Lot 95

A BOX WITH A SLIDING LID

A rectangular wooden box with carved three-dimensional foliage on the front and back. The sides are decorated with three rows of deep geometrical carvings. A six-pointed star motif is carved on the lid, which has a three-tiered handle; below is a storage area with a sliding panel. The piece was designed by the founder and manager of the artisan workshops in Talashkino, Russia, Princess Maria Tenisheva (1858–1928). The workshop’s wooden and textile art objects result from the articulation of the traditions of Russian folk ornamentation and fin-de-siècle Art Nouveau form. Ref.: Jesco Oser, Talashkino, Objects in wood from the workshops of princess M. Kl. Tenisheva, Volume I, Rudentsovykh Publishing House, Moscow, 2016, p. 378.