This good sized piece from Mstera is a beautifully detailed scene taken from Perrault's tale of Sleeping Beauty. The action comes at the end of the story, just after the handsome prince finds the sleeping maiden, kisses her, and wakes her from her spell. The rest of the people of the castle wake up as well. The box has fine detail and the trademark colors of the village of Mstera throughout the scene. A gold border that frames the drawing and winds around the sides intermingles the standard gold ornamentation with flower and leaf-like areas of red and green. The box has a hinge at the top and is made out of high quality papier mache. The base color is black, the interior is red. There is a very small area on the top edge of the box where the black area is a little rough, and looks like there might have been a quick repair there. It is hard to notice it, though, and doesn't come near the actual drawing or ornament. The box is signed with the name of the artist (M. Zimina), title and village on the bottom. There is also the archer emblem of the Mstera factory on the bottom, as well. To be perfectly honest, the price is a little higher than we would like to see for a traditional piece from Mstera, but quality lacquer art from Mstera seems to be getting harder to get as more and more artists seemingly look elsewhere for a living because of the extraordinary amount of labor involved to paint the boxes.

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
9.0	9.5	10.0	10.0	10.0	48.5	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.)