What are Matryoshkas?

Matryoshka are Russian wooden dolls "nested" within one another. A set usually consists of five or more and starts on the outside with a woman (sometimes holding a rooster) and ends with the smallest doll on the inside being the baby—this is usually a solid doll that does not open.

Before the Russian revolution, the name Matryona or Matriyosha was a popular female name in provincial Russia. It originated from the Latin root "mater," which means "mother." This name was associated with the image of a mother of a big family who was very healthy and had a robust figure. The nesting doll is considered a symbol of motherhood and fertility, and a mother doll with numerous dolls (representing children) is one of the oldest symbols of human culture.

Matryoshkas date from 1890, and were likely inspired by souvenir dolls from Japan. However, the concept of nested objects was familiar in Russia, having been applied to carved wooden apples and Easter eggs; the first Fabergé egg, in 1885, had a nesting of egg, yolk, hen, and chick. Today there are often themes for these stacking dolls, ranging from the traditional family set to fairy tales or even politics.