How I wish to ride a Troyka...

IMPORTANT NOTE: this box is currently displayed on Expo in the All-Russia Museum of Folk and Applied art in Moscow devoted to the 80th anniversary of Kholui Art. The Expo was opened on the 12th of November and will take a place till the 6th of December 2014.

This beautiful box is a high quality work from a talented Kholui artist, Yugeniy Dobrin. Yugeniy has created multiple original works, including this one. The box is painted on the traditional theme of speeding winter troika. A loving couple sits inside the sledge, and three beautiful steeds with slender legs and luxuriant manes carry them to the village church where they intend to get married. 
Blue greenish tones of tempera paints dominate here as the action takes place in winter. The costumes of the characters, the architecture, the sledge, the harness of the steeds are skillfully detailed with gold paint. Silver paint is used to create a sparkle of the snow. The box's exterior is decorated with Dobrin's signature style luxuriant ornaments painted in gold and silver paints.
The box is constructed from paper-mache. Black lacquer is used to paint the exterior of the box while red lacquer completes the interior of the work. The lid is hinged from the top of the composition, and the box rests on four legs. The work is signed with the artist's name, Kholui, and the title "How I wish to ride a Troyka..."