Russian Dolls

Russian dolls are born in a country of forests, where both the farm workers log huts and the landowners' mansions were made out of wood. The logs blazing hotly in a furnace and splinters inserted into a torch would keeping houses warm and lit. Sleighs, carts, canoes, boats and other simple methods of transport, were made all made out of wood. Quite naturally, children's toys were also made from natural materials, with Russian dolls being the traditional Russian plaything.

The most ancient letters were first written on birch bark and the most usual simple foot sandals, known as “lapti”, were woven from the internal part of the linden crust, wooden furniture, dishes, home utensils, children's toys everything tells us about importance of forests in a life of a Russian person.

The Volga region which is very rich in forests was especially famous for its wood handling craftsmen. From old times in this area they were making light and durable kitchenware out of asp and linden. Any spoon, for example, which is made by hand may have a not quite perfect shape, there may be found some bumps and hollow parts. Each and every item is individual and this is the whole beauty of it.

The combination of golden, red and black colours can be found on many items of Russian applied art and folk craftsmen. These colours are especially important for Russian khokhloma. Red gives warmth and softness to the artificial gold effect while black intensifies its shine. Apart from that the rounded edges of items do not have sharp ends and therefore diffuse light.