In the story By the Pike's Will, a young man named Emelya is sent to fetch water from the river, but when there he finds a pike and decides to catch it. To his surprise, the pike speaks, and tells him that he will grant Emelya's wishes. Emelya is a rather lazy man, so his first request is for his chores to get done by themselves. This traditional Palekh work shows Emelya's catching the magic pike and him wishing for the wood to get chopped by itself. In the center, Emelya stands by the river, holding the pike in one hand. His raised hand and slightly backwards leaning posture express his surprise when the fish, which is wearing a small golden crown, speaks to him. He is so astonished, he drops his water buckets, and one of them tips over and causes the water to spill onto the ground. In the top left corner, Emelya is riding by on his sled, which is magically self-propelled, and watches as his saw cuts a log into smaller pieces, and his ax chops the wood down on its own. The cool blue, grey and green colors in the background create an effective wintry atmosphere in this piece. There is a generous amount of gold and silver (aluminum) paint throughout the drawing, with the silver paint predominating in the snowy ground, and gold in the warmer-colored figure of Emelya, the buckets and the houses. Emelya has a cute, nicely done face, and the pike has an amusing look on his face as well. A neatly done, traditional gold filigree ornament surrounds the sides of this work.

The box is made of high-quality papier-mache from the Palekh factory. The Palekh stamp is on the bottom. The box is signed with the artist's name, N. Chaparina, village, and the year (2002).

Lacquerbox Condition Ratings

Surface Condition (exterior)	Surface Condition (interior/bottom)	Box Materials and Soundness	Hinge and Lid Placement	Signature	Total Rating	Mother-of-pearl Condition
9.5	9.5	10.0	10.0	10.0	49	N/A

(Each category rated 1-10. For low scores, look for explanation in the description of box. In general, any total rating over 40 is excellent. For more information on rating system, click here.)