Vintage Russian Fedoskino Style Lacquer Box Mother of Pearl Hand Painted Miniature

A charming vintage Russian lacquer miniature box featuring a hand-painted rural scene extensively embellished with shimmering mother-of-pearl.

The miniature depicts a woman carrying buckets suspended from a traditional shoulder yoke, surrounded by stylised foliage and landscape details. Particularly attractive is the extensive use of genuine mother-of-pearl within the composition, creating reflective silver and iridescent areas across the woman’s clothing, buckets, flowers, foliage and foreground.

The technique and decorative treatment are consistent with the Fedoskino tradition of Russian lacquer miniature painting, where mother-of-pearl and other reflective materials were incorporated beneath or within the painted decoration to give the composition luminosity and changing effects as the box is moved in the light.

There are painted inscriptions/signatures beneath the scene. These are now difficult to decipher with sufficient confidence to attribute the miniature to a particular artist, so I have deliberately not made a specific artist attribution.

Dimensions
Approximately 7 cm long × 5 cm wide × 3 cm high.

Condition
This is a vintage piece showing significant age-related wear and should not be considered a pristine example.

There is substantial surface and decorative loss across the painted top, including areas affecting the painted and mother-of-pearl decoration. The lid also displays extensive fine crazing/crackling to the lacquer, scratches, rubbing and general surface wear. There is wear and loss to the decorative border around the composition.

The underside has numerous surface scratches together with an area of residue/surface disturbance, probably associated with a previous label or sticker.

Please study all photographs carefully, particularly the detailed close-up images, as these form an important part of the condition description and clearly show the extent of the wear and losses.

Despite its condition, this remains an appealing example of Russian lacquer miniature work, particularly because of the extensive use of mother-of-pearl, which changes considerably according to the angle and lighting.

Attribution
Vintage Russian lacquer miniature, in the Fedoskino tradition.

Suggested period
Late Soviet / late 20th century.

A decorative and characterful little piece for a collection of Russian lacquer miniatures, folk art or mother-of-pearl decorated objects.