Matryoshka is a diminutive of the name "Matryona", a Russian wooden toy in the form of a painted doll, inside which there are smaller dolls like it. The number of nested dolls is usually three or more. They are almost always "egg-shaped" with a flat bottom and consist of two parts - an upper and a lower one.
Instructions
Step 1
The exact history of the matryoshka's origin is unknown. The most plausible assumption is that the Russian master depicted Slavic images or concepts from legends. There is an assumption that the matryoshka has Japanese roots. A toy similar to a Russian nesting doll was also in Japan, it depicted a gray-haired old man Darumu and consisted of five figures inserted one into the other. The invention of the form of the Russian nesting doll is attributed to a turner from the city of Podolsk near Moscow, V. P. Zvyozdochkin, in the 1890s, and the author of the first painting was a professional artist S. V. Malyutin. Our first matryoshka toy was a children's group: eight dolls depicted girls of different ages, from the oldest (big) girl with a rooster to a baby wrapped in diapers. There are several versions about how the wooden doll became a matryoshka. According to one version, the name Matryona at that time was widespread in Russia. Hence the Matryoshka. According to another version, the woman Matryona, the mother of a large family, beautiful and portly, served in the estate. The doll looks like a woman. So it came to the masters to call the toy Matryoshka.
Step 2
The original plots of wooden nesting dolls were exclusively female: ruddy and plump red maidens were dressed in sarafans and scarves, depicted with cats, dogs, baskets. With the invention of the lathe, a new way of woodworking appeared - turning. This is how the Khokhloma craftsmen make their chiseled dishes - bowls, cups, coasters, salt shakers. We started by making the smallest nesting dolls. The master took a small block, fixed it on the machine and, holding the cutter in a special way, turned the baby matryoshka. Then the lower part of the second matryoshka, its top, and so on, up to the oldest doll was turned.
This is our culture. And therefore, it is highly likely that the master who carved the matryoshka remembered and knew Russian fairy tales well - in Russia the myth was often projected onto real life, in order to find the truth, it is necessary to get to the bottom of it, opening, one by one, all the "hats." Maybe this is the real meaning of such a wonderful Russian toy as the matryoshka - a reminder to descendants of the historical memory of our people.
Step 3
Russian nesting dolls are very popular in Europe, especially in Germany and France. At the beginning of the 20th century, a mass export of Russian dolls souvenirs began. The matryoshka has become our national souvenir and has stepped beyond the borders of our Motherland. Many foreigners who have visited our country take our Russian nesting dolls to their homeland.
