My Russian Dolls from Solvang

After Vacationing in Los Angeles during our way back home we stopped by Solvang (Danish for “sunny field”), and in a store there I spotted some unique and beautiful dolls that catch my attention to take a photograph and buy some as well. Now, let me tell you something very interesting about these amazing dolls with a brief description.

These world famous dolls are generally known as Russian nesting dolls and its original name in Russia is Matryoshka. It has a great and unique place in the world of folk art. There are two reasons behind its name. First, the name Matryoshka derived from the Latin “ma-ter,” means mother and second, Matryoshka is a term which provincial Russians often use when they call their ladies Matryona or Matryosha. So, this name is deeply associated with women. Moreover, the Russian nesting doll represents a symbol of motherhood and fertility and it is clearly visible from the dolls which consist of a strong, healthy, woman with a big family. Simply to say is - a mother doll with her children. The dolls nestled inside one another and beautifully handcrafted and painted represent the family structure.

Matryoshka dolls also known as Russian nesting dolls were first made and used for the children’s education purpose. These dolls represent a young Russian woman dressed in Russian native costume with a scarf on her head and such designs indicate its traditional nature.  Traditionally, Russian nesting dolls are the sets of dolls which look almost identical to one another and the number of dolls in the set ranges from 5 to 30, but some custom made Matryoshkas contain many more. In other cases, the set forms a theme of the Russian nesting dolls, such as the classic, modern, political, geographical, etc., and all such themes are well displayed in the paints and the arts they make in the dolls.

Russian nesting dolls not only look good, but it also make wonderful gifts, and are traditionally given on many kinds of special occasions for various purposes like you can gift Russian nesting dolls for decorations in wedding, or simply as a housewarming gift to keep them on coffee tables, or as a present for children in their birthdays, or as the Mother day gift for your mother, or you can buy just as collectibles as I did.