GreatRussianGifts.com Handmade Lacquer Boxes

Lacque boxes come in a wide variety of styles, sizes, shapes, and levels of complexity.  Each authentic box is handmade and most are registered with the Russian department of Culture as unique and authentic Russian cultural items.

The lacquer art of Palekh has been called "a small miracle", a label particularly fitting since this style of box originates in the same village that specialized in religious icon-painting for centuries, up until 1917 (the year of the Russian Revolution). Many of the skills and techniques that were used in painting famous hand-painted Russian religious icons have been adopted and utilized in making these Palekh boxes.

When you hold one of these lacquer boxes in your hand, you will realize that this is something truly special. These boxes have extraordinary detail, with fine lines painted in gold and contrasting colors. This style of box also has a simple one-color background (usually red inside and black outside) which provides the most contrast with gold leaf accents. In addition to the extraordinary painting, the boxes have several layers of high gloss clear lacquer coating. Lacquer boxes like the ones pictured above can take between 3 – 7 months to finish! The artists never cut any corners when making these and every single detail is handmade or hand-painted.

These boxes are in high-demand and many collectors travel to Moscow and the surrounding areas just to purchase these boxes firsthand. We travel to Russia often to handpick only the absolute highest quality boxes for our customers. The artist, Kotov, signed this Palekh lacquer box. This box is truly an exclusive work of museum quality.

Please contact us anytime with any questions!  We will be happy to try to answer all inquiries.