Show all images on one page	#005878 Title: Thumbelina Artist: Brovkina Nataliya Size: 12.5x9x2 Size (inches): 4.75x3.5x0.75 Price : $485 SOLD!

This marvelous box was painted by Nataliya Brovkina from the village of Palekh. It depicts Thumbelina who is the heroine of the Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale. She was a tiny girl who was born from a flower. During the story she had many adventures, and met many animals including the Field Mouse and her neighbor, a Mole. The mouse suggests Thumbelina marry a Mole, but Thumbelina finds repulsive the prospect of being married to such a creature. She escapes the situation by fleeing to a far land with a swallow she nursed back to health during the winter.
The composition depicts Thumbelina spinning yarn inside the Field Mouse's house. The artist has vividly painted the interior of the Mouse's hole, and the most interesting trait of the composition are two huge spiders producing a yarn thread depicted in the center of the composition.
The palette for this piece contains a bright spectrum of vivid brown, blue, grey and red colors. Gold and silver paint, applied with extreme precision, details almost every aspect of the composition. The gold and silver detailing is so fine, in fact, that a brush with no more than a single hair was used in many areas.
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 box. The composition is framed with a simple pattern composed of silver and gold beads. The sides are decorated with more complex floral and foliage ornamentation painted in gold and aluminum. A hinge has been fastened to the top of the composition, and the box rests on a flat bottom. The work is signed with the artist's name, the title and the village of Palekh.