Fedoskino artist Eduard Makarov shows his version of the Russian fairy tale "Masha and the Bear". The distinctive pieces of this artist truly push the envelope in lacquer art from this village. We hosted Makarov at our gallery a number of years ago, where we displayed several of his pieces. In general, you will not see many of his boxes on the market simply because of the unusually long time that he spends conceptualizing and refining each one. His boxes are on the abstract side, but not the abstract that might allow some artists to eschew details in order to quickly finish their works. Makarov's works are always painstakingly intricate, a fact very evident when you look very close at one of his pieces. For example, in "Masha and the Bear" there is an entire network of finely drawn branches behind Masha, painted in various shades of blues, greens and dark reds. Makarov paints in many layers, too, which is why his pieces often have a three dimensional quality to them. Particularly exquisite in this piece are the golden lines that he draws above the scene and on the sides. On the more humorous side, take a good look at the bear and his position. Yes, those are his feet way on the right, and he seems to be lounging on his back, as if in a hammock. Not to mention he is playing the balalaika. The bottom of the box is brown, speckled with gold dots. The box is made out of high quality papier mache and has a hinge at the top. It is signed on the very bottom with the name of the artist, village, title 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.)