This romantic work by Fedoskino master Yurij Karapaev shows a young man returning from the fields and bringing a flower to his sweetheart. The airiness and spaciousness of the countryside unfolds around them. The two characters are drawn very naturally and with a great amount of feeling. Due to an application of gold leaf, the shoulder of the young man and apron of the young woman are bathed in light and warmth, as if both are being shined on from the August sun. (In the pictures here, you only get a hint of this and not the full effect.) More gold leaf, but slightly less bright, is painted into parts of the hills and ground. The sky, meanwhile, has a natural lighting from the use of crushed mother-of-pearl paints. The box is somewhat reminiscent of his box "Darling" shown on page 97 of the book Lacquer Miniatures: Fedoskino (by N. Krestovskaya. Interbook, Moscow. 1995). The box is made out of high quality papier mache and does not have a hinge. It was done in 1995 and is in fine shape all over. It is signed with the name of the artist, village and year (1995).

Yu. Karapaev, born in 1936, is a huge name in this small Russian village. Works by him rest in many museums and can be found in virtually all books on the subject. Throughout his career, Karapaev worked on many original themes and compositions, including this one, whose beauty and grace inspired other artists to take his themes and repeat them. Of course, none of these will be as special or as valuable as the originals from Karapaev himself.--BOX1172

Lacquerbox Condition Ratings

Surface Condition (exterior)	Surface Condition (interior/bottom)	Box Materials and Soundness	Hinge and Lid Placement	Signature	Total Rating	Mother-of-pearl Condition
9.0	9.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	48	N/A

(Each category rated 1-10. For low scores, look for explanation in the description of box. In general, any total rating over 40 is excellent. For more information on rating system, click here.)