Russian Matryoshka Dolls

Matryoshka refers to a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside the other. The first Russian nested doll set was carved in 1890 by Vasily Zvyozdochkin from a design by Sergey Malyutin, who was a folk crafts painter at Abramtsevo. Traditionally the outer layer is a woman, dressed in a sarafan, a long and shapeless traditional Russian peasant jumper dress. The figures inside may be of either gender; the smallest, innermost doll is typically a baby turned from a single piece of wood. Much of the artistry is in the painting of each doll, which can be very elaborate. The dolls often follow a theme, aside from the typical traditional peasant girls, the themes vary, from fairy tale characters to Soviet leaders.

Photos:

• Church Theme of Matryoshka Dolls by Mhrmaw
• The original m Matryoshka by Zvyozdochkin and Malyutin, 1892.
• Russians politicians depicted in Matryoshka form. en Russian politicians depicted in matryoshka doll form: Vladimir Putin, Boris Yeltsin, Mikhail Gorbachev, Leonid Brezhnev, Nikita Khrushchev, Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Nicholas II, Catherine the Great and Peter the Great. Aug 2006 by Brandt Luke Zorn.
• 1990 Matryoshka set featruing Russian leader, indlucing some Russian Imperial monarchs. Russian Leaders Matryoshka (Yeltsin, Gorbachev, Brezhnev, Khrushchev, Stalin, Lenin, Nicholas II, Catherine the Great, Peter the Great and Ivan (The Terrible), Agu 2006 by KoS
• Matryoshka set, March 2005 by Fanghong
• wwww.avtravel.org