Three owls sit quietly in their nest, and another spreads his wings and soars into the evening sky. An old Russian building, meanwhile, is nicely positioned between the owl's wings, the branches of the tree and the owl family. The artist painted the details in this box with supreme skill in subtle shades of brown. Underneath the owls' perch, the artist inlaid a piece of mother of pearl. The mother of pearl has its usual iridescence, but does not overpower the understated beauty of the scene above it. The shape of the piece, like a crescent moon, is particularly unique, and crafted absolutely perfectly. Meanwhile, stray branches from the trees extend just a little bit to the side and bottom. The base color of the box is black, and the artist painted some very small white stars on it, as well. The box is made out of high quality papier mache and has a hinge at the left. It is signed on the bottom with the name of the artist (A. Chirkov), village, title and year. A totally exquisite work for bird lovers.

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	9.5

(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.)