Matryoshka: An International Love Affair
Written by Vadim on February 27, 2009 – 12:00 am -Matryoshka: An International Love Affair
Perhaps the best known Russian toy, matryoshka, or wooden nesting dolls, are a relative newcomer to the world of Slavic toys. Although nesting toys in the shape of an egg or ball have been popular in Russia for centuries, nesting dolls first came to the country as a souvenir from Japan in the late nineteenth century. Since then, matryoshka have become one of the most beloved symbols of traditional Russian culture.
Like the egg shaped toys preceding Matryoshka, nesting dolls are traditionally made with a lathe with the inner most doll created first. They are then painted, usually to resemble women and girls in traditional Eastern European dress. However, not all matryoshka are feminine. Nesting dolls have been made to resemble birds, characters from popular folk tales, and even Communist leaders of the twentieth century.
The most remarkable feature of matryoshka is usually the elaborate painting. Regardless of the theme or type of characters, Russian nesting dolls are painted in vibrant colors, then heavily varnished. The designs are usually reminiscent of traditional agrarian Russian culture.
The name ‘Matryoshka’ has its own colorful history. At the time that nesting dolls became popular in Russia, Matryona was a widespread female name, with Matryoshka the most common nickname. In addition, the name Matryona comes from ‘mater’, the Latin word for mother. Because the dolls had a maternal theme, with several females nested inside each other, this name took hold in Russia and is now internationally recognized.
During the Soviet era, traditional matryoshka dolls became rare enough to be almost an endangered species. The government did not allow the sale or display of handicrafts. Although there were matryoshka factories, the dolls made there had to be manufactured in an efficient, assembly line manner that took the warmth and uniqueness from this traditionally handmade toy and made more traditional, complicated designs impossible. Although some toys were illegally made and exported throughout this time, handmade and hand-painted nesting dolls from Russia were not commonly available until after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Matryoshka dolls have a variety of uses in the modern world. They remain beloved toys for children and the young at heart all around the world. Nesting dolls can also make a quaint yet cultured addition to home decoration. They have been used as promotional items from companies and even as invitations to weddings. Matryoshka bring a distinctively Eastern European flavor wherever they appear.
Matryoshka dolls have become not just a recognizable symbol of old Russia, but a metaphor as well. The word ‘matryoshka’ is often used to describe like items neatly nesting inside each other, such as makeup kits or storage containers. They have made their mark in every field from astroengineering (“The Matryoshka Brain”) to children’s television (“Higglytown Heroes”). This may be due to the enduring nature of a nesting doll. Like these distinctive nesting dolls, we all have multiple layers just waiting to be discovered. Perhaps this is the true reason matryoshka nesting dolls have captured hearts all over the world. 
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matryoshka
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-6/Matryoshka-Doll.html
http://www.angelfire.com/art2/petrikovka/matryoshkahistory.html
Tags: matryoshka doll, toys
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Russian Toys in My Childhood
Written by Vadim on September 24, 2008 – 6:01 pm -I was raised in Australia, but my parents came from the Soviet Union in the early 70′s. When I was 3 years old, my grandmother moved to Australia to join our family after her husband died.
She wanted her grandchildren to have exposure to Russian Culture. She used to read to me from Russian Childrens books. I could not read the Cyrillic script, but I enjoyed looking at all the pictures, which were hand-drawn in such great detail and with a distinctive style, unlike the comics I had and the Saturday Morning cartoons I used to watch on TV.
My favourite was a red wooden doll. Only recently, did I discover that the proper name is a Matryoshka doll. I always felt intrigured when I pulled the torso off to find another identical figure, just a bit smaller. There were six in total, and it was slightly disappointing to me that the smallest could not be opened up to reveal anything more. I may have spent hours compulsively opening the dolls and putting them back together – lining up my ‘army’ of six, then turning them back into one. I guess in many ways they are comparable to Transformers – “They’re more than meets the eye”.
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The History of Matryoshka Dolls
Written by Vadim on September 12, 2008 – 10:15 pm -Date: Sun, 22 Aug 2010 21:56:28 GMT
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Matryoshka doll
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Matryoshka doll taken apart |
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Matryoshka set in a row |
A matryoshka doll, also known as a Russian nesting doll or a babushka doll, is a set of dolls of decreasing sizes placed one inside the other. The word matryoshka (Russian: матрёшка) is derived from the Russian female first name Matryona (Russian: Матрёна). The word babushka (Russian: бабушка) is the Russian word for grandmother.
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Design
Church-themed matryoshka
A set of matryoshkas consists of a wooden figure which separates, 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 number of nested figures is traditionally at least five, but can be much more, up to several dozen with sufficiently fine craftsmanship. Modern dolls often yield an odd number of figures but this is not an absolute rule; the original Zvyozdochkin set, for instance, had an even number. The form is approximately cylindrical, with a rounded top for the head, tapering toward the bottom, with little or no protruding features; the dolls have no hands (except those that are painted). Traditionally the outer layer is a woman, dressed in a sarafan. The figures inside may be of either gender; the smallest, innermost doll is typically a baby lathed from a single small piece of wood (and hence non-opening). The artistry is in the painting of each doll, which can be extremely elaborate.
Matryoshka dolls are often designed to follow a particular theme, for instance peasant girls in traditional dress, but the theme can be anything, from fairy tale characters to Soviet leaders.
History
The original matryoshka by Zvyozdochkin and Malyutin
The first Russian nested doll set was carved in 1890 by Vasily Zvyozdochkin from a design by Sergey Malyutin, who was a folk crafts painter in the Abramtsevo estate of the Russian industrialist and patron of arts Savva Mamontov. The doll set was painted by Maliutin himself. Maliutin’s design was inspired by a set of Japanese wooden dolls representing the Seven Lucky Gods. Maluitin’s doll set consisted of eight dolls—the outermost was a girl holding a rooster, six inner dolls were girls, the fifth doll was a boy, and the innermost was a baby.
In 1900, Savva Mamontov’s wife presented the dolls at the World Exhibition in Paris, and the toy earned a bronze medal. Soon after, matryoshka dolls were being made in several places in Russia.
Themes
Several Russian politicians depicted in matryoshka form
During Perestroika, the leaders of the Soviet Union became a common theme depicted on matryoshkas. Starting with the largest, Mikhail Gorbachev, then Leonid Brezhnev (Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko almost never appear due to the short length of their respective terms), then Nikita Khrushchev, Josef Stalin and finally the smallest, Vladimir Lenin. Newer versions start with Dmitry Medvedev and then follow with Vladimir Putin, Boris Yeltsin, Mikhail Gorbachev, Joseph Stalin and then Vladimir Lenin.
Modern artists create many new styles of nesting dolls. Common themes include animal collections, portraits and caricatures of famous politicians, musicians, “robots” and popular movie stars. Matryoshka dolls that feature communist leaders of Russia became very popular among Russian people in the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Today, some Russian artists specialize in painting themed matryoshka dolls that feature specific categories of subjects, people or nature.
Areas with notable matryoshka styles include Sergiyev Posad, Semionovo (now the town of Semyonov), Polkholvsky Maidan, and Kirov.
As metaphor
Matryoshkas are also used metaphorically, as a design 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 man-made objects. Examples include the Matrioshka brain and the Matroska media-container format.
The onion metaphor is of similar character. 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 sits within a larger table and a yet smaller one within that.
See also
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