The Little Mermaid from Hans Christian Andersen's beloved fairy tale gently touches the shoulder of the young prince who she rescued from the sea. Although the two will never find love together, for this moment their destinies intersect and both their lives will never be the same. Behind them stands a magnificent kingdom and the sun starts to rise in the sky. Soon the mermaid will have to return to the sea. Palekh artist Vera Smirnova paints this scene with a great amount of detail throughout. Particularly attractive is the prince's costume, sparkling with gold accents. Although perhaps not apparent at first, the prince is actually lying on top of the bottom part of the mermaid's body - her fish half - which extends forward to the shore and also glistens in gold. Also interesting is the dark kingdom in the background which looks even more mysterious by the presence of the angular limbs of the trees before it. The base color of the box is black and it has a lovely gold border on the side. It does not have legs, but rises just slightly off ground by a small ridge along its perimeter. It is signed at the bottom of the drawing with the name of the artist, village and year.

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.)