Old Russian hand painted scene brooch

This is a piece of wood I believe heavely painted glazed black and hand painted. I think it's Russian but not 100% sure and I cannot find what the words say or who made era etc.

Any ideas or help ?

Thank You

Billy D.

 

Lacquer on papier mache, yes, Russian. Still made. Title, in the middle, is Troika. Artist initials are AM, I'd say, although the left hand word looks like Pavel.

 

I agree about Russian and papier-mache.

Not necessarily made in Russia, though. About 20 years ago I bought several pins and a box made by a Russian immigrant to the U.S. He used the traditional method and look.

 

the left hand word looks like Pavel.....
nope....

PALEKH...or PALECH......where it's made !

 

Signed Russian Palekh Hand-Painted Art Brooches
Ended
June 12th 2018 @ 7:51pm EST
Winning Bid
$120 20 Bids

Palekh pinbacks,,,,,,,,,see the pin......heehe!

 

The flowered pins in the image are just like the ones I have.

 

Those of us of a certain age all have at least one; I seriously overpaid for some back in the early 90s when they first started showing up.

 

Yes, and the Russian boxes, too! In the early 90's, there used to be a store at Rockefeller Center in NYC that sold ONLY these Russian boxes & pins. They were extremely expensive!

 

Now that I think of it, I also bought them in the early '90s.

My purchases were at a small shop in Lexington, MA, and I think they were actually reasonably priced so maybe each shop set their own price. I have one or two hair barrettes, as well. I still use the small box to hold some of my rings.

I definitely was told they were made by someone in the U.S. who was a Russian immigrant. I can't think of a reason why the store would tell me that if they were actually made in Russia?

 

I agree with komo, it says Palekh and troika. Palekh is one of the famous lacquer making villages in Russia.

There used to be Russian shops in W Europe all through the Cold War period. I think they were state-owned, part of the propaganda, and to strengthen cultural ties. That is where we bought Russian lacquer, porcelain etc.
Since we are in the south of the Netherlands, our nearest one was in Brussels, Belgium. It was a treasure trove, three stories full of Russian culture. I remember buying a bag full of Russian flower shawls there in the 60s.

 

Better eyes than mine, there.

 

Just having seen a lot of Palekh boxes, and recognizing the name.

 

There is still at least one shop like that in Chicago, inside the Hilton Hotel on Michigan Avenue. I visited there during a conference in recent years. The woman who runs it is from Ukraine. The things she sells, though, really are more high end. Not the cheaper stuff.

 

The initials on Billy's pin are actually L.M. -- Not that it matters. These are made in vast quantities and most of the time the painters are employees of the factories, not anybody well known. This one looks fairly recent to me, but of course they have been made the same way for many years. On older ones, though, the lacquer is not quite so glossy.

And that reminds me... Billy, use the word "lacquer" in any listing. If I were to search for something like this online I would use Russian lacquer as two of the keywords.

 

I see them all the time at the flea market, yard sales and thrift shops.

 

Take an Alaskan cruise! Russian stuff in a lot of the shops.

 

Thank You all for your replies, it really does help me a lot.