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Russian nesting dolls
were first made over a hundred fifty years ago. These early dolls (or
stacking) were brightly
painted in typical Russian designs and constructed so that the completed
doll had many smaller dolls that fit one inside the other. Today, there
can be as many as twenty dolls nested together. The name of this type of
doll, Matroyshka, comes from the Latin word for mother and is a popular
feminine name in Russian villages. In the 1890’s, A.I. Mamontov
established a studio called “Children’s Education Workshop’. He built it
on his estate, Abramtsevo, which is near Moscow. His goal was to develop
and perfect the craft of making these dolls.
The typical peasant
style Matroyshka doll is still made today, but many new types are being
made and new figures are continually added. There are political figures
such as famous leaders, Story-tale figures and Christmas themes with Santa
figures and Christmas trees. The dolls are constructed of linden wood that
is carefully dried to avoid cracking. It is cut into blocks that are
turned on the lathe to create the dolls. These are polished to a smooth
finish for the artist to paint. The artist uses special fine brushes made
of sable or squirrel’s hair and the tempera type paint. The final step is
applying lacquer to give the doll a beautiful, lasting finish.
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