Show all images on one page	#005472 Title: The Story of a mighty bogatyr Mikhail Potok Artist: Nechaev Oleg Size: 11x15x2.5 Size (inches): 4.25x6x1 Price : $1475 SOLD!

This brilliant work is an original creation of the talented Fedoskino artist Oleg Nechaev. Nechaev is an artist who has a rich fantasy and is able to show vividly the magic world of a Russian fairy-tale. His compositions are always designed in a special way, and elaborately detailed.
The box shows a scene from the ancient Russian bylina “The Story of Prince Vladimir, bogatyrs from the town of Kiev, a mighty bogatyr named Mikhail Potok Ivanovich, and Tsar Koshchey of the Golden Horde.
This bilyna tells about the bogatyr, Mikhail Potok Ivanovich. One day Prince Vladimir gathered all people of the kingdom and asked which of them was able to take tribute from the Turskaya Land, from the Alevitskaya Land and from the Zadonskaya land. The famous Russian bogatyr, Ilya Muromets, decided to take tribute from the Turskaya Land, the mighty bogatyr, Mikhail Potok Ivanovich, decided to take tribute from the Zadonskaya land and the bogatyr Alesha Popovich decided to take tribute from the Alevitskaya Land.
During his journey to the Zadonskaya land, Mikhail Potok Ivanovich met the White Swan swimming in the blue sea. He wanted to kill her with his fast arrow, but the swan suddenly turned into a beautiful maiden. Mikhail Potok Ivanovich fell in love with her, and very soon married her. Later he took tribute from the Zadonskaya land, and came back to Kiev together with his young wife. The White Swan got the name of Avdotya after the rite of christening. The newlyweds lived happily till the moment when the Golden Horde merchant met Avdotya in the market. He told Tsar Koshchey of the Golden Horde about her magic beauty. Tsar Koshchey ordered his horde to catch Adotya the White Swan and bring her into his palace. Two times Mikhail Potok Ivanovich was able to defeat the warriors of Tsar Koshchey but the third time Adotya the White Swan was caught. She was brought into the sumptuous palace of Koshchey. Tempted by Koshchey's riches, she agreed to be Koshchey's wife and Tsaritsa of the Golden Horde. In the end of the story Mikhail Potok Ivanovich killed his treacherous wife with his sharp sword.
To express vividly the fantastic world of the tale, Nechaev has used a beautiful combination of blue and gold tones. The most part of the composition is painted in contrast light and dark blue oils. The richness of the composition is achieved with the help of lustrous gold and silver paint that accentuates the details.
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 exterior is decorated with so called "scan patterns" composed of tiny shapes hand punched from gold metal sheets and then painstakingly affixed by hand to the box. The lid is hinged from the left of the composition, and rests on a flat bottom. The work is signed with the artist's name, Fedoskino, and the title.