Travel icon - Mother of God Joy of All Who Sorrow - Bronze - Rare travel icon

Russian Bronze Travel Icon – “Joy of All the Afflicted” (Vsekh Skorbiashchikh Radost)
Type: Metal travel icon / devotional plaque (Obraz)
Subject: The Mother of God “Joy of All the Afflicted” (Богородица Всех Скорбящих Радость) with Christ Blessing (Gospod Savaof) at the apex
Origin: Russian Empire (Production of the Old Believers - Staroobrjadcy)
Era: 19th century (circa 1800–1850)
Material: Bronze / loss wax fused casting with detailed relief and original patina
Artistic and Iconographic Description
Refined and dense portable devotional/fusorial icon, characterized by a complex iconographic composition rich in figures and inscriptions in Cyrillic ecclesiastical Slavonic:
* Upper Part (Rim / Arched Timpano): Depicts the blessing of God the Father (Gospod Savaof) or Christ in the heavens, surrounded by a cap of stylized clouds, heavenly standards, and Cherubim/Seraphim.
* Central Register: The Virgin Mary stands full-length at the center, with her head nimbate and slightly inclined in a sign of listening and intercession. She bears the royal crown/nimbus and extends welcoming arms toward the faithful. Above the halo is the era-appropriate inscription in Cyrillic: ВСЕХ СКОРБЯЩИХ РАДОСТЬ ("Joy of All the Afflicted").
* Lower and Side Register: To the sides of the Virgin are symmetrically arranged two dense groups of supplicants (ill, needy, pilgrims and intercessory saints), flanked by Angels with banners bearing consoling and blessing inscriptions.
* Border and Edge: The figurative field is enclosed by a thin peripheral border worked in granulation ("pearl"), typical of traditional Russian metal fusion from the 18th-19th century.

Micro-casting in bronze using lost-wax technique with hand-finished relief and inscriptions.

Natural antique patina of brown-golden color with evident bright highlights on the areas of greatest contact/veneration (the figure of the Virgin and the faces of the saints),

The artifact is intact, with no cracks, missing castings or restorations. No secondary mounting holes. Reliefs well defined and legible.

Metal travel icons (skladen or single plaques) enjoyed exceptional diffusion in the Russian Empire from the 17th to 19th centuries, particularly thanks to Old Believers (Staroobrjadcy), who kept alive the tradition of bronze fusion of sacred art despite imperial bans of the era.
The iconography of the “Joy of All the Afflicted” is one of the most beloved and sought-after in Orthodox art collecting, as it symbolizes the Virgin’s maternal protection for all the suffering, the sick, and the needy. An excellent specimen for fusion quality, preservation, and historical-religious value.