Nesting Dolls

Nesting dolls or the Matryoshka doll is one of the most popular set of dolls in the world. Often referred to as a Babushka doll, this particular set of dolls are dolls that decrease in sizes. The dolls are basically placed inside the other.Basically, nesting dolls or Matryoshka dolls consists of a wooden figure that can be pulled apart. Inside the figure, you will find another figure of the same sort. Once you pull the second figure apart, it will reveal yet another similar figure and so on. Usually, the number of nested figures will be five or even more.The shape of the dolls will mostly be cylindrical. The top is rounded for the head and is tapered on the bottom. The dolls are simple in design. It doesn't have any hands, except the ones that are painted on. In most nesting dolls, the outer layer would be a woman dressed in sarafan. Inside the figure, you will find figures of both genders where the end will usually be a baby that does not open.Nesting dolls are painted but if you pay attention to detail, you will find that it can be extremely elaborate.People collect nesting dolls as these dolls also follow a particular theme. There are nesting dolls that follow a peasant girl in traditional dress theme or it can follow fairy tale characters and even Soviet leaders.Nesting dolls dates from 1890 and are said to have been inspired by Japanese dolls. Its history is said that Sergei Maliutin, a painter from a fold crafts workshop, saw a set of Japanese wooden dolls that represented the Seven Gods of Fortune.He saw that the largest of the doll depicted Fukorokuju, who was a bald god with an unusually long chin. Within the figure, it nested six other deities. This inspiration led to the sketching and creation of the Russian version of the toy. Carved by Vasiliy Zvezdochkin and painted by Sergei Maliutin, this became one of the most popular dolls in Russia.The original version consisted of eight dolls where the outermost was a girl holding a rooster and six other inner dolls that depicted girls. The fifth doll was a boy and the last doll was a baby.This particular doll was presented at the World Exhibition in Paris where the toy earned a bronze medal. Soon afterwards, other places in Russia started making this kind of doll.When the Soviet Union was established, the doll also became very popular where it depicted the leaders of the Soviet Union. It started with Mikhail Gorbachev, next was Leonid Brezhnev, Nikita Khrushchev was next, then Josef Stalin, and the last and the smallest doll was Vladimir Lenin.Today, you will find a lot of version of nesting dolls. It is even depicted in cartoons, such as the Higglytown Heroes. There is also an episode in The Amazing Race where the players looked for clues that were hidden among several thousand nesting dolls in Russia.In movies, the character in the Transsiberian movie used the dolls to smuggle drugs.Nesting dolls are very popular in the world today. If you love collecting dolls like this, you will find that there are plenty of designs to collect. Collecting nesting dolls or Matryoshkas is a fun hobby. Because of the variety of designs that the dolls are available in, many people are now collecting nesting dolls.In fact, there are even rare ones as well as antique ones that are very valuable and can cost a lot of money. There are seasonal nesting dolls that are available in limited edition, which you can also collect.Nesting dolls are also a great gift idea that you can give to your fellow collector or to a child.If you are planning to collect toys and you can't figure out what kind of toy that you should collect, you may want to consider collecting nesting dolls. It is a very rewarding hobby and it is also a lot of fun to collect. It will also serve as a great addition to your home where you can proudly display your collection for your visitors to see.Nesting dolls have a very long history. Although it started in Japan, nesting dolls are basically linked to Russian culture.
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