My grandmother gave me a beautiful little Russian doll for my 10th birthday that sat on my dressing table for years. I used to play with it for hours, puzzled as to how it was actually put together. You may have one yourself. But did you know that as well as being works of art and a Russian icon, the Matryoshka has a history that is as intriguing as it looks? Often called Nesting Dolls or Stacking Dolls, the Matryoshka appeared sometime during the 1890s with the common belief that its name is related indirectly to the Russian word ‘mat,’ meaning ‘mother.’ Although the word ‘matryoshka,’ stands alone and is not a derivative of the word ‘mat,’ the symbolism of the mother and family is obvious.
How these dolls came…
