Flower Brooches from Mstera at Maison Russe The Russian Shop in Lisle IL.

Flower Brooches from Mstera

The Russian Shop / Maison Russe

The Mstera (or Mstyora, sometimes Mstiora) miniature is a Russian folk art consisting of miniature painting done with egg tempera paints on lacquered pins, boxes, eggs and panels, for the most part made of papier-mache. Arts and crafts, including traditional icon painting has been noted in Mstera since the 17th century. By the 19th, most of the village population engaged in iconography and the related trades. In the early 20th century, after the Russian Revolution outlawed the production of religious goods, Mstera painters formed a workship (artel) that they named "Ancient Russian Folk Painting" and which basically was an association of former icon painters. Their output consisted of lacquer miniatures, wooden kitchenware, nesting dolls and more. This artel was turned into a factory in 1960. The technology of Mstera crafts is similar to that of Palekh artists. One feature the Mstera artists expanded on was the freehand border decorations which has been a characteristic of Mstera icon painting. Mstera, together with Palekh, Kholui and Fedoskino, is one of the four great centers of lacquer production. Though known as "villages", these are really small towns.

We invite you to explore our selection by clicking on any of the small images below. Use your browser's back button to return to this page. Please contact us for more information at (800) 778-9404. Supply limited to one of each shown. All items are gift boxed. Round brooches are 2" diameter, oval are 2½ " x 1½ ". All brooches have the traditional embedded safety pin backing and are in excellent condition.

More links: