Matryoshka doll

Matryoshka dolls(/ˌmætriˈɒʃkə/MAT-ree-OSH-kə; Russian:матрёшка,IPA:[mɐˈtrʲɵʂkə]), also known asstacking dolls,nesting dolls,Russian tea dolls, orRussian dolls,are a set of woodendollsof decreasing size placed one inside another. The nameMatryoshkais adiminutiveform ofMatryosha(Матрёша), in turn ahypocoristicof the Russian female first nameMatryona(Матрёна).
A set of matryoshkas consists of a wooden figure, which separates at the middle, top from bottom, to reveal a smaller figure of the same sort inside, which has, in turn, another figure inside of it, and so on.
The first Russian nested doll set was made in 1890 bywood turning craftsmanandwood carverVasily Zvyozdochkinfrom a design bySergey Malyutin, who was a folk crafts painter atAbramtsevo. Traditionally the outer layer is a woman, dressed in asarafan, a long and shapeless traditional Russian peasantjumper dress. The figures inside may be of any 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; the themes may vary, fromfairy talecharacters toSoviet leaders. In some countries, matryoshka dolls are often referred to asbabushka dolls, though they are not known by this name in Russian;babushka(бабушка) means'grandmother; old woman'.
The first Russian nested doll set was carved in 1890 at the Children's Education Workshop by Vasily Zvyozdochkin and designed by Sergey Malyutin, who was a folk crafts painter in the Abramtsevo estate ofSavva Mamontov, a Russian industrialist and patron of arts.Mamontov's brother, Anatoly Ivanovich Mamontov (1839–1905), created the Children's Education Workshop to make and sell children's toys. The doll set was painted by Malyutin. Malyutin's doll set consisted of eight dolls—the outermost was a mother in a traditional dress holding a red-combedrooster. The inner dolls were her children, girls and a boy, and the innermost a baby. The Children's Education Workshop was closed in the late 1890s, but the tradition of the matryoshka simply relocated toSergiyev Posad, the Russian city known as a toy-making center since the fourteenth century.
The inspiration for matryoshka dolls is not clear. Matryoshka dolls may have been inspired by a nesting doll imported from Japan.The Children's Education workshop where Zvyozdochkin was a lathe operator received a five piece, cylinder-shaped nesting doll featuring Fukuruma (Fukurokuju) in the late 1890s,which is now part of the collection at the Sergiev Posad Museum of Toys.Other east Asian dolls share similarities with matryoshka dolls such as theKokeshidolls,originating in NorthernHonshū, themain islandofJapan, although they cannot be placed one inside another, and the round hollowdaruma dolldepicting a Buddhist monk.Another possible source of inspiration is the nesting Easter eggs produced on a lathe by Russian woodworkers during the late 19th Century.
Savva Mamontov's wife presented a set of matryoshka dolls at theExposition Universellein Paris in 1900, and the toy earned a bronze medal. Soon after, matryoshka dolls were being made in several places in Russia and shipped around the world.
The first matryoshka dolls were produced in the Children's Education (Detskoye vospitanie) workshop inMoscow.After it closed in 1904, production was transferred to the city ofSergiev Posad(Сергиев Посад),known as Sergiev (Сергиев) from 1919 to 1930 and Zagorsk from 1930 to 1991.
Matryoshka factories were later established in other cities and villages:
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the closure of many matryoshka factories, and the loosening of restrictions, independent artists began to produce matryoshka dolls in homes and art studios.
Ordinarily, matryoshka dolls are crafted fromlindenwood. There is a popular misconception that they are carved from one piece of wood. Rather, they are produced using: alatheequipped with abalance bar; four heavy 2 foot (0.61 m) long distinct types ofchisels(hook, knife, pipe, and spoon); and a "set of handmade wooden calipers particular to a size of the doll". The tools are handforgedby a villageblacksmithfrom car axles or other salvage. Awood carveruniquely crafts each set of woodencalipers. Multiple pieces of wood are meticulously carved into the nesting set.
The standard shape approximates a human silhouettewith a flared base on the largest doll for stability.Other shapes include potbelly, cone, bell, egg, bottle, sphere, and cylinder.
The size and number of pieces varies widely. The industry standard from the Soviet period, which accounts for approximately 50% of all matryoshka produced, is six inches tall and consists of 5 dolls except for matryoshka dolls manufactured inSemenovwhose standard is five inches tall and consists of 6 pieces.Other common sets are the 3 piece, the 7 piece, and the 10 piece.
Matryoshka dolls painted in the traditional style share common elements. They depict female figures wearing a peasant dress (sarafan) and scarf or shawl usually with an apron and flowers.Each successively smaller doll is identical or nearly so.Distinctive regional styles developed in different areas of matryoshka manufacture.
Matryoshka dollsare often designed to follow a particular theme; for instance, peasant girls in traditional dress. Originally, themes were often drawn from tradition orfairy talecharacters, in keeping with the craft tradition—but since the late 20th century, they have embraced a larger range, including Russian leaders and popular culture.
Common themes of matryoshkas are floral and relate to nature. Often Christmas, Easter, and religion are used as themes for the doll. Modern artists create many new styles of nesting dolls, mostly as an alternative purchase option for tourism. These include animal collections, portraits, andcaricaturesof famous politicians, musicians, athletes, astronauts, "robots", and popular movie stars. Today, some Russian artists specialize in painting themed matryoshka dolls that feature specific categories of subjects, people, or nature. Areas with notable matryoshka styles includeSergiyev Posad, Semionovo (now the town ofSemyonov),Polkhovsky Maydan[ru], and the city ofKirov.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s duringPerestroika, freedom of expression allowed theleaders of the Soviet Unionto become a common theme of the matryoshka, with the largest doll featuring then-current leaderMikhail Gorbachev. These became very popular at the time, affectionately earning the nickname of aGorbaorGorby, the namesake of Gorbachev. With the periodic succession of Russian leadership after thecollapse of the Soviet Union, newer versions would start to featureRussian presidentsBoris Yeltsin,Vladimir Putin, andDmitry Medvedev.
The largest set of matryoshka dolls in the world is a 51-piece set hand-painted by Youlia Bereznitskaia of Russia, completed in 2003. The tallest doll in the set measures 53.97 centimetres (21.25 in); the smallest, 0.31 centimetres (0.12 in). Arranged side-by-side, the dolls span 3.41 metres (11 ft 2.25 in).
Matryoshkas are also usedmetaphorically, as adesign paradigm, known as the "matryoshka principle" or "nested doll principle".It denotes a recognizable relationship of "object-within-similar-object" that appears in the design of many other natural and crafted objects. Examples of this use include thematrioshka brain,theMatroskamedia-container format,and the Russian Doll model ofmulti-walled carbon nanotubes.
Theonion metaphoris similar. If the outer layer is peeled off an onion, a similar onion exists within. This structure is employed by designers in applications such as the layering of clothes or the design of tables, where a smaller table nests within a larger table, and a smaller one within that.
The metaphor of the matryoshka doll (or its onion equivalent) is also used in the description of shell companies and similar corporate structures that are used in the context of tax-evasion schemes in low-tax jurisdictions (for example, offshore tax havens).It has also been used to describesatellitesand suspected weapons in space.
Matryoshka is often seen as a symbol of the feminine side of Russian culture.Matryoshka is associated in Russia with family and fertility.Matryoshka is used as the symbol for the epithet Mother Russia.Matryoshka dolls are a traditional representation of the mother carrying a child within her and can be seen as a representation of a chain of mothers carrying on the family legacy through the child in their wombs. Furthermore, matryoshka dolls are used to illustrate the unity of body, soul, mind, heart, and spirit.
In 2020, theUnicode Consortiumapproved the matryoshka doll (🪆) as one of the newemojicharacters in release v.13.The matryoshka or nesting doll emoji was submitted to the consortium by Jef Gray and Samantha Sunne,as a non-religious, apolitical symbol of Russian-East European-Far East Asian culture.