This small box shows a small road leading to some of the structures in Kargopol, a town with great historical significance and located in Russia's Arkhangelsk Oblast. You can read more about it here. The artist of this piece, M. Papenov, paints this small complex of ancient wooden buildings in the middle of a snowy field with groupings of trees nearby. The artist uses much radiant gold leaf for the both buildings and the fence in the foreground, and the contrast of the gold with the soft blue wintry landscape is exquisite. The details of all the objects is superb, as well, right down to the individual boards of the wooden structures. The box has gold line ornaments that frame the composition and decorate the sides. The base color of the sides and bottom is a dark brown with dusty specks of gold. The box is made out of high quality papier mache and has a hinge at the top. Signed on the bottom with the name of the artist, village, title and year.

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.)