This elegant Russian Santa Claus is hand carved and hand painted by the artist creating this amazing Christmas decoration. Santa's cloak is beautifully hand painted with a gorgeous floral pattern in purples/raspberries and golds with white and gold highlighting - including gold glitter which simmers under the lights. Santa's staff is painted purple to match his cloak while his pack is painted grey/tan and is balanced on his shoulder. (SEE CLOSE UP PICTURES BELOW) This Santa is painted with a unique style called “Abramtsova”. This technique is extremely rare and time consuming. It requires the artist to paint a layer of clear frosted paint then quickly removing a portion of the paint before it is dry. This creates a frost layering over the previous layer of paint giving an iridescent look. Currently, Natasha, the artist who painted this statuette, is the only artist we know of using the Abramtsova technique. Santa is lightly lacquered so he is easily cleaned and protected. The solid linden wood is dried for almost 2 years before it is carved so it will last a lifetime. Linden wood was once used to make drafting boards because it is so stable once properly dried. It does not warp, change shape, or crack and these artistic pieces will bring enjoyment for a lifetime! Please Note: These are not molded or mass produced as are some molded resin Santas from China. This Santa (or Grandfather Frost as he is called in Russia) is made in Sergei Posad, Russia and is signed by the artist. The Santa measures approximately 11.75 inches tall by 7.25 inches wide.

THIS IS TRULY A COLLECTOR'S PIECE TO BE HANDED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION!!