Annushka Russian Dolls - Matryoshka Dolls

There are many theories as to why the name of Matrena (Matryoshka) was chosen for the original Russian dolls. One theory is that it was simply one of the most popular girls names at the time, but the theory that holds the most weight is that the word itself has a Latin root 'mater', meaning “mother”. The name was associated to the mother of strong stature and good health, the mother of a big family, which obviously suited the new wooden Russian doll very well.

In 1900 it was Mamontov’s wife who presented Russian Matryoshka dolls at the world exhibition in Paris where they received valuable recognition and were awarded a special medal. Until the end of 19 century Matryoshka dolls were made and painted in the Moscow craftsmen shop “Detskoye Vospitaniye” ("Childrens Education").

After the closure of this shop the making of Matryoshkas went on in Sergiev Posad, the old centre of toy craftsmanship, which is some 70 km north to Moscow. At the end of 19th century Matryoshka dolls became so popular that after only a few years almost all of the Sergiev Posad was making Matryoshkas. There were a lot of very experienced wood turners there. The place was also full of wonderful material for the dolls – birch and linden.

As the years progressed, Russian Matryoshka dolls became more and more popular and it was not long before Russian company “Russkiye Kustari” opened its shop in Paris, where different products of the many craftsmen from Nizhniy Novgorod were sold. Amongst those were wooden spoons, furniture, kitchen wear with khokhloma colours as well as toys and the now world famous Matryoshkas.