Show all images on one page	#001550 Title: Little hump-backed horse Artist: Galda Nikolay Size: 9x12x4 Size (inches): 4 3/4x3 1/2x1 1/2 Price : $675 SOLD!

This magnificent box was painted by a young Kholuy artist, who has already received much recognition for his work, Nikolai Galda. An absolute treasure, it features various scenes from the tale of the Humpbacked Little Pony. Each scene shows a different adventure. In the left bottom corner there is the tent with dinner and a jar of wine inside that Ivan has erected to lure and capture the Tsar-Maiden. A little above this scene Ivan travels to the Moon's crystal palace. The other scene shows the Moon sleeping inside her wonderful celestial palace. This unusual travel has been caused by the request of the Tsar-Maiden. She has asked Ivan to convey her greetings to her mother (the Moon) and her brother (the Sun), and to ask why they have been hiding from her for three days. Just below these two scenes we can see another scene depicting the huge whale, the back of which is covered with forests, meadows and villages. This huge monster will help Ivan to fulfill his third errand: to bring the ring of Tsar-Maiden, lost somewhere on the bottom of the ocean. In the middle of the composition Ivan has fulfilled one of his errands and brought Tsar Maiden to the tsar's palace. Nobody has never seen such a beauty! The tsar, the boayrs and all people of the kingdom opened their mouths in amazement.
The box is elegantly crafted, with a unique shape that tapers from bottom to top. Galda uses gem colors of fluorite blue, jade green, morganite pink, aventurine red, alexandrite violet, and pearl white. The mellow colors compliment each other beautifully, and are outstanding against the black lacquer exterior. Galda's work demonstrates a mastery of color combination and fine detail.

The whale scene is of particular note on this box. The whale's body curves in a graceful arc among the the wild, churning waves, each ripple defined with soft lines. The whale himself is painted with wonderful definition, and beautiful orange and pink tones accent his fins and tale. Each scale is painted with watercolor like highlighting and shadow. Galda gives particular attention to his eye, which conveys a certain humanity and kindness.

Another captivating scene is the one with the Firebird. Its plumage is spectacularly ornate, with wild, flowing motion patterned with precise hair-thin strokes. Galda's trees are painted with a traditional method that uses repetition of shapes and contrasting colors to create a beautiful mosaic effect. Throughout the piece his characters are expressive and painted with subtle blending and natural expressions. Their clothes are painted with a wide array of shades, to create natural folds and draping. This same technique is used to paint the Humpbacked Pony's handsome musculature, and modeled face. Galda has precisely defined each minute detail with a single hair brush.

The exterior of this box was painted with black lacquer and the interior was painted with red lacquer. The individual compositions on this box are framed with a string of gold bead filigree, accented at the corners with swirling silver and gold flourishes. The sides of the lid are ornamented with gold scrollwork, accented at the middle with silver circles. The lower portion of the box's base features an exquisite flourish of regal gold and silver filigree. The lid of this box is unhinged, and the box rests on four arched feet which emerge gracefully from the bottom of the box. Upon completing his work, Galda signed the bottom of the lid composition, along with the title and village name of Kholuy.