Show all images on one page	#001361 Title: General Toptigin Artist: Shibaev Arkadiy Vasilyevich Size: 12 x 9.5 x 2.5 Size (inches): 4.75 x 3.75 x1 Price : $850 SOLD!

Arkadiy Shibaev (1914-1980) of Palekh, who painted with the likes of Alexander Bakanov, Dmitriy Butorin, and Nikolay Zinovyev, who were more or less his contemporaries at the time, painted this piece. General Toptigin is a poem written by Nikolay Nekrasov in the mid-19th century. It is a comic tale about a bear who takes a chaotic ride in a troika. The bear is trained, tame, and accompanied by his master, Tryphon. They are walking along when a Yamshik in a troika rides by. Tryphon asked the man for a ride and reassured him that the bear was safe and well-behaved. He agreed and the rode until they reached a town. They parked the troika in front of a pub and went in. The bear was sitting calmly when the horses began to make sudden movements. This scared the bear and he let out a roar. The roar also scared the horses and they bolted off into a full gallop. Luck would have it that the horses got tired as they pulled into a station. The station master came out and mistook the bear for a General, because the bear was dressed in costume. When the bear let out a roar the station master ran inside with the fear of God and waited until the Yamshik and Tryphon arrived to remedy the situation. Egg-tempera paint is the main medium used to paint this composition. The palette consists of warm and bold colors. The horses are painted maroon, brown, and orange to symbolize the frenzy they are in as they gallop through the snow. The artist paints them in a traditional style used by icon painters allowing their heads to be turned in different directions so one can get a full view of the action. The bear is shown holding the reigns (a stylistic choice by the artist), sitting in the center of the sled, and looking quite disturbed. Beautiful decorations adorn the sled with spiraling floral designs. Gold paint is used to detail the horses' hair, the bear's fur, and the decoration on the sled. The perimeter of this central image is painted with swirling dark green paint that is covered with beads of aluminum paint. This gives the illusion of snow and wind moving very fast through the scene. The movement is furious and properly conveys the confusion and chaos that the horses and the bear are experiencing. The box is constructed out of paper-mache made in the village of Palekh. Black lacquer is used to paint the exterior and red lacquer to paint the interior of the piece. Gold scrollwork frames the scene and a more complex design wraps around the sides of the box. The design on the sides is accented with aluminum flowers and aluminum half circles that look like they are tying up bundles of wheat. Over the years the box has picked up imperfections like chips in 3 of the 4 corners of the box's sides, scuffing on the bottom of the box, and minor paint cracks on the horse to the far left. This does not devalue the box in anyway. Rather it accurately shows the age of the piece that is actually in good shape for being over 50 years old. The box has a hinge above the composition and rests on a flat bottom. Upon completing the work on this piece the artist writes Palekh, 1949, and signs his name at the bottom of the scene. Materials: paper-mache, egg-tempera paint, gold paint, aluminum paint, and lacquer.