During the Soviet period, some of the most elaborate boxes sold for tens of thousands of dollars. In the 1930s and 1940s two more towns joined in this industry: Mstera and Kholui. The artists often used gold and other metal powders to give the boxes their trademark mother-of-pearl or translucent sheen. Both factories produced boxes that were made of papier-mâché and painted with oil paints (not tempera, as in Palekh). The factory passed down through the heirs as the Lukutin Factory, which was synonymous with lacquer boxes until the Vishnyakov family began competing with them. Papier-mâché came from the town of Fedoskino, not far from Moscow, where more than 200 years ago Ivan Korobov established a factory to produce lacquer works. In Palekh, the artists used tempera paint on wooden boxes and only began to use papier-mâché as a base in 1923 when they formed an artel, or cooperative.

After seeing Asian miniatures at an exhibition in the capital, he had the idea of “retraining” the icon painters to use their formidable skills and talent on secular boxes. In the early 1920s, a Moscow artist named Ivan Golikov came to the rescue of the village painters. That might not be true, but it is a fact that the town, along with Kholui and Mstera, was famous for the icon-painters, who were even invited to Moscow to paint some of the Kremlin palaces and churches.īut that all ended with the 1917 Revolution and the destruction of the Orthodox Church. Fedeskino school(?) portrait casket, lady and dog in row boat, inscribed front '2002', off-set 'clam' hinge,, 6-1/2 x 5-1/4 x 2 in.Legend has it that icon painters in Suzdal and Vladimir fled the attacking Tatar-Mongol armies in the 13th century and settled on the Paleshka River in a town that would become Palekh.

unknown school cigarette, portrait of Russian Maiden by stove, original box, 5 x 4 x 1 in. unknown school hinged round casket portrait of two children and dog, inscribed front '91', original box, 5 x 4-1/2 x 1-1/2 in. Fedeskino school(?) hinged casket portrait of Anna Karenina in fur on troika (based on painting by Kramskoy), inscribed front 'Baokob 10. unknown school hinged casket, abalone button hinge and interior mirror, inscribed front '2000', 8 x 5-1/4 x 2 in. one Fedoskino school hinged violin portrait box of Russian Beauty, certificate of authenticity by artist Paskinina, inscribed front with '2000', original box, 8-1/4 x 3-1/2 x 1 in. 20th century, tempera with gold leaf, abalone, paper-mache lacquer technique, gilt side decorations, comprising: Fedoskino school hinged oval portrait with certificate of authenticity, artist Fiveyskaya, abalone, inscribed front with '2002', 'Made in Russia' sticker verso, original box, 3-1/2 x 1-1/4 x 2-3/4 in.

Russian Lacquer Boxes by Unknown