Matryoshka doll
Encyclopedia
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A matryoshka doll is a Russian nesting doll which is a set of wooden doll
s of decreasing size placed one inside the other. The first Russian nested doll set was carved 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 lathe
d 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, aside from the typical traditional peasant girls, the themes vary, from fairy tale
characters to Soviet
leaders.
A set of matryoshkas consists 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 number of nested figures is traditionally at least five, but can be much more, up to several dozen with sufficiently fine craftsmanship. Modern dolls often yield an odd number of figures but this is not an absolute rule; the original Zvyozdochkin set, for instance, had an even number. The form is approximately cylindrical, with a rounded top for the head, tapering toward the bottom, with little or no protruding features; the dolls have no hands (except those that are painted). Traditionally the outer layer is a woman, dressed in a sarafan
. The figures inside may be of either gender; the smallest, innermost doll is typically a baby lathe
d from a single small piece of wood (and hence non-opening). The artistry is in the painting of each doll, which can be extremely elaborate.
The word "matryoshka" (матрёшка), literally "little matron", is a diminutive
form of the Russian female first name "Matryona" (Матрёна).
The first Russian nested doll set was carved in 1890 by Vasily Zvyozdochkin
from a design by Sergey Malyutin
, who was a folk crafts painter in the Abramtsevo
estate of the Russian industrialist and patron of arts Savva Mamontov
. The doll set was painted by Malyutin. Malyutin's doll set consisted of eight dolls—the outermost was a girl holding a rooster wearing a traditional dress. The inner dolls were girls and a boy, and the innermost a baby.
Zvyozdochkin and Malyutin were inspired by a doll from Honshu
, the main island of Japan
. Sources differ in descriptions of the doll, describing it as either a round, hollow daruma doll
or a fukuruma nesting doll portraying portly bald old Buddhist monk.
In 1900, Savva Mamontov's wife presented the dolls at the World Exhibition in Paris, and the toy earned a bronze medal. Soon after, matryoshka dolls were being made in several places in Russia.
Matryoshka dolls are often designed to follow a particular theme, for instance peasant girls in traditional dress, but the theme can be anything, from fairy tale
characters to Soviet
leaders.
Modern artists create many new styles of nesting dolls. Common themes include floral, Christmas
, Easter
, religious, animal collections, portraits and caricatures of famous politicians, musicians, athletes, astronauts, "robots" and popular movie stars. Matryoshka dolls that feature communist leaders of Russia became very popular among Russian people in the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Today, some Russian artists specialize in painting themed matryoshka dolls that feature specific categories of subjects, people or nature. Areas with notable matryoshka styles include Sergiyev Posad
, Semionovo (now the town of Semyonov
), Polkhovsky Maidan, and Kirov
.
During Perestroika
, the leaders of the Soviet Union
became a common theme depicted on matryoshkas. 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 start with Dmitry Medvedev
and then follow with Vladimir Putin
, Boris Yeltsin
, Mikhail Gorbachev
, Joseph Stalin
and then Vladimir Lenin
.
ically, as a design paradigm
, known as the "matryoshka principle" or "nested doll principle". It denotes a recognizable relationship of "object-within-similar-object" that appears in the design of many other natural and man-made objects. Examples include the Matrioshka brain
and the Matroska
media-container format. The "matryoshka principle" is also an example of Mise-en-abyme
. Compare Fractal
.
The onion
metaphor is of similar character. If the outer layer is peeled off an onion, a similar onion exists within. This structure is employed by designers in applications such as the layering of clothes or the design of tables, where a smaller table sits within a larger table and a yet smaller one within that.
A block of wood is cut in half. Then, a piece of wood is taken out of the top and bottom pieces. This continues until there is very little wood left. The wood is carved into an oval shape. The matching pieces are put together. The pieces are painted and nested inside one another.
A matryoshka doll is a Russian nesting doll which is a set of wooden doll
Doll
A doll is a model of a human being, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have traditionally been used in magic and religious rituals throughout the world, and traditional dolls made of materials like clay and wood are found in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. The earliest documented dolls...
s of decreasing size placed one inside the other. The first Russian nested doll set was carved in 1890 by Vasily Zvyozdochkin
Vasily Zvyozdochkin
Vasily Petrovich Zvyozdochkin was a Russian turning craftsman, wood carver and doll maker. He is credited with making the first Russian matryoshka doll in 1890.- References :*...
from a design by Sergey Malyutin
Sergey Malyutin
Sergey Vasilyevich Malyutin was Russian painter, architect and stage designer. He is credited with designing and painting the first Russian matryoshka doll in 1890.- References :*...
, who was a folk crafts painter at Abramtsevo
Abramtsevo Colony
Abramtsevo is an estate located north of Moscow, in the proximity of Khotkovo, that became a center for the Slavophile movement and artistic activity in the 19th century.-History:...
. Traditionally the outer layer is a woman, dressed in a sarafan
Sarafan
A Sarafan is a traditional Russian long, shapeless jumper dress worn as Russian folk costume by women and girls.Chronicles first mention it under the year 1376, and since that time it was worn well until the 20th century. It is now worn as folk costume for performing Russian folk songs and folk...
, a long and shapeless traditional Russian peasant jumper dress
Jumper dress
A jumper , pinafore dress or pinafore is a sleeveless, collarless dress intended to be worn over a blouse, shirt or sweater.In British English, the term jumper describes a sweater...
. The figures inside may be of either gender; the smallest, innermost doll is typically a baby lathe
Lathe
A lathe is a machine tool which rotates the workpiece on its axis to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, or deformation with tools that are applied to the workpiece to create an object which has symmetry about an axis of rotation.Lathes are used in woodturning,...
d 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, aside from the typical traditional peasant girls, the themes vary, from fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
characters to Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
leaders.
Design
Sarafan
A Sarafan is a traditional Russian long, shapeless jumper dress worn as Russian folk costume by women and girls.Chronicles first mention it under the year 1376, and since that time it was worn well until the 20th century. It is now worn as folk costume for performing Russian folk songs and folk...
. The figures inside may be of either gender; the smallest, innermost doll is typically a baby lathe
Lathe
A lathe is a machine tool which rotates the workpiece on its axis to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, or deformation with tools that are applied to the workpiece to create an object which has symmetry about an axis of rotation.Lathes are used in woodturning,...
d from a single small piece of wood (and hence non-opening). The artistry is in the painting of each doll, which can be extremely elaborate.
The word "matryoshka" (матрёшка), literally "little matron", is a diminutive
Diminutive
In language structure, a diminutive, or diminutive form , is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment...
form of the Russian female first name "Matryona" (Матрёна).
History
Vasily Zvyozdochkin
Vasily Petrovich Zvyozdochkin was a Russian turning craftsman, wood carver and doll maker. He is credited with making the first Russian matryoshka doll in 1890.- References :*...
from a design by Sergey Malyutin
Sergey Malyutin
Sergey Vasilyevich Malyutin was Russian painter, architect and stage designer. He is credited with designing and painting the first Russian matryoshka doll in 1890.- References :*...
, who was a folk crafts painter in the Abramtsevo
Abramtsevo Colony
Abramtsevo is an estate located north of Moscow, in the proximity of Khotkovo, that became a center for the Slavophile movement and artistic activity in the 19th century.-History:...
estate of the Russian industrialist and patron of arts Savva Mamontov
Savva Mamontov
Savva Ivanovich Mamontov was a famous Russian industrialist, merchant, entrepreneur, and patron of the arts.-Biography:He was a son of the wealthy merchant and industrialist Ivan Feodorovich Mamontov and Maria Tikhonovna . In 1841 the family moved to Moscow. From 1852 he studied in St...
. The doll set was painted by Malyutin. Malyutin's doll set consisted of eight dolls—the outermost was a girl holding a rooster wearing a traditional dress. The inner dolls were girls and a boy, and the innermost a baby.
Zvyozdochkin and Malyutin were inspired by a doll from Honshu
Honshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
, the main island of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Sources differ in descriptions of the doll, describing it as either a round, hollow daruma doll
Daruma doll
The , also known as a Dharma doll, is a hollow, round, Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen sect of Buddhism. These dolls, though typically red and depicting a bearded man , vary greatly in color and design depending on region and artist...
or a fukuruma nesting doll portraying portly bald old Buddhist monk.
In 1900, Savva Mamontov's wife presented the dolls at the World Exhibition in Paris, and the toy earned a bronze medal. Soon after, matryoshka dolls were being made in several places in Russia.
Themes
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
characters to Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
leaders.
Modern artists create many new styles of nesting dolls. Common themes include floral, Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
, Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
, religious, animal collections, portraits and caricatures of famous politicians, musicians, athletes, astronauts, "robots" and popular movie stars. Matryoshka dolls that feature communist leaders of Russia became very popular among Russian people in the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Today, some Russian artists specialize in painting themed matryoshka dolls that feature specific categories of subjects, people or nature. Areas with notable matryoshka styles include Sergiyev Posad
Sergiyev Posad
Sergiyev Posad is a city and the administrative center of Sergiyevo-Posadsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia. It grew in the 15th century around one of the greatest of Russian monasteries, the Trinity Lavra established by St. Sergius of Radonezh. The town status was granted to it in 1742...
, Semionovo (now the town of Semyonov
Semyonov (town)
Semyonov is a town in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, famous for being a major center for traditional handcrafts such as Khokhloma wood painting and matryoshkas. Population: -History:...
), Polkhovsky Maidan, and Kirov
Kirov, Kirov Oblast
Kirov , formerly known as Vyatka and Khlynov, is a city in northeastern European Russia, on the Vyatka River, and the administrative center of Kirov Oblast. Population: -History:...
.
During Perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
, the leaders of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
became a common theme depicted on matryoshkas. Starting with the largest, Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
, then Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
(Yuri Andropov
Yuri Andropov
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was a Soviet politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 12 November 1982 until his death fifteen months later.-Early life:...
and Konstantin Chernenko
Konstantin Chernenko
Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko was a Soviet politician and the fifth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He led the Soviet Union from 13 February 1984 until his death thirteen months later, on 10 March 1985...
almost never appear due to the short length of their respective terms), then Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
, Josef Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
and finally the smallest, Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
. Newer versions start with Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...
and then follow with Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
, Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
, Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
, Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
and then Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
.
As metaphor
Matryoshkas are also used metaphorMetaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
ically, as a design paradigm
Design paradigm
The term Design paradigm derives from the rather ambiguous idea of paradigm originating in Sociology of Science, which carries at least two main meanings:...
, known as the "matryoshka principle" or "nested doll principle". It denotes a recognizable relationship of "object-within-similar-object" that appears in the design of many other natural and man-made objects. Examples include the Matrioshka brain
Matrioshka brain
A matrioshka brain is a hypothetical megastructure proposed by Robert Bradbury, based on the Dyson sphere, of immense computational capacity. It is an example of a Class B stellar engine, employing the entire energy output of a star to drive computer systems...
and the Matroska
Matroska
The Matroska Multimedia Container is an open standard free container format, a file format that can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, picture or subtitle tracks in one file. It is intended to serve as a universal format for storing common multimedia content, like movies or TV shows...
media-container format. The "matryoshka principle" is also an example of Mise-en-abyme
Mise en abyme
Mise en abyme is a term originally from the French and means "placed into abyss".The commonplace usage of this phrase is describing the visual experience of standing between two mirrors, seeing an infinite reproduction of one's image, but it has several other meanings in the realm of the creative...
. Compare Fractal
Fractal
A fractal has been defined as "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is a reduced-size copy of the whole," a property called self-similarity...
.
The onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
metaphor is of similar character. If the outer layer is peeled off an onion, a similar onion exists within. This structure is employed by designers in applications such as the layering of clothes or the design of tables, where a smaller table sits within a larger table and a yet smaller one within that.
Production
The dolls are constructed from one block of wood, which is essential to their manufacture.A block of wood is cut in half. Then, a piece of wood is taken out of the top and bottom pieces. This continues until there is very little wood left. The wood is carved into an oval shape. The matching pieces are put together. The pieces are painted and nested inside one another.
Decline in production
Since the 1990s matryoshka dolls have been facing a downward spiral in production. The production of matryoshkas is done by highly skilled craftsmen that have been passing down their skills generation to generation. With factories that produce matryoshkas shutting down there is a fear that these skill use to make matryoshka dolls maybe lost because there will be no one to pass the skill along to.See also
- Chinese boxesChinese boxesChinese boxes are a set of boxes of graduated size, each fitting inside the next larger box.A traditional style in Chinese design, nested boxes have proved a popular packaging option in the West for novelty or display reasons....
- Matroshka experimentsMatroshka experimentsThe Matroshka experiments on the International Space Station use a mannequin that has been used to study cosmic radiation dose types and rates that relate to the health of space travellers on long duration missions....
- RecursionRecursionRecursion is the process of repeating items in a self-similar way. For instance, when the surfaces of two mirrors are exactly parallel with each other the nested images that occur are a form of infinite recursion. The term has a variety of meanings specific to a variety of disciplines ranging from...
- Self-similaritySelf-similarityIn mathematics, a self-similar object is exactly or approximately similar to a part of itself . Many objects in the real world, such as coastlines, are statistically self-similar: parts of them show the same statistical properties at many scales...
- SkazkaSkazkaSkazka is the English transcription of Сказка, the Russian word literally meaning story, but used to mean fairy tale. The term skazka can be used in many different forms to determine the type of tale or story being told...
- Stacking (video game)Stacking (video game)Stacking is an adventure/puzzle video game developed by Double Fine Productions and published by THQ; like Double Fine's previous Costume Quest, it is a smaller title created during the development period of Brütal Legend, and was released in February 2011 for the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation...