Show all images on one page	#001643 Title: Tula craftsmen(2001) Artist: Strakhova Olga Nikolaevna Size: 5x5x3 Size (inches): 2x2x1.25 Price : $195 SOLD!

This charming small box has been painted by Olga Strakhova from Fedoskino. It shows three smiths forging iron. This box is included in the series of works (triptych), which is called "Tula craftsmen". Another two boxes of the triptych show accordion makers and samovar makers. The original of triptych was painted by A. Grachov in 1965, and you can find them in the book by N. Malakhov, Fedoskino (Moscow, Fine arts), image 163.
The ancient Russian town of Tula has been always famous for its craftsmen. Since old times, Tula craftsmen have produced weapon, samovars, accordions, confectionery and many other goods. Now in this town there are munitions factories that produce guns, rifles, cartridges, submachine guns, including the famous submachine gun of Kalashnikov; confectioneries, producing the world-famous Tula-cakes, factories, producing samovars and a lot of others.
The composition is painted in bright colors against the black background. The black background furthers the radiance of the presentation. To paint the craftsmen the artist uses three distinct orange, red and white tones, to create a contrast on each of them. Gold metal leaf illuminates the apron of the smith painted on the right, whereas the apron of the smith painted on the left is illuminated with aluminum powder. The scene is very well drawn, especially the faces of the craftsmen. Delightful little treasure!
The box is constructed from paper-mache. Black lacquer is used to paint the exterior of the box while red lacquer completes the interior of the work. The sides of the box are decorated with intricate gold patterns. The box has a hinge from the top of the composition and rests on a flat bottom. The Fedoskino "troika" insignia can be found on the interior of the lid. The box is signed with the artist's name, village and year (2001).