St. Petersburg.

In 1861, the Pirogranit (Terracotta) factory of Prince M. Golitsyn began operating in Borovichi. At the end of XIX   centuries Borovichi almost entered the world history of refractories. At the chamotte brick factory of Prince Golitsyn, the master, Matvey Veselov, worked as an inventor on his mind. I walked around the neighborhood, collected a handful of different clays, mixed in different proportions, burned. Nobody knew about his exercises, his assistant was a deaf and dumb man. Finally, Veselov made a chocolate-colored facing brick in shiny glaze. Showed to the owner. And here the 1889 World Exhibition in Paris turned up. Golitsyn with his brick, which was called "pyro-granite", received the Big Silver Medal. Western industrialists were shocked: the facing material was amazing strength and beauty - they had already been predicted to do the most expensive work.

Golitsyn was offered a contract for facing the redesigned wing of Buckingham Palace. The prince returned home and asked about the cost of the master’s recipe. Hearing the price, he became furious and drove Veselov from the factory. I thought that he would come to repent. And the master washed down and ... died. They searched for a recipe in his papers, but never found. Already in Soviet times, the Institute of Refractories wanted to restore pyro-granite for the facing of the Moscow metro under construction, but attempts were unsuccessful.

Most popular questions about bricks:
Why are old bricks so durable?

It's all about the clay from which the ceramic dough is made. Before the revolution, there were a large number of brick factories in the vicinity of Petersburg, up to ninety. These plants took clay of rivers and lakes of the ice age, its chemical composition did not produce the same “efflorescences” and salt corrosion. Then these lake-glacial deposits were excavated. Modern plants operate on Cambrian clay. She is of marine origin. Present Petersburg was once the bottom of the ocean, so there is a lot of this clay and it is very easy to mine, which is convenient for large-scale brick production. However, this clay is heavy, chemically less neutral, and therefore modern bricks, having lain even one winter, can crumble.

For restoration of ancient buildings of St. Petersburg, light clay of glacial origin is needed. Modern Cambrian clay bricks are not suitable either in color or texture. Therefore, for example, for the reconstruction of the Estonian Church on Dekabristov Street, they took Pskov brick made from local clay of lake-glacial origin.

The second question I am often asked is: why do bricks with holes?

Brick manufacturers, making "holes" are guided by the following principles: saving material, lightening the weight of the brick and as a result of the entire building. And also when laying due to the holes, better adhesion occurs. Imagine how a mortar lays on a flat brick, and how it lays on a brick with holes. In the first case, it solidifies with a flat cake, and in the second with the letter “T”.

After laying hollow bricks, air remains in the holes, which serves as additional thermal insulation. Low coefficient of thermal conductivity, unlike usual. With holes - more volume, less weight. One cubic meter of standard-sized bricks contains about 450 bricks. A hollow is much less than pieces in a cube.

The author, of course, is not a rare collector, since a large number of people in different countries collect unique bricks. Already today, the State Construction Supervision and Expertise Service of St. Petersburg opened the Museum of Building Materials (“Brick Museum” 55, Yuzhny Shosse). Showcases capable of withstanding one and a half tons of rare building materials were specially made. The 17th century bricks, once used to build a furnace on a Dutch ship, and later found in the Peter and Paul Fortress, are rightly considered the most ancient. One of the curious registered copies is a brick with the name Lenin, made in the 19th century. But he had nothing to do with the leader of the proletariat. It was a strong old brick - with a stigma in pre-revolutionary spelling. In the XIX century, a certain Pyotr Semenovich Lenin owned a brick factory in the vicinity of St. Petersburg.

I keep my collection of bricks in the country, and if there is a place and there will be an opportunity to make an exhibition, I will transfer them to the Mining University. Like many collectors, I have my own website where you can look at photographs of rare bricks and read their stories. I also indicate other collections:

Brick collection of Eugene Kuritsyn http://zhenya-kouritsin.narod.ru/

Sea Ovens Company http://morepechey.ru/internet-magazin?mode\u003dfolder&folder_id\u003d12429606

A collection of bricks. Hallmarks of the St. Petersburg province http://www.v-smirnov.ru/coll.htm

Anna Bokovnya. A collection of bricks with stamps produced at brick factories in St. Petersburg and its environs in the 19th - early 20th centuries

centuries History in brick hallmarks. http://www.aroundspb.ru/gallery.php?path\u003d/variety/photos/brick

Collection of vintage bricks. http://www.oldbricks.info/

Brick Museum http://www.pobedalsr.ru/muzey

Literature

Levakov I.A . MNPP "Restoration Center". Institute of Special Project Restoration, 1993; Portal "Archeology of Russia", 2005. //
  http://www.archeologia.ru/Library/Book/2035a5646a32/page3

Filippov A.V.   Messages laboratory ceramic installation. issue 1, M., 1940.

Gelfeld L.S. Basics of restoration of architectural metal. Classification of architectural metal. / Institute of Special Project Restoration. M, 1991.

Gise M.E. . Essays on the history of artistic construction in Russia of the 18th - early 20th centuries. L .: Publishing house of Leningrad State University, 1978.

Kandaurov D. P . Factory enterprises of the Russian Empire. Petrograd: Printing house of t-va under the firm "Electrotypography N.Ya. Stoikova ", 1914.

Kiselev I.A. Dating of masonry XVI-XIX centuries. by visual characteristics. Method. allowance. / Institute of Special Project Restoration. M., 1990.

Postnikova-Loseva M.M. Russian jewelry art: its centers, masters. XVI-XIX centuries. M .: Nauka, 1974.

Sivak S.I. The activity of the tiled workshop of the Iversky Valdai Monastery in the second half of the 17th century. // Restoration and research of cultural monuments. Vol. III. M: Stroyizdat, 1990.

The factory of merchants brothers Ivan and Vladimir Vasilievich Lyadov existed in 1841 in the village of Ust-Slavyanka on the right bank of the river. Slavs. It is possible that there were several factories (including one above the Novosaratovskaya colony on the right bank of the Neva River) and later the affairs of the brothers were divided. It is known that in the 1860s a separate stigma of Ivan Lyadov “I.L.” appeared (used the original circular frame). In 1867, one of the plants (on the Izhorka River) was sold to L.A. Vitovsky. However, in 1881 one of the plants still had two owners, but by 1887 only Vladimir Lyadov remained the owner of the plant. Subsequently, the plant passed to his wife Ekaterina Vasilievna. There is also evidence that in 1897 a new factory was being built in the Ovtsino colony (Nenera estate) of their relatives: the hereditary honorary citizen Mikhail Vladimirovich (one of the sons of V.V. and E.V. Lyadov) and Alexei Konstantinovich Lyadov (apparently their nephew). At the same time, the manager of the plant is K.V. Lyadov (possibly another son of the Lyadovs). The stigma “ZBL” as well as “Br.L.”, most likely refers to the founders of the case.

The brick was produced at a factory owned by Fedor Alfredovich Hill. The plant was located in the village of Ust-Izhora and, having begun work in 1897, worked until at least 1914. Stamps are known with the name spelling in upper and lower case. Refractory silicate bricks were made in the south of Sweden in the village of HOGANAS in the province of Skane, located 20 km from Helsingborg. Thanks to the joint deposits of coal and clay in 1832, the production of bricks and ceramics began, thanks to which this place became famous. Due to the lack of local labor, Russian prisoners of war were also used at work. Brick production was closed after 1926. There are known types of brands that differ in font and its size, as well as the presence of symbols in the form of an anchor with the abbreviation HSB - Höganäs Stenkols Bolag (mining company Hoganas).

The refractory brick factory dates back to 1875, when Karl Küster opened his first coal mine in the village of SKROMBERGA in Scan - the southernmost province of Sweden. When things went wrong at the mine, in 1888 Küster sold the mine to new owners who, instead of coal, discovered rich clay deposits in the mines and began to actively develop them. In 1986, the company was sold to the Finnish concern Partek and the historical circle closed - the president of Partek is married to Karl Küster’s granddaughter ...

Bricks were produced in factories belonging to the Eliseev family (most likely, not having direct family ties with the famous Russian traveler A.V. Eliseev and the famous merchants Eliseev).

Locomotive

Now Borovichi brick factory has a history dating back to 1855, when Mr. Nobel founded in the Novgorod province   Borovichi has its first refractory factory. Then in 1880, a native of German industrialists, a merchant of the first guild, Konstantin Logginovich Vakhter founded several plants that got their name from the first letters of the Greek alphabet. To date, 3 brands are known "ALFA", "BETA" and "GAMMA". Before World War I, Borovichi plants produced about 40% of all refractories in Russia. According to some reports, one of the brick factories was founded in 1910.

Brick found in Egypt in the city of Cairo. On the ruins of a building built in 1956. This brick is fireclay, ring. At the moment, the plant and manufacturer have not yet been determined.

This brick was obtained by exchange from Ukraine from the city of Lviv. This stigma stands for CegielniaZwiazkowa Kozielniki. The owners of the brick factory were Lviv architects Julian Sosnowski, Alfred Zakharevich and industrialist Noyvoner (Julian Sosnowski, Alfred Zachariewicz, Neuwohner). It is difficult to say about the location of the plant.

And in conclusion, I would like to say that my interest is not in the brick itself, but in the information that it carries.

application

Brick hallmarks are a separate type of historical information; they have preserved the names of business owners and representatives of the country's industrial elite. Many hallmarks indicate the location of enterprises.
  Many branded bricks are perceived as a model of technical aesthetics of those years.
To date, the collection of branded bricks has become quite common. This type of collecting even got its own name - bricophilia., From English brick - brick. The name is not entirely successful. In this case, it’s not just brick production samples that are of interest, but the lettering stamps or other stamps stamped on them, with which brick manufacturers labeled their products.
  In Russia, stamps on bricks appeared by the middle of the XVII century. It was a relief image of a state eagle in a quadrangular frame.

Stylized images of animals (animal motifs) were used for brick stamps until the 1690s.
  Subsequently, bricks began to be labeled with the letters of the Russian alphabet, using only one letter at first, for example, in the brickworks of Moscow already in the 1680s there are 3 x 3 cm stamps representing the letter D. At the beginning of the next century, labels appear with the letters P and N.
  It is believed that single-letter hallmarks lasted until the 1730s. They looked like a square in shape. But this conclusion was made on the basis of the study of brickwork in Moscow. In St. Petersburg, the branding of bricks with one letter denoting the name of the owner of the brick factory lasted much longer. For example, the stigma with the letter C is associated with the bricks of a factory founded by Fedor Nikiforovich Slepushkin (1763 - 1848), better known as a self-taught poet. At the same time, the mark on his products is not square, but elongated.
  With the development of brick, single-letter hallmarks were not able to provide brick manufacturers with the only letter they owned. Since the end of the 18th century, the number of letters in brands has been increasing, indicating the name, patronymic and surname of the owner. Sometimes the surname is given in full. Often, instead of the initials, the stigma consists of the name of the plant, for example: Moika, Izhora, Neva, or Elizavetino, Kolpino, or the abbreviation of the manufacturer, for example, T.O.S.M. -. Building Materials Processing Partnership.
  Animalistic images - double-headed eagles, are found on the products of imperial brick factories - the times of Nicholas I in a rectangular frame, Alexander I - in a circle, Alexander III - in an oval stroke.

Of the other images, the impression of the horseshoe on the products of the Podkova plant by E.P.Spechinsky and her heirs, or the symbolic image of a star, between the initials of the owner is the Zvezda factory, F.A. Polyakova-Koftunova.
The following stamp frames are known: square, rectangular, rectangular with arches of a semicircular or, more rarely, rectangular shape. The stigma composition often included batch numbers (firing) of manufactured products. They were placed either in the main stigma field or in the plane of the arches. There are hallmarks with pointed ends, diagonal placement on the front edge of the brick. Bricks with stamps on the end (bonding) or spoon faces are known ..
  Branding bricks formed into a special kind of applied art. Bricks have been especially attractive since the 40s of the XIX century when they switched to their machine production. Prior to this, in manual manufacturing, due to the clay remaining in the molds from previous blockings, bricks were produced with deformed faces, streamlined corners, wrinkled ribs. Mechanical clay mixers made it possible to achieve a more uniform clay mass, which was filled with wooden forms. At the bottom of each form was placed a stamp plate with the stamp of the owner of the plant. In the 18th century, branding of bricks was one of the requirements of the Architectural Expedition, a special supervisory authority, in order to know which industrialists produced quality products and who could be fined for bricks of inadequate quality.
The sizes of bricks were also regulated. Under Peter I, the bricks should have been 11 inches long, 5.5 inches wide, 3 inches thick, i.e., be 28 x 14 x 7 cm in size. In 1833, the government determined brick length 6, width 3, and thickness 1. 5 points, i.e. 26.5 x 13.3 x 6.7 cm.
  Hallmarks can serve as an auxiliary sign for clarifying the time of construction of structures, repair and restoration works, rebuildings and outbuildings being carried out here. Marks on the tychkovoy and spoon faces were used as decor elements in the laying of walls, or arches. The stigma stamps had a convex, and spoon concave relief. They should have been clearly perceived not only at point-blank range, but also at a distance, from different angles of view, primarily due to black and white effects.

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries, these hallmarks lost all artistry, graffiti was perceived by subtle graffiti. Such hallmarks are present on some buildings and in the city of Luga. Stamp marks with the inscription SPB A Ov (St. Petersburg Joint Stock Company) are visible in the masonry of the front facade of the house at ul. Tosi Petrova, 16 Spoon marks with capital letters AR are on the facades of the building of the Luga Military Commissariat (59/15 Uritsky pr.). On some faces, letters are placed across, on others, obliquely, on the third along the planes of the faces. One face is completely mottled with the contours of these letters with their layering on top of each other. A completely inexplicable event!

Stamped bricks on a wide surface, the so-called bed, or cheek, relatively late, somewhere from the end of the XIX century. began to be used as a facing material for interior design. But for general construction purposes, they found the oldest and most common use. Moreover, masons laid bricks on the mortar with the stigma down, which increased the strength of the masonry. During the demolition, or reconstruction of historic buildings, they, like construction waste, were massively disposed of in landfills, at best they were selected for a wide variety of secondary uses. They form the basis of, one might say, all bricophilic collections.

IN BRICK CHURCH OF PETERSBURG. PiV

I continue to dig information and stories about bricks lying literally under the feet of Petersburgers on the net.
By the way, three years ago I was already talking about brick with the stigma "PiV".
Let me remind you what was going on.

HISTORY OF THIRD. PiV
Taking a walk with my daughter in the direction of the Gulf of Finland, we found a fragment of the wall of a dismantled building with clear hallmarks on a brick surface in the form of letters "PiV" and above "III".

Puzzled by the question which of the manufacturers or customers belong to the stigma, I climbed into the global network.
Here is what I found:

The hallmarks "PiV" differ in Roman "I, II, III" depending on the serial number of the plant and the variations of the points after the letters.
The owners of the plant are Mikhail Andreevich Petrov and Leopold Adolfovich Vitovsky.
The factory that produced bricks with the PiV stamp belonged to Mikhail Andreevich Petrov and Leopold Adolfovich Vitovsky. M.A. Petrov's plant on the Malaya Izhorka River near Kormchino has been known since 1864. (used the mark "MP"), and the plants of L.A. Vitovsky (only 3 pieces) purchased from various owners (see the mark "L.A.V."), judging by the descriptions, were located there. Thus, it is possible that somewhere in the 1880s, a co-owner (L.A. Vitovsky) appeared at the plant of Mr. Petrov, and the new PiV stamp (with or without dots) began to be used on bricks in different frames and with numbers of various alphabets (Roman I-III indicated the numbers of plants). After the nationalization of the factories of Mr. Vitovsky in 1920. based on them, the factory "Red Brick" appeared, which worked until 1941.

This thing was branded: Dimensions (15.5 cm by 7.5 cm) - brass material.

The brick factory itself was not so close to Petersburg.
Location: Russia, Leningrad Obl.
Latitude: 59 ° 46 "26.37" N
Longitude: 30 ° 36 "54.83" V
During the Second World War, the plant was located several kilometers from the front line.
After the war, little remained of the village - just like from other Kolpin suburbs. As a result of the reconstruction, good brick houses of the Stalin type were built on the picturesque river bank. There were two streets in the village (one was Prirechnaya, the name of the second was not established), a bathhouse, a couple of shops, a small post office and two booths with public telephones.
In 1964, the decision of the Executive Committee of the Leningrad City Council Red Brick suggested it was no longer allocated in a separate settlement, but considered now merged with the village. Pontoon, located on the other side of the river. But because of its isolated position, the village remained in the view of local residents as a separate settlement until the end of its days.
In the late 80s, the Red Brick Factory became a joint Russian-German enterprise Pobeda-Knauf. For unknown reasons, the village was settled in 1987.

After breaking the blockade, the plant began to work in full, releasing bricks to restore the destroyed buildings of Leningrad, including the village of Pontonny. The labor force at this plant was captured Germans. The plant existed somewhere until the mid-70s.
After almost three years, I again returned to the very place where I saw this fragment of a brick wall and which I had completely forgotten about, but found again, like the post on my blog about them))
Do not forget to leave your comments below which I am always happy and will answer for everyone.

Previous posts about bricks
"Y. Petrov 66" -

Office mansion "Novo-Issakievsky" is a building of the 18-19th century, completely built of brick. The house has been standing so confident for about 250 years because it has historically been lucky with building material. According to expert estimates, the building is built of high-strength brick, and the reason for this is history.

The fact is that the influence on the development of brick crafts in Russia was exerted by the forms of Peter the Great. Under Peter I, the quality of the brick was evaluated very strictly. The batch of brick brought to the construction site was simply dumped from the cart: if at the same time more than three pieces were broken, then the whole batch was rejected.

It is interesting that in 1704 Peter I issued a special decree "On the establishment of new brick factories near St. Petersburg" and from all over Russia began to collect craftsmen to work in brick factories. The tsar forbade the construction of stone buildings in all other cities of the country, so that masons and other workers themselves reached for the construction of St. Petersburg. Masters were brought to the Northern capital, including by force ...

Of course, there wasn’t enough brick, brick factories in all of Russia could be counted on the fingers, but the most wise people quickly found a way to deceive the tsar and not follow the decree to build from brick. They built an ordinary wooden house, sculpted a thin layer of clay on the walls, which they painted “like a brick”. With a fast ride, it was impossible to distinguish a painted house from a capital one. So the resourceful workers who painted concrete under tile in Moscow   not much different from the "false masons" of Peter the Great.

Everyone who entered the capital was obliged to pay the brick brought with them as fare. According to one version, the brick lane located near the business center was named so precisely because at the place where it was located, a "brick tax" for entering the city was accepted and stored.

By the end of the 19th century, a real brick diaspora had formed in St. Petersburg - about 80 factories. They were owned by people of different classes: peasants, nobles, and princes, and barons, and military, and state councilors, and hereditary honorary citizens, and even the widows of major generals. To make things better, they began to put a stigma on products, most often it was the name of the owner of the production. If the brick was unsuitable, then the consumer of the 19th century knew who to complain about. Therefore, manufacturers are pretty worried about quality.

A significant part of our building, the former home of the Sarepta Society, was built in the 18th century from an older brick that was not yet branded; it was smaller in size and dark red in color. However, during the reconstruction of the building, a number of antique bricks with a stigma were found. These bricks were used to build new outbuildings and under repair in the 19th century. and the beginning of the 20th century. All of them were made at the factories of St. Petersburg province.

The imprint of the horseshoe is the trademark of the Spechinsky factory. Most of the time, the factory belonged to the widow of Major General Cavalry Evgenia Ivanovna Spechinsky. It was not possible to fit a long surname on a brick, but simply did not want to write the initials of the "general". Then the idea of \u200b\u200ba “detailed horseshoe” was born. This original stigma carries several meanings at once: firstly, the first letter of the owner’s surname is read, secondly, the horseshoe is depicted on the generic coat of arms of the Spechinsky (Polish origin), and finally, this is a reflection of the kind of occupation of the late husband Spechinsky.

Strelin is the surname of a peasant (and later a merchant and a hereditary honorary citizen) Makarii Timofeevich Strelin, who owned two brick factories.

Samarka is the name of the estate located on the banks of the Neva, the settlement for which seasonal workers it was. Samarka was in the possession of state adviser Baron Vladimir Andreyevich Rennenkampf, who had a large brick factory (400 workers) and used the stigma “V.R.” (initials, earlier) and Samarka.

During the reconstruction, the Ukke bricks were also found, which were stored and laid out on the stigma side specifically so that the stigma could be read. Today this piece of wall is the decoration of the meeting room of one of the tenants' campaigns. Ukke is another example of a stigma by the name of the owner of the plant. The plant belonged to the company "Ukke and Co.", which was owned by a nobleman (from Russified Germans) Ludwig Yulievich Ukke.

Thank you for your help in writing the material of Vladimir Smirnov and his brick Heritage site  . An enthusiastic brick collector visited us and convinced us that not only can walls hear, but also talk.

Today, these bricks with the stigma found during the reconstruction took a worthy place in the negotiation Administration of Novo-Isaakievsky and are one of the first exhibits of the Museum of the Sarept House, which the owners plan to organize.

Yesterday, strolling with our little ones, we walked along the South Road to the very tip of it at the pier overlooking the closing span of the WHSD and the new Zenit Arena stadium under construction (the former Kirov Stadium).
Here, on the well-groomed embankment, which in the best years was a beach for sunbathing and swimming. Today, muddy individuals here burn barbecue on barbecue and drink strong or beer.
About 15-16 years ago I wandered in these places and further to the end of Krestovsky where a belfry with an electric organ was built and observed huge placers of historical branded brick brought and dumped at the water's edge. Now it’s not possible to go to the tip of the island. Due to the construction, everything is fenced and the access control mode for passage and passage has been introduced. And as you can see from Google’s satellite maps, soil was excavated at the tip of the island, concrete pads and most likely all the brick - the "brick sticks of St. Petersburg" will remain forever buried under all this long-term construction-new construction that has already covered itself with scandals and financial frauds. But I'm not talking about this, I'm talking about Petersburg ...

My attempts to find something interesting were limited to the territory of this abandoned and littered beach.
Alas, I could not select and bring myself to my home collection and only took photographs. As a rule, the local brick is badly broken or licked by a river wave and there are practically no hallmarks. But you can find some of the whole, and armed with a pickaxe and a shovel there is a chance to hook on some pretty decent specimens.

Brick "R.R." in a frame and with house number No. 47.
Most likely, the stigma bears the initials of Vladimir Aleksandrovich, Ratkov-Razhnov (1834-1912) - a Russian public figure, entrepreneur and industrialist, senator, a real privy councilor. Belongs to the ancient noble family of Kostroma province.

In 1857, he graduated from the Law Faculty of St. Petersburg University with a degree of candidate of rights and entered the civil service at the Senate Chancellery. He served as assistant secretary and chief secretary in various departments.
A nobleman, a real privy councilor, lawyer, public and statesman. The mayor of St. Petersburg (1893-1898), the senator (since 1904), the owner of the largest in Russia Gromovskaya forest trade exchange.

Since 1874, the owner of the company “Gromov and Kє” (processing and trade in timber and timber machines) and the largest in Russia Gromov Forest Exchange (sawmills: Shlisselburgsky tract, 57, Orlovskaya ul., 1; warehouse - B. Nevka embankment , 13; wholesale offices - Millionnaya st., 7, Helsingfors st., 4); co-owner of Lensky and Miass gold mining. partnerships, Upper Amur gold mining industry. companies, St. Petersburg. Private commercial bank. Owner approx. 20 apartment buildings in St. Petersburg. (Palace embankment., 8, Dumskaya St., 7, Nevsky Prospect, 152, Gorokhovaya St., 79, etc.)
At home:
Kirochnaya St. / St. Petersburg, 34
Kirochnaya St. / St. Petersburg, 32
Pestelya St. / St. Petersburg, d.13
Pestelya St. / St. Petersburg, 15

He was buried with his son Ilya (sk. 1907) and brother Ratkov-Rozhnov Alexei Alexandrovich (1829-1909).
Russia. St. Petersburg. Necropolis of the XVIII century. The angle of the Betankurovskaya and Rossievskaya paths. Byzantine style chapel, 1910s.
  His heirs owned the company "Gromov and Co."
The plant was located in Shlisselburg Uyezd, in the village of Malye Porogi (1896-1917).
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BRICK z-d "ENERGY"

The owner of the plant is Nikolai Fedorovich Nikolaev and / or (A.Kanegisseru (?)). Factory on Izhora. Office on the street Serdobolskaya 4-6
And here the intrigue crept in!
Judging by Wikipedia, Uritsky was killed by Leonid Kanegisser.

(on the photo on the right: son of A. Kannegisser, on the left S. Yesenin)

And, again, according to information from there, his father was Akaki Samuilovich Kanegisser - the owner of this brick factory.
Years of production: 1910s.

BRICK "Ukke and Co."
From these bricks several buildings of the "Red Triangle" and its hostel were built. The brick factory was owned by Ukke & Co., which was owned by a nobleman (from Russified Germans), a member of the board of the Borovichi Society of Refractory and Acidproof Products Ludwig Yulievich Ukke. They are in 1887. A brick factory, previously built in the 1860s by Nikolai Kochetov near the village of Ust-Izhora, was bought and rebuilt. In the same year, the second plant appears in the village of Ust-Tosna, and in 1897. - and the third in the village of Ust-Slavyanka. Companions of Ukke were I.V. Schmidt and A.E. Streetter. Noteworthy is the variety of stamp options (variations of at least two dozen) with different numbers (to the right or left of the inscription "Ukke" "and Ukke and Co"), as well as the use of the letters "C", "T" and "B" in the upper semicircle. The letter "C" means "Slavic" plant, which was located in Ust_Slavyankey which the company "Ukke" owned together with P.A., Geyermans. The letter "T" indicates the "Tosnensky" plant in Tosna, and "B" - possibly the manager Bogdanovich. It is possible that the Tosnensky plant also used the stigma "U.Z.U." ("Ust_tosnensky factory Ukke").

They mention that "... On the Zhdanovskaya embankment, they demolish the old house, where there was a certain medical facility." Strelin bricks are probably from this building.
The owner of the plant is Makarii Timofeevich Strelin. Years of production: 1875-1900. The owner of the plant is Alexey Makarovich Strelin. Years of production 1897-1910s. The owner of the plant is Vasily Makarovich Strelin. Years of production 1910. Office at 5th Rozhdestvenskaya, 11

Brick found on the roof of the house on Kolomenskaya st. It is also present in the building of the hospital morgue on Troitsky Prospekt and in the buildings of the abandoned quarter on Bratskaya St. (there are still bricks of Strelina br.). Produced at the factories of the peasant (and later the merchant and hereditary honorary citizen) Makarii Timofeevich Strelin. One of the factories, built in 1875, was located along the Slavyanka River in the village of Ust-Izhora and was bought from the merchant, Anna Semenovna Vandrukhova, in 1882. The second factory was located in the Ovtsino colony on the right bank of the Neva and was built in 1897. The case was subsequently continued by the sons of Aleksey (used the “AMS” stamp) and Vasily Makarovichi. Most likely, around 1910 a joint stigma appeared, “B. Streliny.”
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Waiting for your comments below. What stigma bricks did you come across? What are the hallmarks of interest to you?