Vasilisa the Beautiful

The box shows several scenes from the Russian fairy-tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful".
The plot of the story is following: 
One merchant has only one daughter, and when her was duing she asked dauther to come to her and give her a doll. She said when you will be in trouble, just feed the doll and it'll help. Suddenly she died and later on merchant has married another woman with two daughter. The girl's cruel stepmother sending her to the forest to ask Baba-Yaga to give her work. It is the stepmother's pretext, in fact she wants Baba-Yaga to kill the girl. In the forest Vasilisa meets Baba-Yaga and three riders: the Red Sun Rider, the Dark Night Rider, and the Bright Day Rider. But, finally, this tale has a happy end. The handsome Prince offers the girl his hand and heart and invited her in his marvelous palace. On this composition we can see Vasilisa, one of the Riders and Baba Yaga's in front of her Hut. The girl holds the doll that helps her to fulfill very difficult tasks given by Baba-Yaga. In the middle of the composition we can see Baba Yaga's Hut. The three riders are around her hut and a figure of Vasilisa is in the upper right corner.
The work of gold here is simply amazing! The composition is full of gold detailes!
The box is made out of paper-mache. Black lacquer covers the exterior and red lacquer covers the interior of the box. A hinge has been fastened to the top of the composition, and the box rests flat. The work is signed with the artist's name and Palekh at the bottom of the composition in gold paints.