The top part of this clever bottle "cathedral" is an "onion dome," the traditional architecture for a Russian church. Like a matryoshka, it opens up in the middle, allowing you to put a bottle of wine inside, and the top is detachable for easy pouring. A great gift for festive occasions!
This item is practical and make an ideal gift. It is also an original Russian folk art, a unique expression of national culture, and this also contributes to its growing fame. Today`s russian craftsmen are reviving generations of experience in the art of carving and painting wood. Anyone who has seen this item cannot fail to be impressed. Gracefully austere in form, yet rich in decoration, these modest article is genuine work of art.
The Humpbacked Horse (konyok-gorbunok), sometimes known in English as The Magic Horse or The Little Magic Horse, is a version of a common fairy-tale character Golden-Maned Steed, although a large part of the plot of this story is based on Tsarevitch Ivan, the Fire Bird and the Gray Wolf. The little horse helps Ivan, a peasants son, carry out many unreasonable demands of the tsar. During his adventures Ivan gets the beautiful magic firebird for the tsar, keeps his magic horse and finds his love (princess Yelena the Beautiful). At the end the princess and the peasants son live happily for many years after.
Censors banned the complete story for over 20 years in the mid-19th century because it made the Tsar appear foolish. Until 1856 the tale was published with dots representing omitted sections, instead of many verses and even songs. It is meant to be a satire on the absurdities of Russian feudal and bureaucratic life at the time. Now it is considered just a classical children's fairy tale.