A joyous occasion swirls about the palace. Music and laughter can only be interrupted by the frequent cling-clang of golden goblets filled to the rim. A festival of glee, such as this, is a potent lobbyer for exhaustion. This celebration comes hours after a most heroic rescue. Soon, the revelry will run out. After the guests depart and the servants head into an endless horizon of clean up, she'll have to return to where it all began. The Princess will walk upstairs to her bedroom. Will she be able to lay down again? So soon? It is time to go back to sleep. And there will be nervous energy here. She'll dream of a next day sunrise, one that she was not afforded so easily the last time her head met the pillow. Luckily, she's gone over the falls of "Once upon a time..." and she's made it to ""...happily ever after." Her fairy-tale is finally through.
This is an exciting presentation. Kholuy artist Alexey Rybakov used considerable amounts of time, effort and skill to create this wealth of artistry that impresses from all angles. The artist's thoughts were very well organized, and once transferred to miniature, fully realized. It is work like this that truly exemplifies human ability and appreciable hard work.
The artist has chosen to depict a wonderful assembly of scenes from the timeless classic titled, "Sleeping Princess." Originally, this story was written by French author Charles Perrault as he published a collection of fairy-tales entitled, "Stories of Olden Times," in 1697. The tale has since been adopted into various versions in the many countries of the world--in Russia it is known as "Sleeping Princess..."
Egg-tempera paint is the primary medium used to compose this scene. Detail reigns supreme. There are so many miniature characters that the composition needs to be explored more than once in order to meet them all! The scenes have a very medieval presence about them and the landscape holds their dynamic action in spectacular fashion. The twisting bark of the trees and the layers within the rocky surface are particularly noteworthy.
The central scene depicts the massive celebration held once the Princess had been saved. Starting from the upper right hand corner and continuing clockwise, the scenes depict: the neglected fairy begins her plot of villainy, the kingdom begins to slumber away into dream land, the Prince happens across his future bride, the Prince seeks advice and direction, the Prince begins his quest and finally we have the fairies that were invited to the original feast. The size of these compositions act as a key indicator of just what type of talent the artist possesses.
The box is constructed from paper-mache made in the village of Kholuy. Dark black lacquer is used to paint the exterior of the piece while bright red lacquer completes the interior of the work. A hinge has been fastened to the top of the composition for ease of opening. The decorative elements of this piece are astounding. Rybakov has established himself as a master creator of these glorious additions.
Each of the seven scenes have been poetically surrounded by some of the most elaborately involved ornamentation possible. Beautiful golden filigree acts as a surrealistic garden of luxury. Multiple golden wild flowers, accentuated with aluminum petals and centers, add to this cradle of fairy-tale glee throughout. Only the smallest portions of the compositions have been contoured with gold. This only furthers the beauty of the filigree decoration.
The outermost edge of the lid has been decorated with a thin string of glistening golden beads. Tightly wound scrollwork designs evolve into brilliant filigree bouquets on the center of each base side. Aluminum paint has been used to enhance the patterns throughout. An extremely thin pattern of golden beads, adorned with miniature flowers, is used to decorate the lower extending edge of the base. The box eventually comes to rest upon four slightly rounded feet.
Upon completion of the piece the artist adds an inscription to the interior of the lid. This identifies the piece as an author's original design, the title, the village name of Kholuy and tribute to the original author of the tale. All of this writing is completed using gold paint.
Materials: Egg-tempera paint, paper-mache, gold paint, aluminum paint and lacquer.
Item Specifications:
- Title: "The Sleeping Princess 2003"
- Price: $4100.00
- This specific item is available as a single work.
We do not expect to carry this item in the foreseeable future!
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