AN ANTIQUE RUSSIAN HAND PAINTED BLACK LACQUER TRAY, BY THE VISHNIAKOV FACTORY, LATE 19TH CENTURY, of diminutive circular form and centering a newly wed couple wearing jeweled bright wedding attire and in loving embrace while riding on horses in gilt tack, with attendant horsemen in traditional robes journeying down a birch lined dirt road, reversing to the factory Alexander III and Nicholas II circular award medals printed mark. NOTE: The Vishniakov Factory was founded by Osip Filiip Vishniakov in the nearby village of Ostashkovo in the 1780s. He was a freed serf from the Sheremetev Family Estate and with his sons produced papier-mâché lacquer ware items, including trays and a variety of boxes as well as Easter eggs. They sold their wares in Moscow at the various fairs and markets which led to a flourishing business. By the late 1800's they expanded their production to include painted metal items which were made at a different location. The factory closed its doors after more than one hundred years of production in 1910. Diameter: 10 1/2"