Russian Treasures
The history of the charming nesting dolls that have captivated collectors for almost a century is told by Carin Van Besien

Nesting dolls, or 'matryoshkas' as they are called in their native Russia, are dolls that are made from lathe-turned wood.

They separate in the middle to reveal another small doll and yet another, continuing to diminish in size as each doll in the set is opened.

The number of pieces in a nesting doll set varies from two to as many as fifty or  more pieces, with the most common numbers three, five, seven and 10.

Matryoshkas were initially made as children's toys in Russia at the end of the 19th Century in the town of Sergeev Posad, the historic toy centre of Russia.  They were as often unpainted as painted, as children seemed to be more interested in what they could do with them than what they looked like.

These dolls were recognised internationally, when they were exhibited at the Paris World's Fair in 1900.  Just as popular at home in Russia, matryoshkas were an instant success at the big Nizhny Novgorod Fair, and soon there were craft workshops all over Russia producing them.

Their popularity spurred mass production and as the numbers increased, examples with artistic quality declined.  Different villages in Russia began producing styles of their own which are mass-produced even today.

These are referred to as village dolls, and are typically brought back as souvenirs by tourists from the West.

These matryoshkas are inexpensive and rather crude as they are produced in assembly-line fashion with one worker painting the eyes, another the hair and so on.  You do not need to be an artist to work in one of these village factories.  The dolls are very common and not generally prized by adult collectors.

The village of Abramtsevo, in which some of the first matryoshkas were made, played an important part in the evolution of the doll from toy to serious art collectible.  In 1922 an artisan from a nearby town took a doll from the Abramtsevo craft workshop and duplicated it, providing his own touches.  This doll became the popular Semyenov souvenir doll, the doll with the bright red, yellow and black painted maiden.

This doll was part of the Abramtsevo Art Colony, home to one of the most important streams of artistic thought at the turn of the century.  It was founded by Savva Mamontov, a railway tycoon and art patron, who was dedicated to the preservation of religious and aesthetic values.

Abramtsevo had a strong influence on painting, architecture, sculpture and applied art.  Those who stayed there make up a veritable who's who of 'neo-Russianism'.

Illya Repin, Isaak Levitan, portraitist Valentin Serov and the famous painter/tile-maker Mikhail Vrubel were all part of Abramtsevo.

The Colony contained several workshops devoted to group projects in building, designing and decorating.  All of this is now a museum, the Abramtsevo Estate Museum Preserve, complete with paintings, tile work, original buildings and even a church which were projects.  It is a beautiful place which no picture can prepare you for.

From the Abramtsevo Colony craft workshops developed the Abramtsevo Art School, still in existence and continuing to turn out some of the most talented artists from all parts of Russia.  Admission is competitive, based on the applicant's examples of work and written examinations.

The graduates of the School's five-year programme are the foundation and continuing creative force behind the artist-made matrysohkas.  These are the dolls that are collected by art connoisseurs and doll enthusiasts all over the world, particularly western Europe, Japan and the U.S.

In 1977 Olga Toomanskas, a graduate of Abramtsevo, was employed at the State-run Toy Factory No. 1 in Zagorsk (now Sergeyev Posad).  She was painting the sample designs of the souvenir doll, but knew she was capable of much more.  The design for the dolls was so simple that anyone who could hold a brush could work there.

On a whim, Olga took one of the blank wood nested sets home with her and designed a truly beautiful work of art.  She painted a lovely girl's face with large, deep-blue eyes.  She had soft wisps of wind-blown hair showing from an intricately patterned scarf.  Her body showed scenes of children and the everyday village life of the family.

Olga was pleased with her new creation and presented it to the USSR Artisan Committee, which was responsible for deciding whose art would be allowed to be sold in State shops.  After Olga sold her third doll, her husband, Igor Antonov, an accomplished iconographer, took serious notice.  They began working together on the dolls and encouraged their other artist friends (most of them graduates of Abramtsevo) to try this art form themselves.  They continue to produce exquisite dolls.

Today Abramtsevo is still the centre for original matryoshkas.  Each artist paints his or her unique designs on the dolls, the identifying features of which are the faces.  No matter what subjects are chosen -- fairy tales, folklore or family scenes -- the face painted by a particular artist is the distinguishing feature.

The serious collector will instantly spot a doll by the look of the face, regardless of what has been painted on the body.  However, some artists have gone as far as omitting the face, painting only a scene around the entire doll.  Many artists and collectors have definite opinions about this type of doll.  Some feel the medium suggests there should always be a face, despite what is painted on the body.  Others, citing the continuing evolution of the dolls, suggest this is just one more style which should be accepted, furthering the artists' freedom of expression.

The past twenty years have seen a tremendous surge in creativity.

The fall of Communism, in particular, has had a dramatic effect on this phenomenon.  Since restrictions no longer apply to what the artist paints, we have seen dolls based on unprecedented subjects.  Many dolls now showcase nudes or controversial political topics.  Icons of western rock 'n' roll as well as replications of icons of the Russian Orthodox Church are now common, though they were unheard of a decade ago.

Novelty sets are plentiful, including those of a cow which opens up to reveal a goat, pig, chicken and lastly an egg.  Frog nesting dolls contain four diminishing sizes of insects.  One artist, Simouhina, paints fairy tale scene dolls, the last piece of which is a carved object such as the "glass slipper" in her Cinderella set.

reprinted by permission Doll Magazine