2 5/8" x 3 ½" x 8" (66 x 87 x 204mm). Excellent condition.

"Vakula the Smith" is an opera by Tchaikovsky based on Gogol's story "The Night Before Christmas". In his pursuit of his true love, Oksana, Vakula struggles with a demon and, at one point, overcomes the Evil One and even rides him like a pony. The story ends happily with the lovers united. The opera was performed infrequently but the basic story definitely caught the public's imagination. As a result, scenes of Vakula dealing with the Demon have shown up with some regularity in Russian art!

/ Fig. 122 "Soviet Porcelain [Volume 3]"/

/# 297 in Vol. 1 of "Marks on Soviet Porcelain, Faience, and Majolica, 1917-1991" /