Show all images on one page	#005275 Title: Pushkin's Fairytales Artist: Medvedeva Antonina Size: 16.5x11.5x13 Size (inches): 6.5x4.5x5 Price : $950 SOLD!

Antonina Medvedeva of Mstera is the artist who created this work called Pushkin s Tales. It is a five-sided box that shows different fairy-tales on each side. She also leaves her trademark gold decorations on the box between the scenes. On the lid she paints Alexander Pushkin who is considered to be the founder of Russian poetry. He stands under the old oak and writes his thrilling tales. All around him there are various scenes from the introduction to Ruslan and Lyudmila that starts with the following quatrain:

An oak tree greening by the ocean;
A golden chain about it wound:
Whereon a learned cat, in motion
Both day and night, will walk around;
On walking right he sings a song,
On walking left, he tells a lay.

Here we can also find such characters as the mermaid sitting on the oak s branches, Princess Swan, Prince Gvidon and his mother, Baba-Yaga riding her mortar, Kashchey bending over his treasures, the Learned Cat and some others.
Each of the lid s sloping sides decorated with rich gold ornamentation shows a small scene set into an oval. These scenes feature Princess Swan in her animal form and the Magic Squirrel.
The box sides feature the scenes from various Pushkin s fairy-tales. The front side shows the scenes from Ruslan and Luydmila . It is composed of a number of scenes including Chermor kidnapping Luydmila, Ruslan fighting with the Giant Head and Chernomor, the Old Finn, Rogday and Ratmir trying to kill Ruslan, and Ruslan embarrassing his beloved Lyudmila.
The right side shows the following episodes from The Magic Fish : the old man catching the magic fish, the old man s wife sitting near the cracked wash-tab, and the old man s wife who has become firstly the rich lady and then the tsaritsa.
The left side displays a number of scenes from The Sleeping Princess including the wicked Queen looking at the magic glass, Prince Yelisey asking the Red Sun where he can find the Princess, seven bogatyrs, the Princess taking the poisoned apple from the wicked Queen s servant, Prince Yelisey and the Princess riding the steed and some others.
The rear side depicts the scenes from The Tale of Tsar Saltan including the magic squirrel, Prince Gvidon and Princess Swan, three sisters spinning yarn, thirty three knights and the Tsar Saltan s fleet.
The scenes are painted in the traditional Mstera palette. Predominance is given to yellow, blue and green tones. Gold paint adds various details throughout the scenes.
The box is constructed out of paper-mache. Black lacquer covers the exterior and red lacquer covers the interior of the box. The lid is hinged at top, and the box rests on four legs. Each of the depicted scenes is entitled.