What is a Russian national souvenir? In principle, it can become almost any aesthetic thing, made in the artistic traditions of Russian culture. But there are some special varieties of souvenirs that in the eyes of the whole world personify Russia, its mysterious and wide soul, its ingenious masters, its pastorally refined beauty.
Matryoshka is a Russian wooden toy in the form of a painted doll, inside which there are smaller dolls similar to it. The number of nested dolls is usually three or more. Usually they have the shape of an egg with a flat bottom and consist of two parts: the upper and lower. By tradition, a woman is drawn in a red dress and scarf. Nowadays, themes for painting are diverse: these are fabulous characters, girls, as well as families. Matryoshkas of a parody character with the image of politicians also became frequent. Relatively recently, a matryoshka doll with a portrait on it began to gain popularity – a portrait matryoshka doll.
It is believed that the Russian dolls appeared in Russia in the 90s of the XIX century, during the period of rapid economic and cultural development of the country. This was the time of the rise of national self-consciousness when interest in Russian culture in general and in art, in particular, became more and more insistent in society. In this regard, a whole artistic direction arose, known as the “Russian style”.
Russian wooden doll called matryoshka. This was not done by chance. In the pre-revolutionary province, the names Matryona, Matryoshka were considered one of the most common female names, based on the word “mother”.
Russian craftsmen, who knew how to grind wooden objects embedded in each other, mastered the manufacturing technology of Russian dolls with ease. The manufacturing principle of the nesting dolls remains unchanged to the present time, preserving all the techniques of turning art of Russian craftsmen.