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A wonderful vintage miniature Russian box, made of papier mâché and with a glossy black lacquered finish. It features a beautifully hand painted portrait of what is known traditionally as a 'Russkaya Krasavitsa' which translates to 'Russian Beauty'. The interior has a bespoke new removable padded velvet panel.
FREE UK NEXT DAY DELIVERY. We Ship Worldwide.
The Exterior
This wonderful vintage Russian box is made of papier mâché and has a glossy black lacquered finish. It features a beautifully hand painted portrait of what is known traditionally as a 'Russkaya Krasavitsa' which translates to 'Russian Beauty'. The painting has Fedoskino's characteristic multi layered oil painting style and the portrait with its vibrant colours stands out beautifully against the black lacquered background.
The box is signed and dated beneath the portrait. It bears the signature of the Fedoskino Guild art studio and the date 1961. This studio was within the world renowned artisan village of Fedoskino, just north of Moscow. To the right of the signature and date 'Alyonushka' is hand painted. This may relate to the Russian artist's Victor Vasnetsov's painting titled Alyonushka, with the artist who painted this box perhaps having been inspired by this and some other related paintings of Vasnetsov's. Vasnetsov's Alynoushka has the same long auburn hair as the beauty on this box, however the original Alyonushka's face was based on a combination of two different women - one a random village peasant girl and the other a young aristocratic girl which may explain the difference between the well dressed female with her beautiful updo on this box and Vasnetsov's Alyonushka peasant girl who he portrayed as a fairy. We can't be certain of the history of this box's portrait but whatever the case it is very beautiful!
The bottom of the box is inscribed 'Handpainted in U.S.S.R.' in beautiful hand painted silver cursive script. This inscription on the bottom confirms the box was intended for the export market.
The Interior
The interior has a vibrant vermillion red lacquered finish. A new bespoke (removable) velvet panel has been added to the compartment, to make it functional for storing small pieces of jewellery if desired, such as stud earrings, flat hoop earrings, flat pendants and narrow banded rings (with a small stone). It will hold between 1-5 pieces of jewellery depending on their sizes. The velvet panel is padded, providing cushioned protection for jewellery. The lacquered finish beneath the velvet panel is so lovely and in such good condition, that we decided to make a panel that is removable rather than fixed. This also preserves the integrity of the box.
The bottom of the compartment, plus the inside of the lid are both marked with a gold hand painted 'M' which may relate to Moscow's regional council and miniature guild validation mark.
Age
Mid 20th century, 1961. Soviet era.
Measurements
Please use the following measurements to ensure the box is the right size for your requirements.
Diameter: 6.0cm
Height: 1.2cm
Interior Compartment:
5.2cm diameter with a 0.6cm depth. (0.8cm depth with the velvet pad removed).
Condition
This beautiful old box is still in lovely condition, despite its 60 years of age. The paintwork is beautiful with no loss of colour and the box is structurally sound. There are no cracks within the papier mâché. There is some wear to the lacquered finish, predominantly around the body of the box which displays a highly characterful 'craquelure' pattern which is visual proof of the box's age. The wear is as we'd expect from a box of this age which has been loved and used.
The interior velvet pad, being new, is in immaculate condition.
Postage
This box will be posted FREE within the UK by Royal Mail Next Day Special Delivery.
International postage is £30 by Royal Mail International Tracked and/or Signed For postage. Delivery is fast, within 3-5 working days to Europe and 5-7 working days to the rest of the world. Delivery may be longer depending on the speed of your local postal service and/or if your parcel has to go through customs. Please note that we cannot deliver to international PO boxes as we use a secure insured postal service that requires a signature.
Customs/VAT fees and Import Tariffs
International customers are responsible for paying any applicable customs duties, import tariffs, customs clearance/handling fees and/or VAT. These fees are NOT included in the prices of our boxes or our postage fees.
Please visit our Orders & Delivery page for further details.
A wonderful vintage miniature Russian box, made of papier mâché and with a glossy black lacquered finish. It features a beautifully hand painted portrait of what is known traditionally as a 'Russkaya Krasavitsa' which translates to 'Russian Beauty'. The interior has a bespoke new removable padded velvet panel.
A wonderful vintage miniature Russian box, made of papier mâché and with a glossy black lacquered finish. It features a beautifully hand painted portrait of what is known traditionally as a 'Russkaya Krasavitsa' which translates to 'Russian Beauty'. The interior has a bespoke new removable padded velvet panel.
FREE UK NEXT DAY DELIVERY. We Ship Worldwide.
The Exterior
This wonderful vintage Russian box is made of papier mâché and has a glossy black lacquered finish. It features a beautifully hand painted portrait of what is known traditionally as a 'Russkaya Krasavitsa' which translates to 'Russian Beauty'. The painting has Fedoskino's characteristic multi layered oil painting style and the portrait with its vibrant colours stands out beautifully against the black lacquered background.
The box is signed and dated beneath the portrait. It bears the signature of the Fedoskino Guild art studio and the date 1961. This studio was within the world renowned artisan village of Fedoskino, just north of Moscow. To the right of the signature and date 'Alyonushka' is hand painted. This may relate to the Russian artist's Victor Vasnetsov's painting titled Alyonushka, with the artist who painted this box perhaps having been inspired by this and some other related paintings of Vasnetsov's. Vasnetsov's Alynoushka has the same long auburn hair as the beauty on this box, however the original Alyonushka's face was based on a combination of two different women - one a random village peasant girl and the other a young aristocratic girl which may explain the difference between the well dressed female with her beautiful updo on this box and Vasnetsov's Alyonushka peasant girl who he portrayed as a fairy. We can't be certain of the history of this box's portrait but whatever the case it is very beautiful!
The bottom of the box is inscribed 'Handpainted in U.S.S.R.' in beautiful hand painted silver cursive script. This inscription on the bottom confirms the box was intended for the export market.
The Interior
The interior has a vibrant vermillion red lacquered finish. A new bespoke (removable) velvet panel has been added to the compartment, to make it functional for storing small pieces of jewellery if desired, such as stud earrings, flat hoop earrings, flat pendants and narrow banded rings (with a small stone). It will hold between 1-5 pieces of jewellery depending on their sizes. The velvet panel is padded, providing cushioned protection for jewellery. The lacquered finish beneath the velvet panel is so lovely and in such good condition, that we decided to make a panel that is removable rather than fixed. This also preserves the integrity of the box.
The bottom of the compartment, plus the inside of the lid are both marked with a gold hand painted 'M' which may relate to Moscow's regional council and miniature guild validation mark.
Age
Mid 20th century, 1961. Soviet era.
Measurements
Please use the following measurements to ensure the box is the right size for your requirements.
Diameter: 6.0cm
Height: 1.2cm
Interior Compartment:
5.2cm diameter with a 0.6cm depth. (0.8cm depth with the velvet pad removed).
Condition
This beautiful old box is still in lovely condition, despite its 60 years of age. The paintwork is beautiful with no loss of colour and the box is structurally sound. There are no cracks within the papier mâché. There is some wear to the lacquered finish, predominantly around the body of the box which displays a highly characterful 'craquelure' pattern which is visual proof of the box's age. The wear is as we'd expect from a box of this age which has been loved and used.
The interior velvet pad, being new, is in immaculate condition.
Postage
This box will be posted FREE within the UK by Royal Mail Next Day Special Delivery.
International postage is £30 by Royal Mail International Tracked and/or Signed For postage. Delivery is fast, within 3-5 working days to Europe and 5-7 working days to the rest of the world. Delivery may be longer depending on the speed of your local postal service and/or if your parcel has to go through customs. Please note that we cannot deliver to international PO boxes as we use a secure insured postal service that requires a signature.
Customs/VAT fees and Import Tariffs
International customers are responsible for paying any applicable customs duties, import tariffs, customs clearance/handling fees and/or VAT. These fees are NOT included in the prices of our boxes or our postage fees.
Please visit our Orders & Delivery page for further details.
For more information regarding our payments and returns policy, please click this link.
For more information regarding our orders and delivery policy, please click this link.
