It would be hard to find a lover of beauty anywhere in the world who has not heard of the art of Russian lacquer miniature painting. Bright as the feathers of the Firebird lacquered miniatures have arrived directly from Russia to The Russian Store warehouse. Our lacquer jewelry boxes are entirely handcrafted and therefore completely unique. Nevertheless, you will find here not only a wide set of jewelry boxes, but also boxes of other kinds, including cigar, stamp, and cosmetic boxes.
The artistic surrounding, in which the Russians live, and their sacrament to the beauty of the world have their reflection in lacquer miniatures. The miniature painting is notable for the elegance of its forms, fine brush mastery, color designs and poetry images.
Jewelry boxes can take from a minimum of 45 days to sometimes as much as 60 days for each article from start to finish, excluding the time needed for actual painting by the artist. To create lacquer jewelry boxes with miniature painting on it papier-mâché is used. That is the most versatile and least likely to be deformed as well as costly and time consuming to be produced material.
Several layers of undercoat are applied to assembled jewelry boxes. First, the undercoat of clay, oil and soot is put on the article with a steel palette knife. It is then smoothed with pumice-stone, the remains of which are brushed off with a goose quill. The outside of articles is painted with black, rarely red lacquer. The inside is painted with red lacquer. The final operation before painting: a coat of transparent oil varnish is applied to the outside and inside of the article. The jewelry boxes are now ready to be handed to the artists.
Before painting the article, the artist draws on the design. Then the composition is outlined in white lead with a very fine squirrel brush (the artists make the brushes themselves as well), and the colors are then applied in strict succession. Miniature painting on jewelry boxes requires not only creative inspiration, but also extreme care and precision, that is why painters frequently make use of a magnifying glass. When the miniature painting is over, the artist begins the gold work. Gold leaf is carefully crushed and then ground by hand. The gold must be polished to give it the necessary shine. This is done with a wolf's tooth, which has a remarkably smooth surface. After the artist signs the article, it is rubbed by a mechanical polisher covered with plush or velvet but the "finishing touch" is always a polish by hand.
Miniature painting on jewelry boxes is a painstaking process, as the painter has to render a subject in miniature form, using the finest of brushes, they are so fine that it is difficult to see the fibers. This kind of work requires a great concentration, which can only be maintained for short periods of time. Miniature painting also requires that an artist spends years learning and perfecting the techniques involved.
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