Shapiro Auctions
Lot 69
A SOVIET AGITLAK KEEPSAKE PHOTO ALBUM BOX DEDICATED TO AN OLD BOLSHEVIK AND AERONAUT COMRADE MOROZOV, M. PERSHIN, PALEKH, 1931, on a raised rectangular base, the hinged cover depicting various scenes glorifying the industrial and scientific triumphs of Soviet life and the national hero Nikolai Morozov, presented in the traditional miniature painting style of Palekh on black ground with gold detailing, elaborately illustrated with views of factories, massive transmission towers, a dam, a collective farm with green pastures, a wheat field being harvested with progressive machinery, and a festively decorated Soviet ship cruising the sea. The central scene depicts Nikolai Morozov, accompanied and encouraged by a beautiful woman, the youthful symbol of the Russian Revolution, carrying the red Soviet standard. They are presented standing on an airplane in the style of a fairytale Magic Carpet; the upper left corner with the portrait of Morozov in an oval frame accompanied by a dedication in Cyrillic For good memories to an old Bolshevik and aeronaut tovarish Morozov from Leninist Communist Youth League Central Committee. Moscow Ivanovo ; the lower right corner with an applied silver, copper and enamel medallion depicting a biplane, enveloped in a a wreath of wheat wrapped with a ribbon stating Friends of the Soviet Air Force Society , the biplane marked with an 84 standard ; the base of the Bordeaux-colored interior with an embedded photograph of Morozov with a group of young pioneers, mounted in dark green leather. Dimensions: base: 25 x 35 cm (9 x 13 3/4 in.), painted cover: 18.5 x 25 cm (7 1/2 x 9 3/4 in.). The box issigned lower left M. Pershin, Palekh 1931,. Accompanied by a photo album with images of life at Morozov`s country estate, and three books: 1) Nikolai Morozov, Kratkiy ocherk nauchnoi i literaturnoi deyatelnosti [Short essay on scientific and literature work], 2) K. Morozova. Nikolai Aleksandrovich Morozov. K 90-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya [To his 90th birthday], 3) N. A. Morozov Polyot v Shlisselburg. [N. A. Morozov A flight to Shlisselburg].LOT NOTESThe present lot constitutes a unique item of historical importance, created by the Palekh Artel of Ancient Painting, an organization responsible for executing commissions for the most important members of the Bolshevik elite in the USSR. This AGITLAK keepsake box was given as a present from the Leninist Communist Youth League Committee to Nikolai Morozov, a revolutionary leader of the ""People s Will"" group, as well as a scientist and historian, on the occasion of his release from a 25-year long imprisonment in Shlisselburg in 1906.
