Show all images on one page	#004451 Title: Stone Flower Artist: Wagner Marie Size: 22.5x15.5x7 Size (inches): 8.75x6x2.75 Price : $1650 SOLD!

This large originally shaped box is a wonderful creation of the famous Fedoskino artist Maria Wagner. On the box's lid the artist has painted a scene from “The Mistress of the Copper Mountain”, one of the “Tales of the Malachite Casket”, a series of inter-linking stories written by Pavel Bazhov. The story tells about a young craftsman, Danilo, who seeks to perfect his art.
The scene shows a moment from the beginning of the tale. Danilo was employed by the rich aristocrat to make jewellery, caskets and vases of the stone of malachite. Danilo was a talented master. The rich aristocrat, his family and friends valued highly his malachite creations. Here we can see the aristocrat, his family and friends looking with admiration at Danilo's jewellery. From the right of this scene Wagner has painted the Mistress of Copper Mountain who is one of the main characters of this tale.
Malachite emerald green tones of oils that suit perfectly to the chosen theme predominate here. Silver powder is used to paint the air space outside the window. This helps to create a depth of the composition. Silver powder also shines through the oils accentuating richness of the characters' costumes, and sparkles through the walls of the chamber and the big vase made of malachite.
The scene is framed with a nice gold pattern, and the same gold pattern wraps around the bottom part of the box's sides. The box's sides are decorated with a wide band of gold blurry spots and veins that imitates a stone color. On the box's sides the artist has also painted several additional scenes on the theme of the chosen tale using oil paints. Each of them shows jewellery and the figurine of a lizard made of malachite.
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 is fastened to the top of the scene. The box rests on several legs. The work is signed with the artist's name and the village of Fedoskino.