Russian nesting dolls - history of creation

The folk costume of our ancestors was amazingly beautiful. Each of its details was evidence of the way of life of a particular volost. Clothes, both festive and casual, corresponded to the lifestyle, wealth and marital status. The color scheme was varied - combinations of red, blue, yellow and green colors, with a bright flora, embroidered on aprons, scarves, on the sleeves and hem of shirts. All this gave a festive look to any woman, even on a gloomy winter day. Once a foreign traveler, visiting a Russian landowner, looked out of the window and saw an extraordinary spectacle: "What is this?" - only he could utter. The landowner exclaimed somewhat in bewilderment: "Yes, these are women from my village who are going to church for Sunday services." The foreign visitor was amazed at the colorful spectacle of festively dressed peasant women. He had never seen a simple woman dressed so smartly.

So the famous Russian nesting doll apparently borrowed these outfits from Russian beauties and craftsmen - masters who gladly fantasized and painted wooden dolls with different patterns.

The history of the creation of Russian nesting dolls

And where is the homeland of this beloved wooden toy, which has become one of the best souvenirs from Russia. It is the Moscow district that is the birthplace of the famous Russian nesting dolls. Although, to be more specific, at the end of the 19th century Alexandra Mamontova brought a figurine of the Japanese old sage Fukuruma to the Moscow Children's Education factory. The toy was interesting in that it had several figures that were nested inside one another, smaller and smaller in size, until the very last one turned out to be very small. So the local masters decided to repeat this fun for their children. Vasily Zvyozdochkin carved a toy, which consisted of eight figures, and the artist Sergei Malyutin painted the figures. But the first toy did not consist of only Russian beauties. It alternated images of a Russian beauty, dressed in a sundress, an apron and a scarf, with images of stately fellows, and the smallest was a baby - a baby.

They called the doll "Matryoshka" - a female name was very popular then - Matryona (Matrona). In 1900, the production moved to the county town of Sergiev Posad.

Sergievsky uyezd, so named even under Catherine II, was located in dense forests, and the craft of wooden toys flourished in all villages for a long time. Matryoshkas were cut out of aspen, birch, linden, alder, their outfits were painted with bright colors: cheap dolls - with glue paints, and expensive ones - with enamels and watercolors. The people loved these bright beauties and bought not only for children, but also for their collections. Do you have a family of nesting dolls in your collection of dolls, or at least one of them?