Palekh, A Traditional Russian Art

Palekh, Russian miniature lacquer art, is still alive today. Palekh miniature artists are trained at the Palekh Art College, formerly the Palekh Village School, founded in 1923 in the village of Palekh, 300 kms north of Moscow, Russia.  Palekh lacquer boxes are made individually by Palekh masters on a paper mâché box, each signed by the artist. The Palekh miniatures represent Russian characters from real life, literary works, fairy tales and songs. The lacquer boxes are painted with egg tempera and often gilded with real gold! Colours are bright greens, reds, oranges and blues on a black background; the characters are elongated, flattened out icon-like figures, similar to icon painting. The Palekh lacquer boxes are greatly valued and collected in Europe, USA and throughout the rest of the world, costing from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars each.

Book about the art of Palekh and a Palekh box from Russia, Tsar and Tsarevitch (young prince)

A scene from the fairy tale Tsarevitch Ivan, the Fire Bird and the Gray Wolf

The Battle

Troika (3 horses & carriage) with wolves