Emelya and the Magic Pike

Khromov Evgeniy from the village of Mstera is the artist who has painted this colorful box. It shows a recognizable scene from the Russian tale "By the Pike's Will" or "Emelya and the Magic Pike". In short, this tale is about a young man, Emelya, who finds a special fish that promises to fulfill all his wishes. Here we can see a moment when Emelya catches the magic pike that can speak in a human voice. To save it's life, the fish promises the lad to fulfill all his wishes.
The scene is painted in bright blue, brown and red tempera paints. The costumes of the characters, the pike and the sky are detailed with lustrous gold paint. Each character depicted here has his own individual look including the costume and the face that reflect different emotions.
The scene is decorated with gold scroll work while the box's sides are adorned with luxuriant gold and aluminum filigree patterns.
The box is made out of paper-mache. Black lacquer covers the exterior and red lacquer covers the interior of the box. The lid is hinged from the top of the scene and the box rests on four legs. The work is signed with the artist's name, Mstera and the title of the tale.