Russian Lacquer Fairytale Box from Palekh- "The Tale of Tsar Saltan"

This hand-painted, lacquered papier-mâché box is from the Russian village of Palekh, northeast of Moscow. The fairytale is from Pushkin and known as "The Tale of Tsar Saltan." This title is seen at the bottom edge of the lid, a little left of the center. The village name of Palekh is in the lower left hand corner of the box's lid, and the artist's name is to the right in the lower corner. Both are written in Russian, which uses the Cyrillic alphabet.

The tale by Pushkin, made into an opera by Rimsky-Korsakav, tells the story of a tsar who marries one of three sisters, the one who promises to bear him a son, a successor to the throne. The two other sisters plot against the Tsarina, who is placed in a barrel with her young son and tossed into the sea. The barrel comes ashore on an island where the son, now grown, leaves his mother to hunt for food for them. The son saves a swan from a kite and the swan rewards him by building a city right there on the island, a city over which he will rule. There is also a magical golden squirrel and an eventual reunion of the Tsar and Tsarina.

The exterior of the box measures 5 ½" x 4" x 1 ½". The interior has a shallow depth of ¾".

*****Condition: Please note that the lacquer is in good condition with minimal wear, but the paint has rubbed off on certain areas, especially around the lid's edges where the gold-colored ornate embellishments appear. Also, there is a spot on the back of the box, as seen in the tenth photo where a small white area is revealed, an area where the lacquer has worn away or been scratched. Please examine all photos carefully and do let me know if you need more as I'll be happy to oblige.

For further information on lacquer boxes, please visit: https://crees.ku.edu/lacquer

Also, thank you to https://sallybernstein.com/travel/europe/russian_boxes.html#google_vignette for her informative piece on these special boxes.

Thank you for looking.