Christmastide Entertainment

Tatyana Strunina is a talented Mstyear artist who painted this box.
The work is called "Christmastide Entertainment". Twelve days on the eve of Epiphany in Russia are called "svyatki"; it's the time when fortune-telling and different games take place. In this period girls and lads gather the big village house to make merry, sing songs, play games, dance and talk. In Russian such gatherings called "posidelki".
In ancient times in svyatki Russian people dressed masks and fancy dresses and walked along village streets, singing Christmas songs that glorified Jesus Christ. They stopped in at different houses and the owners had to give them presents and sweets. This ancient rite in Russian called "kaliyda".
In this composition the author depicted a kind of game performed in svyatki.The lad has his eyes covered with a headscarf and trying to catch a girl, while the rest of the people in the house are making noises to mix him up.
The box is made out of paper-mache made. Black lacquer covers the exterior and red lacquer covers the interior of the box. The box is hinged to the top of the composition and rests on four small round legs. The work is signed with the artist's name, the village, and the title.