The matryoshka is the most famous Russian
souvenir which is popular with everyone, it is considered
to be a phenomenon in the world culture. This idea is recognised
not only by connoisseurs of the language, history and culture
of this country but also by those who just begin their acquaintance
with Russia. Matryoshka has become sort of a formula of a
cultural phenomenon which is unique and has a meaning of its
own.
It
is hard to imagine now that only about one hundred years ago
matryoshka has not existed at all. The first Russian matryoshka
appeared only at the end of the 19th century. It was greatly
acclaimed as one of the all-embracing image of Russia, symbol
of Russian folk art.
The end of the 19th century in Russia was a
period of great economic and cultural development, a period
of rising national identity. It was the time of great interest
in Russian culture generally and particularly in Russian art.
A new artistic trend known as 'Russian style' appeared. Such
artists as V. M. Vasnetsov, K. A. Somov, M. A. Vrubel, N.
K. Rerih, V. A. Serov, F. A. Maliavin, K. A. Korovin, S. V.
Maliutin were possessed by the idea of creation of a new style
where Russian national traditions would revive. They understood
that it was necessary to find unity and harmony of the past
and present in art and life. Due to their efforts at the end
of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century
artistic creative units started to spring up. They can be
called spiritual and cultural centres of Russia.
Abramtsevo artistic unit of S. I. Mamontov
was part of this cultural trend of the development and revival
of Russian traditional national art. S. I. Mamontov (1841
-1918) belonged to the famous merchant family, he was an industrialist
and a patron of the arts. Mamontov was one ofand art collecting.
Peasant toys were in their collection of folk art. Special
attention was paid to the revival and development of folk
peasant toys.
That was a great merit of the family of Anatoly
Ivanovich Mamontov (1839-1905), the brother of S. I. Mamontov.
This family owned workshop 'Children's Education' where various
toys for children were made and sold. So-called ethnographic
dolls dressed in folk festive costumes of inhabitants of various
Russian regions (gubernias and uezds) and art collecting.
Peasant toys were in their collection of folk art. Special
attention was paid to the revival and development of folk
peasant toys.
A. I. Mamontov, a publisher, translator and
owner of a printing-house, collector of Russian paintings
as well as his brother S. I. Mamontov, was a remarkable and
active person, who was always surrounded by professional artists,
artisans and folk craftsmen. A. I. Mamontov offered jobs in
his studio to highly qualified creative toy makers who had
initiative and fantasy. There were various samples of toys
from different countries in the workshop to broaden toy makers
outlook and to develop their creative fantasy. Oriental art
and Japanese fine and applied art in particular was very fashionable
at that time.
Thus, a famous predecessor and prototype of
Russian matryoshka was brought to Russia from the Island of
Honshu. It was a figurine of a good-natured bold headed old
man, Buddhist sage by the name of Fukuruma. The doll contained
some other figurines nestled inside one another. There was
a stamp on the figurine's butt-end: made in Japan. By the
way the Japanese claimed that the first doll of such a type
on the Island of Honshu was made by unknown Russian monk.
Now the Fukuruma figurine is kept in the Artistic Pedagogical
Museum of Toys (APMT) in Sergiev Posad. The first Russian
matryoshka also has a stamp: 'Children's Education' workshop.
The legendary matryoshka was made in the workshop
of A. I. Mamontov. The hereditary toy maker, Vassiliy Petrovich
Zviozdochkin was entrusted to turn this toy. The first samples
of matryoshkas were painted by S. V. Maliutin. At that time
he also illustrated books for children. That's why illustrations
and the first samples of matryoshkas have a lot in common.
Perhaps, S. V. Maliutin and V. P. Zviozdochkin
didn't think that the first Russian wooden doll within smaller
dolls made by them would be very popular all over the world.
They didn't think that their matryoshka would be a symbol
of some magic secret and mysterious Russian soul.The makers
of the first Russian matryoshka were really talented and unique
people. When great Rilke visited Russia at the turn of the
19th-20th centuries, he noted that ancient crafts still existed
in Russia: artistic embroidery on towels and clothes or carved
wooden items. S. V. Maliutin was the best connoisseur of Russian
folk art. Being an artist he used the colours and the style
of ancient Russian folk art in his own work. S. V. Maliutin
belonged to the old Russian merchants family, his experience
and knowledge of Russian ancient and folk arts came not only
from archaeological and ethnographic sources. Due to his talent
and intuition he was the first of the artists who united folk
and professional art. His matryoshka was a light, elegant,
spontaneous figurine of a round faced peasant young girl dressed
in colorful scarf, an embroidered shirt, sarafan (Russian
national costume) and apron. She was holding a black rooster
in her hands.
Russian wooden dolls within smaller dolls were
called matryoshka. In provincial Russia before the Revolution
the name Matryona o Matriyosha was a very popular female name.
It was derived 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 portly figure. Subsequently,
it became a symbolic name and was used specially to describe
brightly painted wooden dolls made in such a way that they
could be taken apart to reveal smaller dolls fitting inside
one another.
Even now matryoshka is considered to be a symbol
of motherhood and fertility. A mother doll with numerous dolls-
children perfectly expresses the oldest symbol of human culture.
The first Russian matryoshka turned by Vassily
Zviozdochkin and painted by Sergey Maliutin contained 8 pieces:
a girl with a black rooster was followed by a boy and then
by a girl again and so on. All figurines were different from
each other, the last one was a figurine of a baby wrapped
in diaper.
It was quite easy for Russian craftsmen who
had had a considerable experience in turning wooden objects
which fitted inside each other (for example, Easter eggs)
to work out the matryoshka making technology. The basic technique
of matryoshka making remains unchanged. As a rule matryoshkas
are made from lime, birch, alder and aspen. Lime is the most
abundant material. The trees chosen to manufacture matryoshkas
are cut down at the beginning of Spring, usually in April
when the trees are full of sap. The felled trees are stripped
of their bark leaving a few rings to prevent the wood from
cracking. The logs prepared in this way with their butt-ends
smeared over are arranged in piles with a clearance between
them to allow aeration.
The logs are kept in the open air for two years.
Only an experience master can tell when the material is ready.
Then the logs are cut into workpieces for matryoshkas. Every
workpiece can be turned as many as 15 times before the matryoshka
will be ready. Making a doll on a turning lathe requires high
skills , an ability to work with a beguilingly small set of
tools - a knife and chisels of various length and shape. The
smallest figurine which cannot be taken apart usually is made
first. The bottom part of the next figurine which can be taken
apart is turned first. Then a workpiece is turned first. Then
a workpiece is turned to reach the necessary size and the
top end is removed. Then the ring is made to fit on it the
upper part of the matryoshka and then its lower part can be
made. Then the matryoshka’s head is turned and the necessary
amount of wood is removed from within the matryoshka’s head
to slip on the upper ring. All these operations do not involve
any measurements, and rely only on intuition and require high
professional skills.
The upper part of the matryoshka is stuck on
to its lower part, dries and tightens the ring so it sits
securely in place. When the turning work is over, a snow white-doll
is thoroughly cleaned, primed with starchy glue to make the
surface ideally smooth and to prevent the paint making smudges
and then dried. Now it is ready to be painted. The first Russian
matryoshka was poked and painted with gouache and covered
with varnish by S. V. Maliutin.
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