Favorite Images of Russian Dolls

A list of my favorite images of Russian dolls.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matryoshka_doll

A matryoshka doll, also known as a Russian nesting doll or Russian doll, is a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside another.

The name matryoshka, literally "little matron", is a diminutive form of Russian female first name Matryona or Matriosha.

A set of matryoshkas consist of a wooden figure which separates, top from bottom, to reveal a smaller figure of the same sort inside, which has, in turn, another figure inside of it, and so on.

The first Russian nested doll set was made in 1890 by Vasily Zvyozdochkin from a design by Sergey Malyutin, who was a folk crafts painter at Abramtsevo.

Traditionally the outer layer is a woman, dressed in a sarafan, a long and shapeless traditional Russian peasant jumper dress. The figures inside may be of either gender; the smallest, innermost doll is typically a baby turned from a single piece of wood.

Much of the artistry is in the painting of each doll, which can be very elaborate.

The dolls often follow a theme; the themes may vary from fairy tale characters to Soviet leaders.

The matryoshka dolls are often referred to as "babushka dolls", babushka meaning grandmother or elderly woman.