My Jewelry Box

January 16, 2025

My jewelry box

In June of last year I bought a small box to hold my jewelry. It is a Petrykivka lacquered box. I didn’t know about Petrykivka painting until I was browsing around for lacquered trinkets on Etsy. Petrykivka painting originated in Ukrainian villages as a vernacular decorative painting style.

Ever since I read “In Praise of Shadows”, I’ve been into lacquer. The void-like, reflective quality of lacquer is really beautiful, and I like that color punctuates the black surface really dramatically. When you look at it, it feels like you are watching fireworks or something.

I liked this box in particular (compared to other Petrykivka goods) because it just seems so honest. It’s easy to tell that most of the berries were made by dotting paint onto the surface, and you can see the brush strokes of the leaves on the side of the box. This transparency in how the box was adorned made me admire it more. I love when materials, or techniques feel transparent and add to the end product.