Vintage 1996 Fedoskino Russian Lacquer Box Signed A Karenina Suzdal Hand Painted

A beautiful signed Russian lacquer miniature from Fedoskino, dated 1996 and depicting the historic town of Suzdal.

This small rectangular box measures approximately 9 cm × 6 cm × 3 cm and features an exceptionally detailed architectural landscape with Russian churches and monastery buildings surrounded by richly painted autumnal vegetation.

The miniature is signed in Cyrillic “А. Каренина”, which transliterates as A. Karenina. It is additionally inscribed “Суздаль” (Suzdal) identifying the subject, together with “Федоскино 96” (Fedoskino 96), dating the work to 1996.

Attribution & Technique

Fedoskino is one of the historic centres of Russian lacquer miniature painting and is particularly associated with finely painted, realistic compositions executed in oils on papier-mâché.

Close examination of this example shows extensive individual brushwork throughout the landscape. The trees and vegetation are built up from numerous fine, irregular strokes and layered areas of colour, while the architecture has been individually outlined and highlighted. Some areas display a particularly luminous quality characteristic of the decorative effects associated with Fedoskino painting.

The positioning of the inscriptions is also consistent with traditional Fedoskino practice, where the place and date are commonly written along the lower portion of the composition and the artist signs the work separately.

The artist has been identified from the visible signature as A. Karenina / А. Каренина. I have not been able to establish a sufficiently reliable published biography for the artist, so no further claims regarding the artist’s status or career are being made.

Subject

The inscription “Суздаль” identifies the scene as Suzdal, one of Russia’s historic towns celebrated for its remarkable collection of traditional churches, monasteries and ecclesiastical architecture.

The restrained palette of warm gold, ochre and brown gives the scene a wonderfully atmospheric autumnal quality, with the tiny figures emphasising the scale of the architecture.

Accompanying Period Box

The miniature came to me housed in the small Russian cardboard box shown in the photographs.

Interestingly, this appears to have been fashioned from Russian “Indian Tea” (Индийский чай) packaging produced for A.O. Ryazanchai. It is not being represented as official Fedoskino factory packaging, but it appears entirely consistent with the period of the miniature and has evidently been used to protect it for many years.

It will remain with the lacquer box as part of its history.

Dimensions

Approximately:

Length: 9 cm
Width: 6 cm
Height: 3 cm

Date

1996

Condition

Vintage condition with signs of age and use commensurate with a piece approximately 30 years old. Please examine all photographs carefully, including the close-up images, as these form an important part of the description.

A particularly attractive and well-documented example of late 20th-century Russian lacquer miniature painting, combining a named location, date, Fedoskino inscription and artist’s signature.

A lovely piece for a collector of Russian lacquer miniatures, Fedoskino art or Russian decorative arts.