Welcome to our Matrioshka or
Nesting doll page. Below is a brief history of the Matrioshka or
nesting doll. Gifts From Russia brings well over 6000 doll sets a year
to our Gallery in Leavenworth
Washington. Each one of the nesting doll is
hand picked by us in Russia on our buying trips.
THE HISTORY OF MATRIOSHKA DOLLS:
In The Beginning:
The first Russian nesting doll (Matrioshka) was born in
1890 in the workshop "Children's Education" situated in the Abramtsevo
estate of new Moscow.
The owner of Abramtsevo was Sava Mamontov, an industrialist and a patron of
the arts.
The end of the 19-century in Russia was a
time of great economic and cultural development. Mamontov was one of the
first who patronized the artists and who were possessed by the idea for the
creation of a new Russian style. Many famous Russian artists worked along
with folk craftsmen in the Mamontov workshops.
Once at a Saturday meeting somebody brought a funny Japanese figurine of a
good-nature bold head old man “Fukuruma”. The doll consisted of some other
figurines nestled one in another. It had 7 figurines. Here was the beginning
of the legend, the first doll of such type on the Island of Honshu where “Fukuruma” was brought from
and was made by an unknown Russian monk.
Why it is called "Matrioshka"
Why the doll is called a "Matrioshka"? The name comes from
Matryona, which was a very popular female name among peasants in old
Russia. The name Matryona in turn is
related to the Latin root "mater" and means "Mother." Thus, the name is
closely connected with motherhood and in turn the doll has come to symbolize
fertility - a mother doll with numerous offspring.
In old Russia these family dolls passed
from generation to generation and each subsequent generation made the next
doll bigger so the others could fit inside. The Matrioshka dolls symbolize
good luck and peace in the family.
Matrioshka Dolls – Construction
The most common woods used for making Matrioshka is lime
and birch. Trees are usually cut in the spring, stripped of bark, and
arranged in aerated stacks to dry for several years. It takes
experience to judge when the wood is just right, not too dry nor too moist.
The logs are then cut into work pieces for the dolls. Every work piece goes
through as many as 15 turning operations before being fashioned into a doll.
The smallest, solid figures are usually made first. In the making of the
next size doll the bottom is made first. It is processed to the necessary
height and then the top end is removed. After that they make the upper ring
on which the top part of the doll will be fitted and then the lower half is
made. The doll's head is crafted next and enough wood is removed from inside
the head to slip onto the upper ring. The fitting is done completely by
intuition with no measurements taken. When the doll blank is finished it is
cleaned, primed, and then dried. The blank Matrioshka nesting doll is now
ready to be painted.
Collector's Guide for
Matrioshka Dolls
Museum Quality
Russian Matrioshka Dolls
Limited Production
Russian Matrioshka Dolls
Basic Art Russian
Matrioshka Dolls
Market Russian
Matrioshka Dolls
The Quality of the Matrioshka varies greatly and we have nesting dolls to
fit ever ones budget. Dolls can range from a few dollars to many thousands.
Museum quality Matrioshka is one of a kind. These artists have elevated the
Matrioshka to a sought after collectible art. The limited production dolls
are also of good quality art and design. The demand for their dolls
frequently exceeds the supply. The basic art Matrioshka doll is the most
common of the nesting dolls. You can find them in the folklore, fairy tales
and floral motifs. For the most part the quality of the art is good. The
market Matrioshka is the lowest of quality and has little or nothing to do
with Russian culture.
Send mail to
giftsfromrussia@charter.net
with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2007
Last modified:
01/24/2008
