Show all images on one page	#008147 Title: Borzoi Hunt for Wolf Artist: Potekhin Evgeniy Size: 26x19x10 Size (inches): 10.25x7.5x3.75 Price : $3495 SOLD!

This interesting composition with Russian hunting with Borzoi Dogs was painted by Top Fedoskino Master Potekhin Evgeniy.
The Russian concept of hunting trials was instituted during the era of the Tsars. As well as providing exciting sport, the tests were used for selecting borzoi breeding stock; only the quickest and most intelligent hunting dogs went on to produce progeny. For the aristocracy these trials were a well-organized ceremony, sometimes going on for days, with the borzoi accompanied by mounted hunters and Foxhounds on the Russian steppe. Hares and other small game were by far the most numerous kills, but the hunters especially loved to test their dogs on wolf. If a wolf was sighted, the hunter would release a team of two or three borzoi. The dogs would pursue the wolf, attack its neck from both sides, and hold it until the hunter arrived. The classic kill was by the human hunter with a knife. Wolf trials are still a regular part of the hunting diploma for all Russian sightdog breeds of the relevant type, either singly or in pairs or trios, in their native country.
In the 1917 Revolution, large numbers of native Psovoi/Borzoi were destroyed by the revolutionaries. The Tsars had turned them into a symbol of affluence and tyranny, and they were not welcomed into the new world of the Soviet Union. Some noblemen took it upon themselves to shoot their own dogs rather than allow them to fall into the hands of militants. However, the Psovoi survived along with the other borzaya variants in the Russian countryside.
The style of Potekhin's painting is easy to distinguish from other Fedoskino painters, because he is working in old tradition of Lukutin Masters. The details on a box are amazing and composition is alive in it's movement!
The composition is framed with with a gold line.
The box is constructed from paper-mache. The exterior of the piece is imitates the color of a gray marble. Red lacquer completes the interior of the work. The hinge is fastened to the top of the composition. The box rests on platform that ended up with four legs.
The box is signed by the artist.