Show all images on one page	#007750 Title: Miller/Mermaid Artist: Maslov Vlad Size: 22.5x15.5x6 Size (inches): 8.75x6x2.25 Price : $1950 SOLD!

This festive Fedokino box is an original master work of Vlad Maslov. Vlad is enchanted with the Russian folklore, and likes to paint his works on the themes of Russian fairy-tales and legends. Forest spirits is his favorite theme to depict. He has created such brilliant works as "Baba-Yaga", "the Water Spirit", "the Wood Spirit", "Forest Man" and many others. This box continues Maslov's favorite theme and shows a spirit and a character of some Russian tales known as "mermaid".
A mermaid is a legendary aquatic creature with the upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. The first stories appeared in ancient Assyria, in which the goddess Atargatis transformed herself into a mermaid out of shame for accidentally killing her human lover. Mermaids are sometimes associated with perilous events such as floods, storms, shipwrecks and drownings. In other folk traditions (or sometimes within the same tradition), they can be benevolent or beneficent, bestowing boons or falling in love with humans. Mermaids are associated with the mythological Greek sirens as well as with sirenia, a biological order comprising dugongs and manatees. Some of the historical sightings by sailors may have been misunderstood encounters with these aquatic mammals.
Mermaids have been a popular subject of art and literature in recent centuries, such as in Hans Christian Andersen's well-known fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" (1836). They have subsequently been depicted in operas, paintings, books, films and comics.
The box demonstrates Maslov's impeccable style. Blue and brown tones of oils predominate here. The most of the elements of the composition as the characters' costumes and the plants are detailed with bright gold paint. Gold and silver powders are mixed with the oils to enrich to color palette. The river is painted over the twinkling pieces of mother-of-pearl. Pearl bead is clued to the area near the mermaid.
The sides are also adorned whimsical patterns. The box's exterior is covered with blue and yellow colors.
The box is made out of paper-mache. The lid is hinged from the top of the scene, and the box rests on four pearl beads glued to the box's exterior bottom. The interior of the box is covered with red lacquer. On the lid's interior the artist has painted a fallen leave. A square piece of mother-of-pearl is glued to this leave; on this piece Maslov has written his name and the title of the work ("Miller").