Vasilisa the Beautiful

This attractive Palekh box is a creation of Nina Bogachyova . Nina Bogachyova was born in 1941 in the village of Ilinskaya in Ivanovo region, 300 kilometers northeast of Moscow. She currently resides in Palekh, as a well-established Palekh artist. The themes of her works are for the most part folklore and genre scenes.
The box shows a scene from the Russian folk fairy-tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful". Here we can see the moment when Vasilisa meets one of three riders, the Red Sun Rider. The girl holds in her hands the doll that helps her to fulfill each difficult task given by Baba-Yaga.
The scene is painted in various shades of green and orange tempera paints against the black lacquered background. Bogachyova enhances details with brilliant gold paint that makes the composition radiate with a tremendous glow.
The box is constructed from paper-mache. The exterior of the box is painted with black lacquer while the interior is completed with dark red lacquer. The edges of the lid are adorned with a simple pattern composed of gold beads whereas the box's sides are decorated with more complex gold ornament. A hinge is fastened to the top of the composition and the box rests on a flat bottom. The work is signed with the artist's name, Palekh, the title, and the year of 2010.