26 - Peter Boyarshinov (attributed)

Peter Boyarshinov (attributed) A PAINTED COPPER, WOOD, HARDSTONE, AND OTHER NATURAL MATERIALS, Russia, Zlatoust, early 19th century, L 71 cm x H 59 cm. Depicts a group of figures gathered around a well, set within a rocky landscape featuring vegetation and a view of a town in the background. The composition combines painted elements with three-dimensional applications of minerals, crystals, and natural hardstones of various shapes and colors, used to recreate the rocks, vegetation, and ground. On the reverse, a partially legible handwritten inscription in Cyrillic, apparently addressed to a Lieutenant General of the Russian Empire at his private dacha in Tsarskoye Selo, near St. Petersburg. Catalog Notes: This work can be associated with the rare production of mixed-media icons at the Zlatoust factory, an important metallurgical and artistic center in the Ural Mountains, founded in 1754 and renowned during the 19th century for metalworking and artistic engraving. Among the leading exponents of this distinctive tradition was Peter Klementievich Boyarshinov, an icon painter active during the first half of the 19th century, who specialized in religious compositions combining figures painted on copper with minerals, crystals, and other natural materials from the Urals, creating striking three-dimensional effects. In 1826, two similar icons were commissioned from the Zlatoust factory: one depicting the Transfiguration, signed by Boyarshinov, and the other depicting the Resurrection, signed by Nikolay Bushuev; both are now preserved in the House Church of the St. Petersburg Mining Institute. Of particular interest is the partially legible handwritten inscription in Cyrillic on the reverse of this work, which appears to be addressed to a Lieutenant General of the Russian Empire at his private dacha in Tsarskoye Selo, near St. Petersburg. The rarity of this particular piece is reflected in the approximately thirty-eight comparable examples documented in Russia, according to Christie’s, with very few analogous works known in Europe. For a detailed technical and stylistic comparison, see the icon *Moses Striking the Rock* by Peter Klementievich Boyarshinov, Christie’s, London, Russian Art, Sale 5331, May 28, 2012, lot 279.