Ilya Muromets pauses on the road, spear in hand, to decide which way to go. The stone slab points to Kiev, Murom, or Chernigov. You can be sure that Ilya will head in one of these directions in a decisive and courageous manner, as one would expect from a folk hero. This box dates back to 1972 and was done by Palekh artist Aleksander Terekhin (1916-1991). According to the book "Palekh Miniaturists" by E. K. Bratchikova (ZAO Izdatelskij Dom, Moscow, 1995), Terekhin had been a participant in lacquer box exhibitions beginning in 1955. His work can be found in the State Palekh Museum, the Kiev Museum of Russian Art, Ivanova Oblast Art Museum, and others.

In this piece, the resolute look in the eye of both Ilya and his horse lend a feeling of anticipation and tension to the piece. We are not sure exactly where he will be headed, but if we are his enemy, we don't want to be there. Within the drawing there are fine touches of gold amid the beautiful colors and black background, characteristics of fine traditional Palekh art. (By the way, the color of the horse seems a little off in the photo here. In person, it is more red than orange.) The box has two nice gold borders, one which frames the drawing, and another on the side.

The box is in pretty good shape for its age. The lacquer has thinned slightly, but still has a nice shininess to it. A very small piece of the box has chipped off the top right corner of the lid, but not very noticeable at all and doesn't affect any of the art work. There is also a scratch on the bottom left corner of the drawing, but it is also pretty innocuous and looks worse in the photo here than in person. The box is made out of high quality papier mache and has a hinge at the top. It is signed with the name of the artist, village, year, and inventory number.

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
8.5	9.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	47.5	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.)