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The
German Christmas Shop
Christmas
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Available in store |
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THE RUSSIAN MATRIOSHKA: The nesting doll, or
Matrioshka, is recognised all over the world as one of Russia's most
famous exports.In fact in its present form it is only about 100 years
old having its origins shortly before the great Paris Exhibition at
the start of the twentieth century. It marks the culmination of a
competition, which was won by Sergei Malyutin, to find a product
suitable to represent Russia at that exhibition. His drawings
were transformed into reality at the commune in Abrarntsova just
north of Moscow. |
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Original designs were quite different to the familiar dolls of today
with classically dressed men and women forming the set. The well
recognised young girl with a smiling face came much later when the
product was exported in communist times. Nearly all of the exported
dolls came from one factory in the town of Semyenov near the city of
Nizluney Novgorod. This is the `traditional' red/yellow design.
Until the time of Perestroika (rebuilding) there was a large number
of different factories in towns such as Tver, Sergiev Posad,
Lipyetsk, Polkhov Maiden and Kirov, each producing its own different
styles. Today many of these are but a memory. |
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Production today is concentrated amongst teams of highly skilled and
dedicated artists. They not only produce `traditional' styles but
also detailed water colours of famous writers, artists or composers
as well as old Russian Fairy Tales.
All dolls are made of the Russian lime as the weak grain in this
particular wood means it will maintain its shape when it has been
hollowed out. Painting is either with gouache paint or watercolour.
Work on a detailed watercolour of 10 pieces can take a month to complete. |
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It must be noted that although these dolls are a joy to all children
production control methods in Russia make the accepted `CE' label unreliable. |
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