Matryoshka doll

This page is about the Russian doll. For the .mkv video format which is named after it, please see Matroska. For the film, please see Russian Dolls.

A Matryoshka doll (Russian:матрёшка IPA: ) or a Russian nested doll is a set of dolls of decreasing sizes placed one inside another. Its name is a diminutive form of a Russian female name "Matryona" which in turn came from Latin "Matrona". The plural form Matreshki should be used when referring to more than one doll and they are also called stacking dolls in the United States.

A set of Matryoshka dolls consists of a wooden figure which can be pulled apart to reveal another figure of the same sort inside. It has in turn another figure inside, and so on. The number of nested figures is usually six or more. The shape is mostly cylindrical, rounded at the top for the head and tapered towards the bottom, but little else; the dolls have no hands (except those that are painted). 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 almost anything, ranging from fairy tale characters to Soviet leaders.

History

Matryoshka dolls are not a traditional Russian handicraft; the first one dates from 1890, and is said to have been inspired by souvenir dolls from Japan. However, the concept of nested objects was familiar in Russia, having been applied to carved wooden apples and Easter eggs; the first Fabergé egg, in 1885, had a nesting of egg, yolk, hen, and crown.

The story tells that Sergei Maliutin, a painter from a folk crafts workshop in the Abramtsevo estate of a famous Russian industrialist and patron of arts Savva Mamontov, saw a set of Japanese wooden dolls representing Shichi-fuku-jin, the Seven Gods of Fortune. The largest doll was that of Fukurokuju, a happy bald god with an unusually tall chin. It nested the six remaining deities. Inspired, Maliutin drew a sketch of a Russian version of the toy. It was carved by Vasiliy Zvezdochkin in a toy workshop in Sergiyev Posad and painted by Sergei Maliutin. It consisted of eight dolls; the outermost was a girl in an apron, then the dolls alternated between boy and girl, with the innermost – a baby.

In 1900, M.A. Mamontova, the wife of Savva Mamontov, presented the dolls at the World Exhibition in Paris and the toy earned a bronze medal. Soon, many other places in Russia started making matryoshkas of various styles.

During Perestroika matryoshka dolls featuring the leaders of the Soviet Union became a common variety. 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. A doll which represents an old woman is often called baboushka or babushka, that which represents an old man dedoushka or dedushka.

There are several areas with notable Matryoshka styles; Sergiyev Posad, Semionovo (currently town of Semyonov), Polkholvsky Maidan, and Kirov.

Gallery

Image:Matriochka.jpg|Matryoshka dolls Image:Russian.dolls.hugeset.arp.jpg|37 piece Russian doll set in a shop in Portobello Road, London Image:Dedoushka-no_bg.jpg|A different matryoshka doll Image:Matryoshkas Kiev.jpg|Celebrity matryoshka dolls at a souvenir stall in Kiev, Ukraine. Image:Rusdolll4.jpg|A set with an insect theme Image:Matr67.jpg|Matryoshka The Fair ("Russisches Mosaik")

Matryoshka metaphor

Matryoshkas are also used metaphorically, as a design paradigm, known as "Matryoshka principle" or "nested doll principle". It denotes a recognizable relationship of "similar object-within-similar object" that appears in the design of many other natural and man made objects. The same structure exists in onions, for instance. If you peel the outer layer off an onion, a similar onion exists within the outer layer. This structure is employed by designers in applications such as the layering of clothing or the design of tables, where a smaller table sits within a larger table and a yet-smaller one within that.

Matryoshka dolls in culture

The Higglytown Heroes characters are living Matryoshka dolls.
Matryoshka dolls appear during the credits sequence of John le Carre's television miniseries Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, with the fourth doll having no face. In this case, the dolls act as a visual cue for Russia (as the plot involves Soviet espionage), as well as the four mole suspects.
In one of the many "couch gags" during the credits of The Simpsons, the Simpson family appear on the couch as Matryoshka dolls.
An episode of The Amazing Race included the players looking for clues hidden among several thousand Matryoshka dolls.
Australian composer Julian Cochran wrote a Russian inspired composition titled 'Wooden Dolls' about a group of Matreshki communicating.
In the episode titled "Grandpa Wore Tights" of The Tick animated series, a character called "The Living Doll" is an elderly superhero living in a retirement home for superheroes along with other members of the legendary Decency Squad. This character's superpower is that he can separate his body like a Matryoshka doll, and his battle cry is "I'm filled with tinier men!".
These dolls have also appeared in sketches on Sesame Street , as a way of teaching children how to count from 1 to 10 and vice versa.
In the Nightmare Before Christmas one of the monsters in Halloween town, has a smaller copy of himself hiding in his hat, who in turn has a smaller version yet in his hat.
The 2005 film Russian Dolls employs the Matryoshka doll both in the title and in the film itself: the lead character Xavier thinks of the women in his life as Russian dolls, each following the other with seemingly no end in sight.

References

History of Russian nesting dolls

External links