Show all images on one page	#002155 Title: Dwarf Nose Artist: Smirnova Vera Size: 11.5x8.5x3 Size (inches): 4.5x3.25x1.25 Price : $475 SOLD!

Vera Smirnova is the exceptional talent responsible for this presentation. The characters are very expressive and there is an elegant lucidity that develops the architecture which is very difficult for an artist to attain. Experience has served the artist well.
The box features the tale "Dwarf Nose" written by Wilhelm Hauff. The young woman sold vegetables in the market. Her little son helped his mother in doing this work. Very often he accompanied the clients aiding them to carry their heavy bags home. Once the old ugly old woman came to their trading place. She started to touch fresh vegetables with her dirty hands, smell them and afterwards to lash them. The offended boy cried: "Don't smell our vegetables with your long hooked nose! Don't touch our fruits with your dirty hands!" The old woman laughed angrily and said soon the boy would have a longer nose. In spite of dislike, the boy had to accompany the old woman, as she was very old and couldn't carry heavy bags by herself. After this accident the boy couldn't return home to his mother because the wicked old woman turned him into the ugly dwarf.
As customary with Palekh tradition, the artist uses the black lacquer exterior as the background for the composition. This intensifies the colors and especially the gold and aluminum contours that accentuate the characters' clothes, the outlines of the buildings, and the tips of the leaves.
The box is constructed from quality pressed paper. Black lacquer is used to paint the exterior of the piece while red lacquer completes the interior of the work. A hinge has been fastened to the left of the composition, and the box sits flat. The artist has framed the lid's artistry with a pattern of golden filigree scrolls. All four of the sides have been decorated with much more elaborate floral filigree patterns painted in bright gold paints. The work is signed, titled and dated (2001) by the artist at the bottom of the composition and on the lid's interior.