The fluidity of his brushstrokes captures the essence of what this scene would look and feel like in real life. He uses a minimal amount of gold paint to add warmth to the scene, which is found in the troika s passengers. Aluminum powder is used much more extensively and is used to create the highly reflective surface of the snow. There is great movement, balance, and realism in this piece, which is reinforced by the diverse facial expressions on the passengers. The box is constructed out of paper-mache made in the village of Fedoskino.
Black lacquer is used to paint the exterior and red lacquer is used to paint the interior.
For decoration the artist paints on aluminum powder around the side of the lid. He also paints gold scrollwork around the side of the box, under the opening of the lid, which creates a good contrast to the random aluminum pattern above it. The box does not have a hinge and rests on a flat bottom.