#004062 Title: Tale of a Golden Fish Artist: Vikhrev Ivan Size: 11x11x3.5 Size (inches): 4.25x4.25x1.25 Price: $475

Ivan Vikhrev from the village of Palekh painted this beautiful box. It shows some recognizable scenes from Pushkin's “Tale of the Old Man and the Magic Fish”. This tale tells about a fisherman and his greedy wife. Once the fisherman caught a magic gold fish that promised to fulfill all his wishes in return for releasing her. The fisherman didn't want anything, but his greedy wife wanted everything! At first she ordered the fisherman to get her a new washtub, then she wanted to have a new cottage. After receiving these trivial things, she decided to be a lady instead of being a peasant, and again it wasn't her last wish, later on, she wished to be a tsaritsa, and even a mistress of all the seas and oceans. In the end the fisherman's wife is punished for her greediness.
Vikhrev paints the composition according to icon painting principles that allow artists to disregard time, and most importantly space. He uses gold and aluminum paint to accent the details. Gold is also used to decorated the box's exterior with intricate ornaments.
The box is constructed from paper-mache. Black lacquer is used to paint the exterior of the piece while red lacquer completes the interior of the work. A hinge has been fastened to the top of the composition and the box rests on four legs. The work is signed with the artist's name, Palekh and the year of 2006.