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RUSSIAN AND WESTERN EUROPEAN DECORATIVE ART
Antique Russian tole tray with custom made wooden base painted in black. Made for the Russian Imperial Royalty in the Town of Tagil, ca. 1850’s. The top is decorated with surrealistic painting. Around the center of the painted surface there is an oval border with coded inscription in Cyrillic. Outside the border there is another inscription in Cyrillic "Чуден в свете человек! Суетится целый век, счастия сыскать желает, а того не воображает, что судьба им управляет". The English version is as follows: "Man is a wonder in the world! A century is bustling, One wants to find happiness, And does not imagine that, What fate controls him". This phrase is a quotation from Alexander Ostrovsky’s (1823-1886) play "A Profitable Position". It was first published in No.1, January 1857 issue of Russkaya Beseda and came out as a separate edition later that year.
Dimensions: 33 x 25 in., (84 x 64 cm.) H: 22 1/2 in., (57 cm.)
Condition: Very good, paint well preserved
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