Featured Russian Box

Hi - I picked up this box yesterday and am having trouble figuring out exactly what it is as well as the rough value. Any help and guidance is appreciated!

 

Hello Patrick!

Welcome.......Unfortunately I cannot help you, but we do have a member, maybe more than one, that is from Russia. Hopefully their eyes will view your box.

However, a closeup picture of the design, inside, and bottom will more than likely be needed.

I am assuming your box is inlaid, but it may be painted.

Photos should show all of the inside. and the bottom too.

Members are from all parts of the world, and this weekend is a holiday weekend in the US, so be patient.

 

Or it may be straw marquetry ! I would like to see more photos, close-ups.
I am not knowledgeable about this but I am learning about it and find it very nice.

 

It does look like straw marquetry but inexperienced as I am I find it hard to be certain. The Russian word for straw is soloma, so I'm informed, but I don't know if that word is used when describing the art form.

 

Here's a couple pics of my little box. (In rougher shape) with a lining close-up.

 

The image with the Russian label is too small for me to read it. I'm an American who can read some Russian. I do see at the top of the label it says ммп бсср, which means it was made during the Soviet era in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, later known as the Republic of Belarus.

Generally labels on Russian or Soviet items have printed parts that are standard labeling and often include handwritten lines describing the specific piece. In this case I don't see any handwriting so it appears it just has the standard label that might describe where exactly it was made and a few other things. I notice that it does have a "91" on it, which might possibly indicate that it was made in 1991 (the year that the republic officially changed names, according to this Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byelorussian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic )
I'm not at all sure about that, though.

 

It's straw marquetry, I have some. They were quite common little tourist pieces.

 

Thanks for the feedback! Here is a bigger picture of the label.

 

Welcome!
Nice photos!

 

Looks like it was made at a factory that made inlaid works or arts. That may have also been the name of the factory. The box is article C29. The address of the factory may be there, in the area to the left of the logo... but everything is so abbreviated and hard to see that I can't tell. There are a few Russian speakers who come around here sometimes. Maybe one of them will drop by and read it. If you are planning to sell it you probably won't need that information. I now think that the 59-91 on the label does not refer to a year. It might be a number related to the box, as the word right before that means "case" or "casket." I'm not sure what the two abbreviated words right before that are.

 

I just saw one of these for sale this morning, the straw boxes; that one came from Albania. It's something people can do without access to fancy materials.

 

They do go right back. It's one of those skills that young ladies of fashion did, a la Jane Austen.

 

Didn't the French POWs do them during the Napoleonic wars?

 

Yes. Here's a pic alleged to be an example. I have the impression straw marquetry is having a resurgence, with traditional forms and new approaches.