Show all images on one page	#009714 Title: The three maidens /Tale of Tsar Saltan Artist: Zakharov Sergey Size: 10x8x4.5 Size (inches): 4x3.25x1.75 Price : $950 SOLD!

This is very detailed composition was painted by a prominent Kholuy artist Zakharov Sergey.
This composition is based on well-known Pushkins phrase "If I would be a Tsarina..." World-known Tale of Tsar Sultan written by Pushkin is started with these words...

Three fair maidens, late one night,
Sat and spun by candlelight.
"Were our tsar to marry me,"
Said the eldest of the three,
"I would cook and I would bake -
Oh, what royal feasts I'd make."
Said the second of the three:
"Were our tsar to marry me,
I would weave a cloth of gold
Fair and wondrous to behold."
But the youngest of the three
Murmured: "If he married me -
I would give our tsar an heir
Handsome, brave, beyond compare."

At these words their chamber door
Gently creaked and lo, before
These three maidens' very eyes
Stood their tsar, to their surprise.
He had listened by their gate
Whither he'd been led by fate,
And the words that he heard last
Made his heart with love beat fast.
"Greetings, maiden fair," said he -
"My tsaritsa you shall be,
And, ere next September's done,
See that you bear me a son.

The composition is framed with a gold ornament. The sides of the base are decorated with very intricate and detailed gold floral patterns.
The box is constructed from paper-mache. Black lacquer is used to paint the exterior of the piece while red lacquer completes the interior of the work. The box rests on the four legs and has a hinge. The work is signed with the artist name and Kholui in gold paints under the composition and on the lid.