Lacquered Box

[TheInterocitor]

Does anyone what this box was used for? the only word I recognize is "зима". And on the back, is "apt." -> artist? Followed by three initials?

The Receipt inside says it was sold at a charity auction in 1989 for $120, so it could be that the price was what a benefactor was willing to help with, and not a reflection of true value.

After the "apt." I have photo-edited this pic it to try to faithfully reproduce the 3 initials or figures (numbers?) which did not come out in the original picture.

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[TheInterocitor]

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[TolkoRaz]

An average laquer box made by / in Mstera, near Vladimir - this particular one was made for export.

Those made by Palekh and Fedoskino are far superior...

'Apt 592' is the article number........

Lots of copies / fakes being produced, but at least you know that this one is a genuine one............

As for value, it is probably worth no more than $150 maximum, but I could be wrong about that, but it is nothing special.....

[Benedikt]

the boxes as such were used for -anything - you would use a box for what you use a box for.... i have a few of them, one is for my -visitkas-,in the other one i have all my soviet money, and the rest is just on the shelf for being nice...... this one is supposed to be a set of four. spring, summer,fall and winter. on your box you have a name Lebedev M. the name of the painter one would or could assume. and o nthe left side the name -Megera -. that is the figure that is being shown o nthe lid. as we know from Greek history a quite a bad lady... on the back it means ARTICLE 592. That suppose is the inventory number in the shop or factory. maybe you have more to read where yo ucan findout where it was painted and then you also can get to the lady painter. Since it was still made i nthe CCCP and for export, one can assume it is indeed handpainted. AND is it made of wood or pressed paper mache?
what you get mainly these days in places like Izmailovo, a cheap chinese box, a photo glued o nto the top and covered in paint and lacquer a few times. and flogged as the real thing. - 3 for 5 $ - then you can be sure it is as fake as Trumps smile...

[TheInterocitor]

Thanks for the insights, guys...

It was in a flat (box) with several old Chinese opium bottles. A woman who runs an antique store bid me up to $45 and I bailed out. But, she only wanted the old opium bottles. Next go-round, I got the lacquered box for $10. She said she was only interested in the opium bottles. In another box there were more opium bottles, some of them ivory, they went for up to $100 each. But you can't sell them on ebay, so I don't bid.

The artist's name is in the lower right corner ? "Лебедева, М." ? Looks like I guessed correctly!

I never properly learned Russian cursive.

If you have anything to sell on ebay, remember there are between 2-5 million Russian speakers in US, and they have average income of $80,000/year. Not sure if this website is accurate:

www.svet.com/russian-speaking-demographics