Katya looks worried as her fiance, the stone carver Danilo, expresses his longing to see the magical stone flowers of the Mistress of Copper Mountain's enchanted garden. While the garden's beauty if legendary, anyone who sees it will fall under the Mistress of Copper Mountain's spell forever. Practical Katya warns Danilo not to speak such thoughts aloud in the dark forest, where the Mistress of Copper Mountain's servants may be listening. It seems her suspicions are well founded, as a glistening salamander lurks at their feet, his head cocked at the request. The scene is beautifully painted in the traditional Fedoskino style, with brilliant metallic paint seeming to create a glow around the couple which lights the tangled trees. Although the scene has darkened a bit with age, it only adds to the drama of the work. The lacquer of the lid has thinned, revealing the artist's brush strokes, and there is a chip missing near the signature, but this is normal for a box of nearly 50 years old, and should not effect the stability of the painting. The body of the box is also showing its age, with a few chips along the lower edge. This box is made of high quality papier mache and is signed on the lid with the artist's name (Zhili), village, and date of completion. There is a hinge on the left, and the interior is red lacquer. It rests on four round feet.

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
8.0	9.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	47	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.)