Product Overview
This complex Palekh composition has been painted by a talented artist Olga Terentyeva. It shows happy Russian peasants enjoying a frosty, winter day. They ski in a snowy forest and admire two moose and whirling snowflakes that so beautifully glisten in the sun.
Almost the entire surface of the box's exterior is covered with superb, Palekh style painting. The palette is filled with various shades of cold blues suitable for reproduction of a winter landscape whereas the characters' costumes are painted in warm red, orange and brown tones.
Painting human figures in bright, festive colors is a recognizable trait of the traditional style of Palekh lacquer miniature. Another Palekh trademark is not to color the sky even though the scene is supposed to have been taken during the day, and also very intricate and rich gold and aluminum detailing. Aluminum paint is used more than the gold paint to create a charming sparkle of the snow-covered ground and the snowflakes swirling in the air whereas gold paint is mostly used to detail the characters' costumes.
The box is constructed out of paper-mache. Black lacquer covers the exterior and red lacquer covers the interior of the box. Gold and aluminum paints are used in the scroll work that decorates the sides of the box's lid and the bottom part of the box's sides. The lid is hinged from the top of the picture, and the box rests on a flat bottom. The work is signed with the artist's name and the village of Palekh.
Approx. size 7.5"x6"x2".
