Delicately hand-painted oval Russian lacquer box from 1960.

This Russian lacquer box in an oval form is done with the traditional black background and features an image from a Russian traditional folksong.

It is oval-shaped and measures 4.5” x 3.5” x 1” It is lined in brilliant red.
and the bottom is solid black. The box is in fine, estate condition.

This box has an artist's initials woven into the intricate portrait of the bird-catcher boy. This type of work has been done in Russia for hundreds of years and takes a great deal of skill to create.

The boxes are made from either thin wood or even heavy card stock type paper and then covered with many layers of lacquer which is applied and then cured in an oven. It can take a month or more just to make the box which is then totally hand painted by the artist. After the lid is painted the artist applies the ornate border along the side of the box's bottom section.

The bottom says “made in USSR”.

The colors are brilliant, and the artwork is very intricate and bright, even after my ownership for over 60 years. Since they were first produced in Russian, lacquer boxes have always been highly prized by collectors as each one is a tiny work of fine art.