Matryoshka doll is a traditional Russian folk craft, a symbol of Russia and a symbol of Russian women. It is a doll composed of a number of hollow painted wooden dolls of different sizes (usually in the shape of village girls or peasant women), arrogant and small, one by one. It is reported that the largest nesting doll is made up of 100, the outermost one is more than 1 meter high, and the innermost one is smaller than soybeans. Arbat Street, craft shops, kiosks, collective farm fairs, tourist attractions, and department stores in Moscow are filled with all kinds of nesting dolls, colorful and dazzling. Now matryoshka has entered Russia and sold well all over the world. It has become the most Russian tourist souvenir.
There are different opinions about the origin of the nesting doll. There is a legend that the prototype of the nesting doll is a toy called the Seven Lucky Gods brought back from Japan (the outermost layer is a bald birthday star with seven statues inside), but there is no literature to test this statement, so it is not enough. by. According to reliable information, the Russian nesting doll was born at the end of the 19th century (1898-1900) in the ancient town of Sergiyev Posad, 73 kilometers away from Moscow. Inspired by the making of Easter eggs, it was cut from wood according to the sketch drawn by the painter Sergei Malyutin. At first there were 8 (later 7) sets, the largest of which was Matriona, a girl in a headscarf and an apron with a black cock under her arm. People call her Matryoshka affectionately, so this name has become a common name for nesting dolls in Russia. The earliest nesting doll in the world is now in the Sergiyev Posad City Toy Museum. Therefore, Russia's largest handmade toy manufacturing center - Sergiyev Posad, known as the "toy capital" in history, has become the real hometown of nesting dolls.
Why was the matryoshka named Matryoshka? In pre-revolutionary Russia, the name Matryona (Matryoshka) was one of the most common names for women in provinces outside the capital. The origin of the name is derived from the Latin word "mater", which means mother. The name is easily reminiscent of a strong mother with many children. Later, the name became the name of the nesting doll. Matryoshka dolls are still today a symbol of motherhood with many children. Regarding this issue, Oksana Markowetskaya, a researcher at the Russian Kuzminki Manor Cultural Museum, explained very clearly: "Matreshka's appearance is very consistent with the traditional Russian concept of Russian women. A model of beauty. Women should be thick, plump, strong, healthy, and have many offspring. Russian women are not very particular about the waist. A hundred years ago, Russian women's clothes were very loose, which was different from Matryo at that time. The name is as popular as Shika."
In 1900, the Matryoshka doll, which had just come out, made its debut at the Paris International Exposition and won the world's recognition. Later, Russian nesting dolls were exhibited in Brussels, Montreal, Leipzig, Berlin, Toronto and other places for many times and won awards. In the exhibition in Tokyo, a 1-meter-high nesting doll composed of 70 was made by Semenov City. Extraordinarily striking. So the Russian nesting doll is like a beautiful and unique business card, shining itself into the world.
Mass production of nesting dolls in Russia began after the Paris Exposition in 1900. Sergiyev Posad, the origin of nesting dolls, has continuously improved its products and updated them at any time to change the original single model. Initially, the dolls were identical in appearance, clothing, and posture, like multiple sisters. Later, the patterns came out one after another, with different shapes. For example, there are not only peasant women with black roosters, but also peasant women with sickles, baskets, pots, sisters and younger brothers, and even male nesting dolls (warriors, nobles, etc. in ancient Russia). With the increase in demand, the craftsmanship of making nesting dolls has gradually spread from the town of Sergiyev Posad, the place of origin, to other places, and even the whole of Russia.
In 2000, the "Centenary Exhibition of Russian Nesting Dolls" was held at the Museum of Applied Decorative Arts in Moscow (the first nesting doll was born in this old house a hundred years ago). Today, a large family of Matryoshka dolls of different ages, shapes, sizes and styles gather to celebrate their centenary. All the exhibits are the Morozov Museum of Folk Art, the All-Russian Museum of Practical Decoration and Folk Art, the Sergiyev Posad Museum of Art Educational Toys, as well as the fine products sent to the exhibition by private collectors. Here, you can not only see the nesting dolls made by traditional craftsmanship, but also feel the nesting dolls created by modern painters and craftsmen that exude the flavor of the times. For example, among the early works from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, there are "Woman Citizen", "Farmer Woman", "Cigan Woman", "Prayer Woman", "Siberian Pioneer Yermak", "Priest" and so on. These simple and beautiful Matryoshka dolls fully embody the diversity of themes, shapes, and styles of Russian dolls, show the profound heritage of Russian traditional culture, and demonstrate the rich imagination and infinite creativity of Russian artists, and are presented to the audience. left a very deep impression.
Matryoshka dolls are not only a prestigious handicraft, but also one of the carriers to promote Russian culture, history and traditional arts and crafts. Historical figures such as the 17th century Russian peasant uprising leader Stepan Racine, Russian Marshal Kutuzov, French Emperor Napoleon were made into nesting dolls, political leaders such as Nicholas II, Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev , Brezhnev, Gorbachev, Yeltsin were made into a set of dolls, and later Putin also became a doll. Folk tales such as "The Frog Princess", fairy tales such as Pushkin's "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Goldfish", "Ruslan and Lyudmila", "Tsar Saltan", Pyotr Ershov's fairy tale "The Little Camel" Horses, Krylov's allegory The Quartet, the protagonists in Gogol's novels, and public figures such as celebrities, movie stars, and NBA stars have all become the subject of nesting dolls. Even some animals such as cats, penguins, pandas, butterflies, etc. are also included. There are also historically well-known genre paintings, landscape paintings, national architecture, the Kremlin, cathedrals, and historical sites.
With the increase in the sales of nesting dolls abroad, the origin of Russian nesting dolls has sprung up everywhere. Since 1990, in addition to the traditional origin, Moscow, St. Petersburg and other big cities and some tourist resorts, and even foreign Ukraine and Belarus have seen the great prospects of the nesting doll market, and began to produce nesting dolls. Undoubtedly, no matter how the matryoshka craft develops and how the shape and style change, the image of the beautiful Russian women in bright national costumes is still the basic shape of the matryoshka and will always be loved by people. of favor.
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