Russian dolls or matryoshkas (In Russian: матрёшка, plural матрёшки matrioshki. In English: Matryoshkas) are series of dolls of decreasing sizes placed one inside the other. The word matryoshka is derived from the Russian female first name Matriona, traditionally associated with a stout and robust Russian country woman. We also sometimes speak of a nesting doll.

The Russian doll or matryoshka is a hollow wooden figurine that opens in two horizontally, revealing a similar but smaller doll inside. This second doll itself contains another Russian doll, and so on. A series most often includes 3, 5, 7 or 10 dolls but can go up to 64 dolls for large matriochkas. The artistic side lies in the paintings of each doll which can be extremely elaborate. They are most often made of linden or birch wood.

In 1890 Vasilii Zvyozdochkin and Sergei Maliouine sculpted and painted the first Russian doll. A series of 8 dolls, the first of which represented a woman holding a rooster. The other dolls represented children, girls and boys.

In 1900, industrialist M.A. Mamontova presented the dolls at the World Exhibition in Paris and the toy won a bronze medal. Shortly after, many other regions of Russia began to produce various styles of matryoshkas, as well as some neighboring countries, notably Poland and Ukraine.

Brin de Folie has specialized in Matryoshkas for over 25 years. We only sell authentic Russian dolls. None come from China since the quality absolutely does not meet the store's criteria.

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