Tea-urns or samovars such as this were traditionally used to keep water for tea making hot. Originally a Russian invention, the design may have entered Kashmir through Russian central Asia, which was connected to Kashmir via trade routes. Alternatively, the type may have been introduced to Kashmir by the British, who often spent the summer months there in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This samovar is made from repousse (or beaten) copper and brass – a technique for which the metalworkers of Kashmir were well known.