Posted 6 years ago
Rogueroman
(96 items)
Greetings All,
I just picked up this Russian Lacquer box and hope someone can help me determine age, and location. This is what I know - it is signed in three places: the left side which is supposed to be the village or area that is from. It is possible that it may be from Mstera or Kholui but again I don't read Russian. The center or middle area is supposedly the title. I do know the subject matter is a common one - Troika - a Russian sled pulled by three horses, but I'm not sure if that is what the title actually says. The last is on the right and that is supposedly the artist. The box lid measures 6 3/4" x 4 1/4" while the actually body of the box is 6 3/8" x 4 1/16. It is 1 1/2" high or deep counting the lid. The interior is red and smells of linseed oil. What is interesting is that the horses are all black - and I have been unable to find any images on line of a Troika being pulled by black horses. I would appreciate any help with the translation and perhaps an age for the box. I picked it up at an estate sale.
The box is signed "Palekh" "Troika" "Artist Chernykh". The box is from Palekh which is another school that makes lacquer miniatures, although in their own characteristic style, which is dark backgrounds and tones, and shapes and figures reminiscent that of Russian icon painting style.
I thought i would be able to tell the age of the box by looking up the artist's name, unfortunately nothing came up in reference to this artist. However, i founds other information that may be of interest:
Since 1934 the bottom of a box was marked with "Made in USSR" which in 1992 was replaced with "Made in Russia". All signatures are painted in gold.
Is the box marked on the bottom in any way? I came across a reference saying there are many imitations out there. Does the image on the lid glow at a certain angle? They use gold underlay and paint over it in a special technique which creates a unique effect of inner glow.
There's more here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palekh_miniature
And also here if you can drop it in some online translator:
http://ivcult.ru/sp-cult/nematerialnoe-kulturnoe-nasledie/74-palekhskaya-lakovaya-miniatyura
Greetings and thank you for the information. There is no markings on the bottom. The only information that I have is that the man who originally owned it traveled to Russia in the late 1970's - mid 1980's. There was a handwritten note in the box from the owner that he had paid $495 for it. I don't know if that was US currency or Russian Roubles.
I have a 3 tiered "red box" jewelry box with 3 horses a couple on a sleigh and a farmhouse and buildings in the background. Made in Russia and red lining inside. Any advice.