Show all images on one page	#005590 Title: By the Fire place Artist: Poturayko Vladimir Size: 14x17.5x5 Size (inches): 5.5x7x2 Price : $950 SOLD!

This exquisite box is an original creation of Vladimir Poturayko from the village of Kholui. His style is one that amazes and dazzles the eye with fine details and beautiful color combinations.
The box shows a peaceful scene: two fluffy cats are dozing near the warm stove. The interior of a Russian peasant house is vividly expressed here. It is done by filling the composition with a great number of various details that help a viewer to imagine the household of a Russian peasant. One of the cats holds a golden key in its paw because a cat in Russia is considered to be a keeper of family hearth. The composition is painted in various tones of tempera paints. Most of the details are enhanced with lustrous gold paint.
The box is made out of paper-mache. Black lacquer covers the exterior and red lacquer covers the interior of the box. Shining and very intricate gold ornamentation accented with aluminum frames the scene on the lid and wraps around the sides of the box. The lid is hinged from the left of the scene, and the box rests on a flat bottom. The work is signed with the artist's initials (P.V.), and the village of Kholui at the bottom of the composition. On the interior of the lid the artist wrote his name, the title (‘By the Fireplace'), his uniquely flaring signature, the village name of Kholuy and the year of 2008 of which the piece was finished in gold paint.