This elaborate work is entitled "Wildlife of Russia" and painted by Kholui artist N. Yudina, who recently gained more notoriety in the lacquer box field by having a box featured in the recent book Russian Lacquer Miniatures: Kholui, Mstiora, Palekh, Fedoskino. In the center of this idyllic forest scene a bear sits next her young cubs, embracing them tenderly. They need not fear, there are no lions around, and so they are the king of this jungle. The top is populated with animals too numerous to mention, but the artist paints the whole scene with such skill that nothing seems crowded, each animal is at home in his own small environment. The colors are also truly beautiful, too, and the piece simply cannot be passed unnoticed. If it was just the outside, it would be a lacquer box masterpiece, but the artist has gone even further with this box. If you open it up (like our gallery associate Elena is doing in the picture at the bottom), you will see another level of lacquer box craftsmanship. Four small boxes, home for another charming animal, sit on an exquisitely contoured removable tray that lies inside the box. Under the lid, meanwhile, there is a mirror for putting makeup on. It is situated the center and is surrounded by a gorgeous sunset with more well drawn birds. The box is made out of high quality papier mache and the lacquer surface is very nicely polished throughout. (As a side note, there are many reasons that boxes of this nature are so expensive, but one minor, yet not insignificant, reason is that the larger the surface area, the more time it takes simply to polish the piece to perfection to get that beautiful shine.) The box is signed on the bottom with the name of the artist, title, village, and the fact that it is an original piece (avtorskaya rabota). With all the work that went into this, and with that the makeup mirror inside the lid, this masterpiece box is truly fit for a queen.

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
9.5	9.5	10.0	10.0	10.0	49	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.)