Signed Open Edition Print - The Tinderbox, Mops

This is a signed open edition fine art print.

Each piece is hand-signed and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.

Edition: Signed open 

Printing: Offset 

Paper: 170gsm matte, premium quality

Origin: Printed in Italy

About the Artwork

This painting illustrates a pivotal moment in Andersen’s The Tinderbox, when the soldier descends into the hollow tree and discovers the three dogs guarding the treasures. In the fairy tale, each dog is stranger than the last — enormous, monstrous guardians of wealth and fate.

Here, the dogs are transformed into pugs, a recurring motif in Davina Shefet’s work. They are portraits of Mops, her beloved companion for fifteen years, who appears across many paintings as both witness and friend. In this piece, the dogs become more than guardians of gold: they are allegories of loyalty, presence, and companionship that transcend time.

Through collage, vibrant color, and deliberately grotesque distortions, Shefet reimagines Andersen’s scene as a contemporary fable — one where monstrosity, memory, and affection coexist. It is both an homage to a classic fairy tale and to the enduring spirit of a friend who continues to inhabit the artist’s painted world.