Show all images on one page	#009449 Sale! Title: The Seven Semeons/Flying Ship Artist: Molodkin Nikolay Size: 20x16x4.5 Size (inches): 8x6.25x1.75 Price: $1795 $1500

Talented Nikolay Molodkin from the village of Mstera is the author of this box. It shows a scene from the Russian fairy-tale "Seven Semeons".
This tale tells about seven orphans who were adopted by the kind Tsar. Each of them promised the Tsar to master a separate skill. The first Semeon wanted to be a smith and promised to erect a pillar so tall that it would almost touch the sky. The second Semeon said that he would climb that pillar to keep watch on what is happening in the surrounding kingdoms. The third Semeon promised to become a ship builder. The fourth Semeon said that he would be the captain of that ship. The fifth Semeon said that he would be able to take that ship to the bottom of the ocean. The sixth Semeon said that he would be able to bring that ship up from the bottom of the ocean. And to the Tsar's surprise, the seventh Semeon answered that he wanted to be a thief. The Tsar was not pleased by his answer and warned him that he put thieves in his kingdom to death.
The years passed and the seven Semeons had become grown men. One day the Tsar gathered them to see what they had learned. Each of them demonstrated the tsar his skills. Most of all the tsar liked skills of the second Semeon who could climb the high pillar and told that he saw Elena the Fair in the neighboring kingdom, and most of he disliked skills of the seventh Semeon as he indeed became a thief. The tsar was about to hung the seventh brother, but changed his mind when the thief promised to steal Elena the Fair with the help of this brothers.
Owing to their skills the brothers could successfully steal Elena the Fair and returned to their kingdom. Later the tsar and Elena fell in love with each other, while the seven Semeons married Elena's maids.
Gold and aluminum paints are used to add intricate details that bring out the true beauty of the palette and develop the contours as well. Blue and yellow skies on the background gives a sense of infinite depth to the scenes, which is something Mstera artists have been doing in their paintings from the start. This is a classic example of Mstera lacquer miniature painting!
The box is made out of paper-mache. Black lacquer covers the exterior and red lacquer covers the interior of the box. The exterior is decorated with intricate gold ornaments accented with aluminum. The lid is hinged and the box rests on the four round legs. The work is signed with the artist's name,title-"Flying Ship", Mstera, and the year of 2021 on the exterior of the base of the box among with a small additional painting of a flying ship.