Brief History Of Russian Dolls

By Author: Bimol Bee
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Probably, most of people know that a Russian Nesting doll is the most popular Russian national souvenir and everyone who visits this beautiful and so diverse country wishes to purchase the Russian Nesting Doll. In fact, this doll is a wonderful representative of the Russian folk art. Russian folk art gained its highest development in the end of 19th century that coincided with the period of great economic development in Russia. At that time probably the Russian Nesting Doll was first created.

Professional artists cooperated with folk craftsmen who possessed a great artistic and traditional skill of creating excellent Russian nesting dolls. Well, the first Baushka was handmade in the year of 1890 by Vasily Zvyozdochkin. This doll was designed by well-skilled artists who cooperated with folk craftsmen. Thus, te first Russian nesting doll set was designed by Sergey Malyutin in one of the art workshops not far from Moscow. The craft of making nesting dolls was known as a regional folk art at first and only after it won a bronze medal at the World Exhibition that took place in Paris, this art received a world-wide recognition.

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... history of emergence of renowned Matryoshkas is really interesting as these dolls were developed from an already existing folk art of making Easter eggs placed one within another. These dolls were made of wood only and the wood that was used for their producing was mostly lime wood. But nowadays, a great variety of woods is used for creating these dolls including birch, aspen, lime, alder etc.

But let us define what Matryoskha is. Well, this doll usually consists of a wooden figure which can be separated like top from bottom. The bigger figure of such a doll holds smaller figure, while this one holds even smaller figure of the doll inside and so on. In order to find a smaller figure of the same shaped doll inside, you need to open the bigger figure of a doll. Making these dolls takes much time and effort as a craftsman need much concentration to shape and carve the thinness of the dolls. These dolls are appreciated for their intricate painting and diverse designs.

Speaking about the origin of the name Matryoshka it’s important to mention that this Russian doll received its name from the Latin word mater meaning mother in the English language. The matter is that the Russian family life has always been displayed through the dolls. Many of the Russian dolls were represented by a peasant mother dressed in traditional clothes including a babushka scarf on its head. These figures were always fat and several figures of small children were added to this doll. This symbolizes the role of a woman in the Russian family, her responsibility of bringing up children.

Besides, much attention was given to the facial expression of the Russian dolls. It’s also important to say that both male and female figures were portrayed through the dolls, as well as the figure of a baby. The latter articulated the oldest symbol not only of Russian, but of human culture in general.

Matryoskha can carry any theme including fairy tale characters, animal nested dolls or other popular figurines. However, any of these dolls represent charm of the Russian people.

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