MARK OF JOHANN BROCKMER, HAMBURG, CIRCA 1670

Tcharka or charka is sometimes translated as a vodka cup but the form originally served as a measuring cup, an appropriate object for a trading community. In the late 17th and early 18th century Hamburg rose to become a global marketplace and financial centre connecting all of Europe but especially Russia, which has no port of its own in the Baltic apart from Arkhangelsk. Hamburg thus welcomed a large Russian community of traders, whilst many Hamburg merchants resided in Russia. Many new forms of objects, such as the tcharka but also the bratina were introduced.