Russian Lacquer Boxes

Since 1980, the Russian American Company has maintained one of the largest collections of authentic, museum quality Russian lacquer boxes in the world. All of our Russian lacquer boxes are made in the traditional manner and painted by artists trained in one of the four official schools: Fedoskino, Palekh, Mstiora, and Kholui. Prices range from $36 to $25,000 and are determined by quality, difficulty, rarity, and artist.

History		Construction		Themes		Collector's Guide
Fedoskino		Palekh		Kholui		Mstera

SHOP for Russian Lacquer Boxes

History
Russian lacquer miniature painting as an art form originated in the late eighteenth century in the village of Danilkovo, not far from Moscow. The neighboring village of Fedoskino soon after adopted the art and founded a lacquer museum, school, and workshop which thrive to this day. Early lacquer workshops, such as those of Lukutin, Vishnyakov, and Korobov, produced snuffboxes, panels, powders cases, tea-caddies and other useful items. Materials used for the earliest boxes included ivory, porcelain, tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, and even silver and gold. Later, papier-mâché became the common medium as it was less expensive to produce and provided a consistent, stable base on which to paint. Today, almost all authentic Russian lacquer boxes are made of papier-mâché.

To be considered authentic, a Russian lacquer box must have been produced using traditional techniques and materials by an artist trained in one of the four official schools: Fedoskino, Palekh, Mstera, and Kholui. One must apply and be accepted to study at these schools, and basic training requires four years, after which apprenticeship begins. Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, all artists were employed at the official workshop of each school. Their work was judged, graded with strict quality control, and only high quality works were exported. Today, the lacquer artists may work for the official workshop or work independently. Therefore, a factory seal or certificate is no longer a determining factor to authenticity as many fine artists now work from their homes.

With the opening of Russia in 1990, the art of Russian lacquer miniature painting has gained worldwide appreciation and these small treasures are highly sought after by collectors. As a result, many Russian lacquer boxes are now being produced by untrained people using inferior materials. Many of these fakes have the name of one of the four villages and even the name of a well known artist added to fool the uneducated buyer. Educating yourself about the art and buying from reputable dealers will ensure that any purchase you make will be of high quality. SHOP for Russian Lacquer Boxes

Construction
These small works of art are entirely handcrafted and handpainted making each a unique, inspired creation. Techniques for producing the authentic Russian lacquer boxes have remained essentially the same for 150 years. Boxes and other objects are made of cardboard sheets, pressed and formed, then boiled in linseed oil. This papier-mâché is then baked in an oven. At this point the material can be worked like wood. Trained joiners assemble the boxes, applying hinges and two coats of primer-paint. The blank is then oven dried and given to the artist to begin the painting. Extremely fine brushes are used to achieve the fine lines and details in each painting. Artists prefer to make their own brushes and mix their own pigments. A quality lacquer miniature may take several months to complete.

Themes
Favored themes for paintings on Russian lacquer boxes are scenes from traditional Russian fairy tales, depiction of 19th century Russian peasant life, and reproductions of famous paintings hanging in Russian museums. However, all are original works of art, signed by the artist. There are four categories of painting to be considered: one-of-a-kind compositions; limited editions by a single artist; "factory" compositions which can be used by all artists; and reproductions from original works on canvas. Quality varies among all these categories.