Palekh boxes: history and description of painting

It is customary to call a box or casket a small box or box, which most often have the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped. It is convenient to store jewelry, money, papers and other small valuable items in them. It is believed that the boxes appeared a very long time ago and originate from the chests in which clothes were stored. In tsarist Russia in the middle of the 18th century, such a folk craft as lacquer miniature became especially popular.

The history of Palekh miniature as a folk art craft is closely connected with icon painting. In the 18th century, masters who skillfully paint icons lived in the village of Palekh, which at that time belonged to the Vyaznikovsky district of the Vladimir province. Along with icon painting, local craftsmen took part in the painting and restoration of the Faceted Chamber of the Kremlin and the churches located in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and on the territory of the Novodevichy Convent.

After the revolution of 1917, it became impossible to continue to engage in icon painting, so a year later the Palekh art decorative artel was created. The artists who entered it began to paint on wood. Ivan Golikov and Alexander Glazunov are considered to be the founders of Palekh miniature. Masters have mastered a new material - papier-mâché, which is based on a mass obtained from mixing paper and cardboard with gypsum, starch and other substances. In 1923, Palekh miniatures were sent to the All-Russian Agricultural and Handicraft Exhibition, where they received a II degree diploma.

In December 1924, seven masters from Palekh founded the Artel of Ancient Painting. The works of this association in 1925 were sent to the World Exhibition in Paris. In 1932 the Union of Palekh Artists was formed, and in 1935 the artel was transformed into the Association of Palekh Artists. In 1954, the Palekh art-production workshops of the Art Fund of the USSR were established. Currently, you can learn the art of this miniature in 4 years at the Palekh Art School named after A.M. Gorky.

As noted earlier, boxes in the tradition of lacquer miniatures were based on papier-mâché. The cardboard blank is pressed and then dried for several days. Then it needs to be soaked in linseed oil for 24 hours and dried in a hot oven for 2 days. Then the semi-finished product is processed with an emery brush, sanded and the necessary fittings are attached to it. At the end of this stage, the box is primed with a special composition, covered with black varnish in several layers and 7 layers of light varnish, carefully drying each layer in the oven.

The painting has a strict sequence in applying tempera. Tempera paints have been used since ancient times, artists made them from dry powder pigments, in which emulsions served as a binder: natural (chicken yolk) and artificial (oils in an aqueous solution of glue). The mastery of working with tempera needs to be trained for several years, only then can the ideal smoothness of lines, accuracy and clarity of miniature silhouettes be achieved.

At the initial stage of painting, the masters paint the composition with whitewash, accentuating the dark and light places. Then they apply the paints necessary for painting the box. Craftsmen painstakingly draw the outlines of all elements with handmade squirrel bones, highlighting every detail with color and often using a magnifying glass. At the end of the painting, gold is applied (a sheet of gold is crushed and mixed with glue), it gives the picture warmth and brightness, it feels like the image is glowing from the inside.

At the last stage of manufacturing, the box is coated with oil varnish and polished. Polishing takes place by applying several varnish layers, which dry well at a given temperature for a certain time. Then the surface is leveled with glass and pumice, and then polished on a special moving wheel, which is covered with velvet.

The background for the drawings on the Palekh caskets is black - it is a symbol of darkness, from which life and colors are born, gives depth to the entire composition. The inside of the product is always red. Palekh painting is also characterized by bright tempera colors and gold painting. The gracefully drawn elongated figures are an echo of icon painting traditions. The heroes are the characters of fairy tales and epics, as well as classical works and songs. The boxes have their own names, for example, "Troika", "Ermak's Campaign", "Stone Flower", "Ruslan and Lyudmila", "Vasilisa the Beautiful".

Painted boxes from Palekh are a wonderful interior decoration and a unique gift. But in order not to buy a fake, when buying, you should pay attention to the following details.

• The original Palekh boxes are usually black on the outside (sometimes they can be painted green or blue) and are always painted red on the inside.
• The painting is characterized by multi-tonal shading of shadows, slightly elongated images of characters, accurate rendering of all elements and details.
• Products from Palekh are distinguished by perfect polishing outside and inside. Scratches, stains and bumps are a sign of a non-original box.
• The lid of the box is always tightly fitted to the base - the so-called box.
• The original thing must have a gilded inscription "Palekh", which is always located in the lower left corner, and in the lower right corner you can read the name of the master.
• A real Palekh box is packed in a tin box, which has a layer of glued cotton wool inside that can protect the varnish and painting from damage.
• A low price for such a product is always an indicator that this is a fake. Palekh miniature is a very labor-intensive folk craft, so such things are highly valued and cannot be cheap.

Palekh painted boxes are unique works of art in which the master puts his soul and all his many years of experience. The boxes made using the Palekh technique are known all over the world and are an integral part of the original Russian culture.

See all about Palekh boxes in the video.