Manufactured facing stone Imprint ‘Old Kazan Brick’

Brick hallmarks represent a distinct type of historical information. For instance, they have preserved the names of business owners and representatives of the country's industrial elite.
Nowadays, branded bricks are perceived as a time-tested model of technical aesthetics and a type of applied art.
Brick masters produced robust bricks treated with fire for the Kremlin walls, towers, cathedrals, and later for the construction of reliable stone houses in the capitals and large cities of Russia. As the demand for bricks was constantly growing, brickyards appeared which competed for the production of aesthetically appealing and high-quality material. The quality control of bricks was very strict. In the 18th century, branding of bricks was one of the requirements of the Architectural Expedition, a specialized oversight body, in order to know which manufacturers produced quality products and who could be fined for bricks of inadequate quality. Brick imprints were the signature of the manufacturer-owner and the guarantee that this brick would last for centuries.