Papier-mache, oil painting, lacquer; measures 134 mm x 89 mm x 45 mm (approx. 5 ¼" x 3 ½" x 1 ¾"). The artist's signature appears in the lower right corner, unfortunately illegible. The location "(village of) Fedoskino" is in the lower left, written in the same fashion and clearly by the same hand. The year 1982 is between the two inscriptions, closer to the artist's signature. The interior is painted warm bright red in the traditional Fedoskino style. The cursive inscription in golden lettering on the bottom of the box, "Made in USSR" in English suggests that this particular box was intended for sale outside of the Soviet Union and thus was probably of higher than usual quality. The issue box is multilayered. Going from the inside out, it has cotton wool to protect the lacquer, then white paper, then cardboard. On the outside it is covered with another layer of white paper and attractive decorative panels of embossed blue paper on top of it. The bottom is closed off with a separate piece of white paper.

The lacquer box is in superb condition. The image is essentially pristine, its original luster fully preserved. The lacquer has not even craquelure, not to mention macro damage such as scuffs, scratches or discolorations. The issue box is in excellent condition. The end of one of the blue side panels has a tiny crease; the bottom layer of white paper is just beginning to separate from the cardboard but the separation is still very small. There is no significant scuffing, scratches, rips or soiling anywhere on its surface.

The original of The Rooks Are Back 1871 painting by Alexey Savrasov is on permanent exhibition in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, and is recognized as an important milestone in the evolution of Russian visual arts.

Please note, the pen in our photo is for size reference.