The World of Russian Language and Culture: Made in Russia. Fedoskino miniature

Бумажные табакерки московского купца Лукутина ни в чем не уступают брауншвейгским, а ценою гораздо сходнее оных. Трудно поверить, что дюжина их с изрядной живописью продается по 4 рубля.

Из издания первой половины XIX века

Табакерка. Середина XIX в.
Данилково Московской губ. Фабрика П.В.Лукутина.

Государственный Русский музей

Табакерка. Между 1828 и 1843 гг.

Данилково Московской губ. Фабрика П.В.Лукутина.

Государственный Русский музей

Табакерка. Середина XIX в.

Данилково Московской губ. Фабрика П.В.Лукутина.

Государственный Русский музей

Fedoskino miniature is a traditional Russian lacquer miniature painting on papier-mache, named after its original center Fedoskino, an old village near Moscow widely known from the late 18th century. The contemporary Fedoskino painting preserves the typical features of Russian folk art.

The use of oil paint, typically applied in many layers, is a distinctive feature of a Fedoskino miniature, as well as the use of mother-of-pearl, puregold or silver leaf under segments of the background to create the effect of a shimmering glow or silvery sparkle. Many boxes are painted inside and outside in imitation tortoise-shell, birch bark, mahogany or tartan.

The heyday of Fedoskino miniature fell on the second half of the 19th century, and the works of that time are known as 'lukutins', named after the merchants Lukutins, who owned the Fedoskino factory at that time. Some of the factory craftsmen had artistic education, and lots of them had come from icon painting studios.

The popular motifs used in Fedoskino miniature are all sorts of tea-drinking with samovar, troikas (carriage-and-three), and scenes from Russian peasant life.