Souvenir decorative cradle "Vakula on the devil"

Souvenir decorative pipe "Vakula on the Devil" ("The Cossack and the Devil")
Vintage porcelain souvenir pipe-statue "Vakula on the Devil" (in the catalogs also - "Cossack Pipe") is created based on the famous story by Nikolai Gogol "The Night Before Christmas". The composition originally combines the utilitarian form of a traditional Cossack pipe and genre sculpture: the Cossack Vakula in an embroidered shirt and blue harem pants rests on the mouthpiece, while the pipe is supported by a devil figurine from below.
The product has high decorative value and is a popular collectible among connoisseurs of Gogol's themes in porcelain.
vAttribution and characteristics
•Manufacturer: Polonsky Plant of Art Ceramics (Polonne ZHC) [Polonne ZHC].
•Authors of the model: Outstanding creative couple of Ukrainian porcelain artists - sculptor Vladislav Shcherbyna and artist Oksana Zhnykrup.
•Period of issue of the lot: 1973–1991 (USSR period) [Polonsky ZHC].
•Marking (stamp): On the bottom part there is the original red screen stamp of Polonsky ZHC in the form of a stylized angular letter "K" (silhouette of two cockerels) [Polonsky ZHC] and the technological shift number "39".
•Grain and price: On the left, clear stamps of the second grade ("2C") and the official Soviet retail price - "7-90" (7 karbovanets 90 kopecks) are applied in blue paint.
•Material: Hard porcelain, underglaze and overglaze artistic painting, abundant gilding.

Approximate dimensions
•Length: about 18 — 20 cm.
•Height: about 10.5 — 11.5 cm.

Artistic features
The figurine attracts attention with its small and clear hand-drawn Vakula's face and the ornament of his embroidery. The entire surface of the bowl and pipe is covered with an elegant floral pattern made of liquid gold, which creates a bright contrast with the snow-white glaze. The devil figure is deliberately made in dark graphite tones to emphasize the fairy-tale plot.