26 - Peter Boyarshinov (Attr.)

Peter Boyarshinov (Attr.) A PAINTED COPPER, WOOD, HARDSTONE AND OTHER NATURAL MATERIAL ICON, Russia, Zlatoust, early 19th century l cm 71 x h cm 59, Depicting a group of figures gathered around a well, set within a rocky landscape with 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 colours, used to recreate the rocks, vegetation and ground. On the reverse, a partially legible handwritten inscription in Cyrillic, apparently addressing a Lieutenant General of the Russian Empire at his private dacha in Tsarskoye Selo, near St Petersburg. Catalogue Notes: The present work can be associated with the rare production of mixed-media icons at the Zlatoust factory, an important metallurgical and artistic centre 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 specialised 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, depicting the Transfiguration, signed by Boyarshinov, and the Resurrection, signed by Nikolay Bushuev, both 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 the present work, which appears to address a Lieutenant General of the Russian Empire at his private dacha in Tsarskoye Selo, near St Petersburg. The rarity of this particular production 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 close technical and stylistic comparison, see the icon Moses Striking the Rock, Peter Klementievich Boyarshinov, Christie's, London, Russian Art, Sale 5331, 28 May 2012, lot 279.