Matyoshka (Russian Nesting) Dolls

Another of my new art works is the Russian Doll and I thought I would also detail their history.

Matryoshka dolls are a time-honoured Russian tradition. The first nesting dolls were made in early 1890, inspired by souvenir dolls from Japan. Some books state that a Russian Monk brought back a Japanese doll from Japan and this inspired the Russians to make their own.

A set of matryoshka dolls consists of a wooden figure which can be pulled apart to reveal another figurine of the same sort inside. It, in turn, contains another one inside, and so on. The number of nested figures can be as few as three or as many as twenty.

The dolls are typically made of linden tree (basswood), dried for at least 2 years to ensure their stability. The artistry is in the painting of each doll, which can be extremely elaborate.

There are several towns in Russia with a long lasting tradition of crafting nesting dolls with notable matryoshka styles. Sergiyev Posad in the Moscow region has a particularly distinguished history in these artistic endeavours.

Technically, the correct Russian name for the dolls is Matryoshka. Inaccurate terminologies such as babushka dolls seem to have slowly seeped into the foreign vocabularies, unbeknownst to the Russian creators.

Interestingly, babushka is the Russian word for "grandmother" and has little to do with matryoshkas. A possible connection, perhaps, rests on the generous nature of Russian babushkas, spoiling their grandchildren with toys and, more likely than not, matryoshkas.