Matryoshka doll
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- This page is about the Russian doll. For the .mkv video format which is named after it, see Matroska. For the film, see Russian Dolls. For the Belgian TV series, please see Matroesjka's.
A matryoshka doll (Russian: матрёшка, IPA [mʌˈtrʲoʂkə]) or a Russian nested doll (also called stacking dolls or Babushka dolls) is a set of dolls of decreasing sizes placed one inside another. "Matryoshka" is a diminutive from the Russian female first name "Matryona", which is traditionally associated with a corpulent, robust, rustic Russian woman.
A set of matryoshkas 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.
Matroyoshkas 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.
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[edit] History
Matryoshkas are a relatively new 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 goes 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 matryoshki of various styles.
During Perestroika matryoshkas 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. Newer versions starts with Vladimir Putin and then follows with Boris Yeltsin, Mikhail Gorbachev, Josef Stalin and then Vladimir Lenin. Other versions could be a U.S. president version starting with George W. Bush, a British version starting with Prime Minister Tony Blair, soccer players, music bands, themes based on TV series as The Simpsons or virtually any theme imagineable. 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.
[edit] Gallery
 Classic matryoshkas |
 37 piece Russian doll set in a shop in Portobello Road, London |
 Dedoushka |
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 A set with an insect theme |
 Matryoshka The Fair ("Russisches Mosaik") |
 Several Russian politicians depicted in matryoshka form. |
 Three Babushka Dolls |
 Five Babushka Dolls |
 Seven Babushka Dolls |
 Terrorist matryoshkas |
[edit] 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. An example is the Matrioshka brain.
The onion metaphor is of similar character. 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.
[edit] Matryoshkas in popular culture
- The Higglytown Heroes characters are living matryoshkas.
- Matryoshki appear during the credits sequence of John le Carre's television miniseries Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, showing the successive appearance of four dolls, with the fourth doll having no face. In this case, we have a visual cue with the dolls for Russia (as the plot involves Soviet espionage), as well as with the final doll for the unknown mole, a spy who's buried in the deepest.
- An episode of The Amazing Race included the players looking for clues hidden among several thousand matryoshkas.
- Australian composer Julian Cochran wrote a Russian inspired composition titled 'Wooden Dolls' about a group of Matryoshkas communicating.
- These dolls have also appeared in sketches on Sesame Street , as a way of teaching children how to count from 1 to 10 and back.
- In the video game Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army, Grigori Rasputin (who serves as one of the game's chief antagonists) confines demons within matryoshkas.
- The animated series The Tick has a minor character named "The Living Doll", a member of The Decency Squad, whose battle cry is, "I'm filled with tinier men!"
- In the 3rd season episode of Lost entitled "Expose", the characters Nikki and Paulo steal $8 million worth of diamonds hidden in a Matryoshka Doll and then have to find the doll on the island after the plane crash.
