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Palekh
Lacquer boxes
from Palekh might well enjoy the highest
world-wide acclaim. The lacquer art of
Palekh has been called "a small miracle", a
label particularly fitting since that the
village specialized in icon-painting for
centuries until the 1917 Russian revolution.
To many collectors, Palekh boxes have the
most elegant look to them. When you hold one
in your hand, you know you are holding
something truly special. Most often in
Palekh works, innumerable fine lines of gold
leaf, polished to a glow by a wolf's tooth,
are applied to the ornamental border and
drawing itself. A simple one-color
background then provides a beautiful
contrast to the gold leaf and scene itself.
This background, usually black, also serves
to take the observer into a new world where
one's concept of time and space is left to
the imagination. |
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Fedoskino
Artists from
Fedoskino, the
birthplace of
Russian lacquer
miniatures, use
a more realistic
style of
painting than
the other
villages. They
also use oil
paints for their
drawings instead
of the egg-based
temperas. Three
to four layers
of the oil
paints, along
with seven coats
of lacquer, are
applied to each
box before it is
completed. This
layering brings
out a radiant
quality in the
drawings and the
colors seem to
emanate from
within.
Sometimes, an
underlay of gold
leaf or mother
of pearl
enhances this
radiance and
adds a lovely
iridescence of
its own. |
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