A SOVIET AGITLAK KEEPSAKE BOX OF ZASEDANIE VOLISPOLKOMA, A. KOTUKHIN, PALEKH, 1927
of a rectangular shape with rounded corners; the hinged cover depicting a meeting of the executive committee of the township board; a multiple figure composition features four chairmen seated at a table while discussing agenda and taking notes; they are shown in front of a protruding administrative building with a red standard on top, the other structures around it indicate that the event is taking place at the center of a town, which emphasizes the importance of such meeting; two large groups of people shown gathered together on the left and on the right, their gestures express an active partake in the meeting; the bottom part of the composition features a woman and three children engaged in a play; an ornate gilded border runs around the cover of the box; a gilded vegetative garland, presented in the traditional miniature painting style of Palekh, runs around the body of the box; carmine interior; length: 19 cm (7 1/2 in.), height: 8 cm (3 1/8 in.); signed in Cyrillic A. Kotukhin inscribed s. Palekh and dated lower right.

LOT NOTES
The present lot is an artist`s revision of the subject of a meeting of volispolkom. The painting greatly resembles, both in composition and a subject matter, a scene that he depicted on a cover of another keepsake box two years earlier. The 1925 version is currently a part of the collection of the Insitute for Art Industry`s Museum of Folk Art in Moscow.

Kotukhin, Aleksandr Vasilyevich (1886-1961) was one of the pioneers of the art of Palekh lacquer miniature. Furthermore, he became one of the founders of Palekh Artel of Ancient Painting in 1924 and its first chairman. Kotukhin helped the invention and development of Palekh`s signature papier-mache technique. His works are particularly celebrated for the skillfulness of intricate ornamental gilding. He also was the first one amongst the other Palekh artists to illustrate lacquer ware with Pushkin`s fairy tales.

PLEASE NOTE
If you will be bidding live on auction day, please note that Session I of the Auction (Asian and Russian Fine & Decorative Art), starts at 10:00 AM New York Time and goes from Lot 1 through Lot 254. Session II of the Auction (European, American and International Fine & Decorative Art) starts at 3:00 PM New York Time and goes from Lot 500 through Lot 676. We sell approximately 70 lots per hour.