Show all images on one page	#003621 Title: The Magic Ring Artist: The Vlasovs (Yevgeniy and Svetlana) Size: 15x10x4 Size (inches): 6x4x1.5 Price : $950 SOLD!

This gorgeous box was created by the talented husband and wife duo of Yevgeniy and Svetlana Vlasov from the village of Kholui. It shows a scene from the Russian folk fairy-tale “The Magic Ring”.
The tale tells about the adventures of a peasant's son, Martynka. Martynka was a very kind fellow. One day Martynka saved a dog and a cat from death, and later these animals became his servants. A kind heart helped Martynka also to save a sorceress who presented him a magic ring. “As soon as you put the ring on your other hand, twelve strapping youths will appear before you, all exactly alike. They will be obliged to fulfill any of your wishes!” The magic ring helped Martynka to marry a beautiful princess. The princess was very proud, and didn't like the fact that she was married to a peasant's son. One day she stole Martynka's magic ring, and Martynka lost his magic power. The princess's father ordered to imprison Martynka in the stoned tower. This thrilling tale ends happily. Martynka's faithful friends, the cat and the dog, saved him from starvation, and returned him a magic ring. In the end the proud princess was punished, while Martynka lived happily ever after.
In the middle of the box there is a scene that shows the main characters of the fairy-tale: Martynka, the cat, the dog, and the fish that helped the friends to take the magic ring from the ocean floor. This scene is set into a rectangle, and framed with tiny gold beads. To paint it, the artist has used a wide range of tempera paints. Fine golden contours make the details all the more amazing. The rest space of the box's lid is filled with more scenes from this thrilling tale painted entirely in gold. The scenes show all characters of the tale including twelve strapping youths ready to fulfill any of Martynka's wishes, the proud princess who didn't want to be Martynka's wife, the mice that helped the dog and the cat to steal the magic ring from the proud princess in the Mouse Kingdome, and the main character of the tale, Martynka. The scenes are skillfully painted with a very thin brush. They are not separated from each other and look like a single gold shining pattern. The edges of the lid and the box' sides are decorated with sumptuous gold ornaments.
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 lid is hinged from the top of the scene, and the box rests on four legs.
On the interior of the lid the artists have added a beautiful pattern of golden filigree which surrounds an inscription. The inscription lists the materials used, the authors' names and the fact that this is an artist original, the title for the piece, the village name of Kholuy and the year of 2007 of which the piece was finished.