The beautiful young Princess finds herself lured out of the castle by a seemingly kind peasant woman despite her husband's warnings that she should stay in the palace while he is gone. The Princess's long veil billows behind her, reminding the viewer that she is a new bride, while creating a strong sense of movement i the scene. Her pale finery contrasts with the dark earth tones of the peasant woman's simple cloak, giving the older woman an ominous look. Rightly so, for the woman is no simple peasant, but a jealous witch who covets the Prince for herself. Now that she has tricked his young bride into leaving the protection of the castle, she prepares the spell which will transform the Princess into a white duck, so that she can disguise herself as the Princess and have the Prince to herself! The scene is beautifully painted in a stunning combination of creamy tones and traditional style painting, and dense tangles of silver and gold foliage created by foil underlays carefully left revealed and accented with delicate black for depth. This box is made of high quality papier mache and is signed on the lid and the underside of the lid with the artist's name (V. Chibisova), village, and date of completion, and with the title on the underside of the lid. There is a hinge on the left, and the interior is red lacquer.

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.)