Show all images on one page	#009643 Title: Tale of Tsar Saltan Artist: Zakharov Sergey Size: 8.5x6.5x6.5 Size (inches): 3.5x2.5x2.5 Price : $2499 SOLD!

This is another masterpiece from famous Kholui artist Zakharov Sergey.
Composition is based on well-known Pushkin's phrase "If I would be a Tsarina..." Well-known Tale of Tsar Sultan written by Pushkin is started with these words...

Three fair maidens, late one night,
Sat and spun by candlelight.
"Were our tsar to marry me,"
Said the eldest of the three,
"I would cook and I would bake -
Oh, what royal feasts I'd make."
Said the second of the three:
"Were our tsar to marry me,
I would weave a cloth of gold
Fair and wondrous to behold."
But the youngest of the three
Murmured: "If he married me -
I would give our tsar an heir
Handsome, brave, beyond compare."

At these words their chamber door
Gently creaked and lo, before
These three maidens' very eyes
Stood their tsar, to their surprise.
He had listened by their gate
Whither he'd been led by fate,
And the words that he heard last
Made his heart with love beat fast.
"Greetings, maiden fair," said he -
"My tsaritsa you shall be,
And, ere next September's done,
See that you bear me a son.

The scene is painted in recognizible Zakharoov's style : lot's of details, figures are small, dominate of blue and yellow colours.
The composition is framed with an intricate golden got ornament. The edges of the lid are decorated with very intricate and detailed gold floral patterns. The same floral patterns but a little bigger in size can be found wrapping around the box's sides.
The box is constructed from paper-mache. Black lacquer is used to paint the exterior of the piece while red lacquer completes the interior of the work. The box rests on a four legs. A hinge has been fastened to the top of the composition. The work is signed and titled by the artist in gold paints under and above the composition.The artist does the same on the interior of the lid, but added that this work is his own original creation and left a more decorative signature.
Real Russian lacquer miniature! Fine work!