$17,500
LITERATURE: For comparable items, see Soviet Agitational Lacquered Miniature from the Collection of Alexander Dobrovinsky (Moscow: Iskusstvo-XXI Vek, 2011), pages 148 and 325. of a rectangular shape, the hinged cover depicting in detail a rural domestic scene, where young pioneers are winning during a chess game against an adult. The players are gathered around the table in a children's room. An interior around them features a Russian oven with a cat sleeping on it, two draped windows, a shelf with the books of fairy tales, and children's toys, such as: a ball, a teddy bear, a truck. With all these details emphasizing the cosiness of the moment, some elements, such as a portrait of Mikhail Kalinin overlooking the tournament from the wall and a lamp with a bright red bulb, carry a clear message - It also is underlined in the main subject of the painting, where the sharp-minded youth, inspired by the new Communist era, wins the old-fashioned rival, featuring an allegorical plea for the rejection of illiteracy, superstition, and devoutness in the name of progress of the Soviet people. Made of Karelian birch, decorated with a gold floral pattern on the body, the inside of the hinged cover features a motto: [A Change Goes for a Change], and a red flag with a hammer and a sickle below it. Inside of the box, there is a set of red and white chess (some figures missing) and a folding board, decorated with checkered pattern of red stars on a black ground and gilt flowers on an unpain Read more…
Auctioneer:
Shapiro Auctions
Date:
2015-02-28
