Handmade Papier Mache Russian Folk Doll in Lithuanian Costume rider with copper shield and woolen

with copper shield and woolen tunic

Or give it a good clean with some butcher block cleaner and use it for serving cheese and crackers

one can just make out the box's original stamp

excepting one fine split in the wood near the top that was at one point (I am guessing long ago) glued tightly back together and is barely noticeable

feet and tail)

Handmade Papier Mache Russian Folk Doll in Lithuanian Costume rider with copper shield and woolenI'm really taken with this little papier mache doll, so finely constructed and painted, and with a presence that far exceeds her diminutive stature (she feels rather like a tower of calm and composure!) I've learned that she is one of a set of 16 such dolls, handmade in Russia (in Moscow I believe) in the early 1960s, with traditional costumes representing all of the states of the Soviet Union at the time. She, in shades of white, blue and yellow,