Fedoskino School. Exceptional vintage Russian box for cigars made of papier-mâché, hand-painted, and lacquered. The box is inscribed with Fedoskino 1984 and the artist who made the box, namely A. Plakhin (in Cyrillic Плахин A). The box made in 1984 demonstrates mastery in the use of oil paints applied in layered glazes, a distinctive feature of the Fedoskino school that provides depth and an almost three-dimensional appearance to the painting. The artist is part of the generation of masters of the Fedoskino factory who were highly active in the '70s and '80s, a period considered to be a 'golden' era for the quality of Soviet miniature craftsmanship. The scene depicted on the lid is inspired by Slavic folklore and depicts Lel, the god of music and love, playing the flute to enchant a group of young women in a birch forest. The scene is often associated with the fairy tale 'Snegurochka' (The Snow Maiden), where Lel is the character who brings the warmth of spring through its song. The box has the size of 21.4 / 14.2 / 6.5 cm and about 550 grams in weight.