The history of the wooden toy matryoshka. Russian folk toy matryoshka: history, types of nesting dolls, benefits, games with nesting dolls for children

Ministry of General and vocational education R.F.

Lipetsk State Pedagogical University.

Naturally Faculty of Geography.

Department of Botany.

Course work

on the topic of:

"History of Russian Matryoshka"

The work was done by a student

3rd year EGO EHF:

Golovina Olga

Work accepted:

Solovieva N.Yu.

Lipetsk 2001.

Introduction. ……………………………………………………3

Chapter I . The appearance of nesting dolls in Rus'. ……………... 4

Chapter II . Types of Russian matryoshka. …………………... 6

§1. Sergius toy. …………………….. 6

§2.”Zagorsk” style of painting nesting dolls…. 12

§3. Semyonovskaya and Merinovskaya nesting dolls.. 14

§4. Polkhovskaya matryoshka …………………….. 16

§5. Vyatka toy ………………………… 17

Chapter III . The second birth of nesting dolls. …………….. 18

Conclusion. ………………………………………………..22

Bibliography. ………………………………………23

Introduction.

The world of toys is surprisingly diverse. Fairy tale and reality, modernity and tradition live side by side here. With the help of a toy, a child discovers the world for himself and comprehends the accumulated life experience adults. We meet toys in museums and exhibitions, appreciate them as works of art created by talented folk craftsmen, artists, sculptors, designers. Man-made products created by masters are dear to us today as carriers of non-perishable spiritual values, as keepers of the experience of the past in the present. Conquers in them the harmony of nature, labor and beauty, crafts and art, born of a life-giving source folk art, the historical memory of the people.

The toy reflected in its own way the social way of life, way of life, customs and customs, the achievements of crafts and folk art, technology and art.

Each nation created its own toys, conveying their worldview in them. Toys of the peoples of different countries and continents are different and peculiar, but they also contain common features. Many peoples have the same type of toys, with the same type of similarity in their designs, shapes and decor. This similarity is due to the commonality of cultural folk traditions, the unified nature of aesthetic feeling. Toys were born in labor, and everywhere folk craftsmen studied with one teacher - nature, worked with the same natural materials. Kinship makes them generally understandable to everyone, and this is one of those threads that connect a person with the heritage of world culture from childhood.

Chapter I . The appearance of nesting dolls in Rus'.

A variety of modern toys. It contains many new images and plots, artistic and stylistic searches, and author's handwriting. And each toy, before becoming a standard, a role model, goes a long way. Let's remember the matryoshka doll familiar to everyone. About her, like folk heroes make legends.

They say that in late XIX century, in the Mamontov family - famous Russian industrialists and patrons - either from Paris, or from the island of Honshu, someone brought a Japanese chiseled figurine of the Buddhist saint Fukuruji (Fukurum), which turned out to be with a “surprise” - it broke into two parts. Inside it is hidden another, smaller one, which also consisted of two halves ... There were five such pupae in total.

It was assumed that it was this figurine that prompted the Russians to create their own version of a detachable toy, embodied in the image of a peasant girl, who was soon baptized by the people with the common name Matryoshka (Matryona).

In our time, they still refer to the legend of the Japanese origin of the matryoshka, but it has no documentary evidence.

The history of the development of toy craft in Russia suggests that the creation of Russian nesting dolls was facilitated by the tradition of turning and painting wooden eggs for Easter.

In one of the albums dedicated to creativity Russian artist S.V. Malyutin, you can see an extraordinary illustration that remained without comment - a sketch of a painting for a doll carved from wood. It is this famous artist, later an academician of painting and at one time became the creator of the first Russian matryoshka. And the turning form of the toy was proposed by V.P. Zvezdochkin, a native of the Voronovskaya volost of the Podolsky district of the Moscow province, has long been famous for its skilled turners.

The birthplace of the new original toy, which quickly gained fame as a national souvenir, became a workshop - a shop " child education” A.I. Mamontov in Moscow, where since 1898 the turner V.P. Zvezdochkin.

Therefore, approximately from this time, you can count the age of the matryoshka, in future fate which had its ups and downs, glory and oblivion, wanderings and metamorphoses.

For about a century, this most famous toy in Russia, but to this day it is not known what came first - a sketch by a professional artist or a successful embodiment of the creative searches of a folk master, noticed in time by an interested person.

It is curious that the sketch published in the album and the nesting doll with the stamp of the “Children's Education” workshop-shop from the collection of the Art and Pedagogical Toy Museum in Sergiev Posad look like two sisters, but they cannot be called twins. This fact suggests that S.V. Malyutin made several options for painting the future toy.

Chapter II.

§1.Sergius toy.

Despite the Moscow origin, real homeland Sergiev Posad near Moscow, the largest Russian center for handicraft production of toys, a kind of “toy capital”, nevertheless became nesting dolls.

The industry is thought to have originated in XVII century and reached its peak at the turn of the 18th - 19th centuries. There is no exact data on the time of the creation of the first toy in this town, but it is known that back in the 15th century, at the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, there were special workshops in which the monks were engaged in volumetric and relief carving on wood.

The subjects of Sergiev handmade wooden toys were quite diverse, which was explained, first of all, by the favorable geographical position of the fishery. The proximity of Moscow and the immediate neighborhood of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, which attracts great amount pilgrims, rendered big influence choice of stories. The toy reflected many aspects of Russian life, the events of that time, the features of the life of various segments of the population.

Simultaneously with the art of woodcarving in Sergievsky Posad, the skill of modeling, painting, decorating toys, making motor and sound mechanisms was also improved.

A firm place in the plots of Sergiev handicraftsmen was occupied by everyday topics. Gradually, the main themes of dolls were formed, which became a kind of Sergius canon.

Since the beginning of the 80s of the last century, as a result of increased competition from private toy factories, a period of decline began in the fishery. This drew the attention of the Moscow provincial Zemstvo. In the 1890s, the Zemstvo provided assistance in maintaining the stable development of handicraft production, including toy production. Professional artists, teachers, and economists were invited to the craft, who for the first time tried to disassemble new samples of toys on a serious scientific basis. To improve the state of fishing in Sergiev Posad in 1891, a training and demonstration workshop was opened under the guidance of V.I. Borutsky.

Thus, by the time the detachable chiseled figurine appeared, the history of Sergiev's toy craft had already totaled about two centuries.

The masters reacted vividly to the events taking place in the world, easily picked up original ideas and new technologies. Therefore, the figurine of a girl in a headscarf, reminiscent of many neighboring Mashkas, Parashkas and Matryoshkas, aroused the interest of Sergiev's toys due to the originality of the design and its folk character.

The appearance of nesting dolls in Russia at the very end of the last century was not accidental. It was during this period of time that the Russian artistic intelligentsia not only began to seriously engage in collecting works folk art, but also tried to creatively comprehend the richest experience of national artistic traditions. In addition to zemstvo institutions, private institutions were organized at the expense of patrons. art mugs and workshops, in which, under the guidance of professional artists, masters were trained and various household items and toys in the Russian style were created. As an example, we can name the workshops of N.D. Bartram near Kursk, Countess

N.D. Tenisheva in Talashkino.

There were samples of products, on the one hand, meeting the new requirements of production and marketing, and on the other hand, a return to the aesthetics of Russian art.

Most likely, the mass production of nesting dolls directly in Sergiev Posad began after the world exhibition in Paris in 1900 after the successful debut of a new Russian toy in Europe.

In 1904, the workshop - the store "Children's Education" was closed, and its entire range was transferred to the Zemstvo educational and demonstration workshop in Sergiev Posad. In the same year, the workshop received an official order from Paris for the manufacture big party nesting dolls. The interest in the matryoshka is explained not only by the originality of its shape and the decorativeness of the painting, but also, probably, by a kind of tribute to the fashion for everything Russian, which spread at the beginning of the 20th century largely due to the “Russian seasons” of S.P. Diaghilev in Paris.

The mass export of Sergius nesting dolls was also facilitated by the annual fairs in Leipzig. Since 1909, the Russian matryoshka has also become a permanent participant in the Berlin exhibition and the annual handicraft market, held at the beginning of the 20th century in London. And thanks to a traveling exhibition organized by the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade, residents of the coastal cities of Greece, Turkey and the Middle East got acquainted with the Russian matryoshka.

Growth different girlfriends
But they look alike
They all sit next to each other
And just one toy.

In Russia, people are very fond of myths. Retelling old ones and creating new ones. Myths are different - legends, legends, household tales, narratives about historical events that acquired new details over time ... not without embellishment on the part of the next narrator. It often happened that people's memories of real events over time, overgrown with truly fantastic, intriguing details, reminiscent of a real detective. The same thing happened with such a famous Russian toy as a matryoshka. One of the main images that arise at the mention of Russia is the nesting doll - a painted chiseled wooden doll, considered almost the perfect embodiment of Russian culture and the “mysterious Russian soul”. However, how Russian is a matryoshka?

It turns out that the Russian nesting doll is quite young, it was born somewhere on the border of the 19th and 20th centuries. But with the rest of the details, not everything is clear and clear.

When and where did the nesting doll first appear, who invented it? Why is a wooden folding toy doll called “matryoshka”? What does such a unique work of folk art symbolize?

Despite its rather young age, the origin of the matryoshka is shrouded in mystery and surrounded by legends. According to one of the legends, the Japanese Daruma doll (Fig. 1), a traditional roly-poly doll, personifying Bodhidharma, the god who brings happiness, became the prototype of the nesting doll.

Daruma is the Japanese version of the name Bodhidharma, that was the name of the Indian sage who came to China and founded the Shaolin Monastery. The “invention” of Chan Buddhism (or in Japanese Zen) was preceded by a long meditation. Daruma sat for nine years staring at the wall. According to legend, because of the long sitting, Bodhidharma lost his legs. That is why most often the daruma is depicted as legless. Meditating at his wall, Daruma was repeatedly subjected to various temptations, and one day he suddenly realized that instead of meditation, he had plunged into dreams of sleep. Then he cut off the eyelids from his eyes with a knife and threw them to the ground. Now with constantly open eyes Bodhidharma could stay awake, and from his discarded eyelids appeared a wonderful plant that drove away sleep - this is how tea grew. And not in an Asian way, round eyes without eyelids became the second hallmark of Daruma images. According to tradition, Daruma is painted red - under the robes of a priest, but sometimes painted in yellow or green colors. An interesting feature is that Daruma has no pupils, but the rest of the facial features are preserved (Fig. 2).

Currently, Daruma helps in the fulfillment of desires - every year hundreds and thousands of Japanese participate in new year ritual making wishes: for this Darume one eye is painted over, and the name of the owner is often written on the chin. After that, it is placed in a prominent place in the house, next to the home altar. If by the next new year the wish comes true, then the second eye is added to Daruma. If not, then the doll is taken to the temple, where it is burned and a new one is purchased. It is believed that a kami, materialized in a daruma in gratitude for shelter on earth, will try to fulfill the desire of its owner. Burning the daruma in case of non-fulfillment of a wish is a rite of purification, informing the gods that the one who made the wish has not abandoned his goal, but is trying to achieve it in other ways. The shifted center of gravity and the inability to keep Daruma in a bowed position indicate the perseverance of the one who made the wish and his determination to reach the end at all costs.

According to the second version, a fugitive Russian monk settled on the Japanese island of Honshu, who combined Eastern philosophy with a children's toy. As a basis, he took the figurine of one of the seven Japanese gods - Fukuruma (or Fukurokuju, or Fukurokuju - in different transcriptions) (Fig. 3). Fukurokuju is the god of wealth, happiness, abundance, wisdom and longevity. To decipher the name of the deity Fukurokuju, one should turn to antiquity. The fact is that the name of God is composed using three hieroglyphs. The first of which - fuku - is translated from Chinese as "wealth", "storehouse". The second character (roku) means “happiness”. And finally, the last - ju symbolizes longevity. Fukurokuju is a real god, the ruler of the southern Pole Star. He lives in his own palace, surrounded by a fragrant garden. In this garden, among other things, grows the grass of immortality. Appearance Fukurokuju differs from the usual hermit only in that his head is even more elongated. In addition to the usual staff, sometimes Fukurokuju is depicted with a fan in his hands. This implies the consonance of the words fan and goodness in Chinese. This fan can be used by God to expel evil forces and to resurrect the dead. Fukurokuju is sometimes depicted as a shifter - a huge celestial turtle - a symbol of wisdom and the universe. The pear-shaped shape of the old man's figurine really resembles the shape of a classic Russian nesting doll. Fukurokuju is one of the so-called "seven gods of happiness", Shichifukujin. The composition of the shichifukujin was inconsistent, but the total number and unity of the characters has been unchanged since at least the 16th century. The seven gods were indeed popular in Japan, for example, in the Tokugawa era, there was a custom to bypass temples dedicated to the gods of Shichifukujin. Some adherents of the theory of “paternity” over the matryoshka of the elder Fukurokuju believe that the seven gods of happiness could be invested in each other, according to the principle of a modern nesting doll, and Fukurokuju was the main, largest detachable figure (Fig. 4).

The third version - the Japanese figurine was allegedly brought from the island of Honshu in 1890 to the Mamontovs' estate near Moscow in Abramtsevo. “The Japanese toy had a secret: the whole family was hiding in the old Fukurumu. On one of the Wednesdays, when the artistic elite came to the estate, the hostess showed everyone a funny figurine. The detachable toy interested the artist Sergey Malyutin, and on its basis he created a sketch of a peasant girl in a headscarf and with a black rooster under her arm. The next young lady was with a sickle in her hand. Another - with a loaf of bread. What about sisters without a brother - and he appeared in a painted shirt. A whole family, friendly and hardworking (Fig. 5).

He ordered the best turner of the Sergiev Posad training and demonstration workshops, V. Zvezdochkin, to make his own fairy tale. The first matryoshka is now kept by the Toy Museum in Sergiev Posad. Painted with gouache, it does not look very festive. Here we are all nesting dolls and nesting dolls ... But this doll didn’t even have a name. And when the turner made it, and the artist painted it, then the name came by itself - Matryona. They also say that at the Abramtsevo evenings tea was served by servants with that name. Go through at least a thousand names - and none is better for this wooden doll.

This version has a variation. The first nesting doll was made at the end of the nineteenth century by the artist Malyutin and the turner Zvezdochkin in the workshop of Anatoly Mamontov "Children's Education". In his autobiography, Zvezdochkin writes that he began working in Sergiev Posad in 1905, which means that the matryoshka could not have been born there. Zvezdochkin also writes that he invented the nesting doll in 1900, but it probably happened a little earlier - this year the nesting doll was presented at the World Exhibition in Paris, where the Mamontovs received a bronze medal for toys. It is also interesting that in the memoirs of Zvezdochkin there is no mention of the artist Malyutin, who at that time collaborated with Mamontov, illustrating books. Perhaps the turner simply forgot and released this fact, after all, the biography was written fifty years after the creation of the matryoshka. Or maybe the artist really has nothing to do with it - there are no sketches of nesting dolls in his legacy. There is also no consensus on the question of how many matryoshkas were in the very first set. According to Zvezdochkin, at first he made two nesting dolls - a three-piece and a six-piece one, but the museum in Sergiev Posad has an eight-piece doll, the same nesting doll in an apron and with a black rooster in its hand, and it is she who is considered the first nesting doll.

The fourth version - there is also a wooden painted girl doll - kokeshi (kokeshi or kokeshi) in Japan. A traditional wooden toy, consisting of a cylindrical body and a separately attached head, turned on a lathe (Fig. 6). Less commonly, a toy is made from a single piece of wood. characteristic feature Kokeshi is the doll's lack of arms and legs.

The material used is wood of various types of trees - cherry, dogwood, maple or birch. The coloring of kokeshi is dominated by floral, plant and other traditional motifs. Kokeshi are usually painted using red, black, yellow, and crimson. There are two main schools of kokeshi design - traditional ("dento") and author's ("shingata"). The shape of traditional kokeshi is simpler, with a narrow body and a round head. Traditional kokeshi have 11 types of shapes. The popular “naruko kokeshi” has a head that can turn and the doll makes a crying sound, which is why this type of kokeshi is also called a “crying doll”. Traditional kokeshi always depict only girls. Each doll is hand-painted and has the artist's signature on the bottom. The design of author's kokeshi is more diverse, shapes, sizes, proportions and colors can be almost anything (Fig. 7).

Kokeshi originates from the northeast of Japan, from the areas of forests and Agriculture- Tohoku, the outskirts of the island of Honshu. Although the official "birth" date of the doll is the middle of the Edo period (1603-1867), experts believe that the doll is over a thousand years old. Despite the brevity, kokeshi are very diverse in shape, proportions, paintings, and connoisseurs can determine from these features the slice in which prefecture the toy was made. In Japan, stable centers of folk art crafts such as Kyoto, Nara, Kagoshima have long been established, which have preserved traditions in our time.

There is no unequivocal explanation of how this type of toy developed. According to one version, its prototype was shaman figurines used in the rite of evocation of spirits - the patrons of the mulberry craft. According to another, kokeshi were a kind of funeral puppets. They were placed in peasant houses when they had to get rid of extra newborns, since their parents would not be able to feed them. This is associated with facts such as the interpretation of the word "kokeshi" - "crossed out, forgotten child", and the fact that traditional kokeshi are always girls who were much less desirable in peasant families than sons.

A more cheerful version is the story that in the 17th century, the wife of the shogun, the military ruler of the country, who suffered from infertility, arrived in these parts, famous for hot springs. Shortly thereafter, her daughter was born, which gave local craftsmen an opportunity to capture this event in a doll.

In today's Japan, the popularity of kokeshi is so great that they have become one of the symbols of the viability and attractiveness of national culture, objects of aesthetic contemplation, as cultural value distant past. Today, kokeshi is a popular souvenir product.

According to another version, Terimen, a fabric sculpture in miniature, could become the progenitor of the matryoshka (Fig. 8).

- an ancient Japanese needlework that originated in the era of late Japanese feudalism. The essence of this arts and crafts is the creation of toy figurines from fabric. This is a purely female type of needlework; Japanese men are not supposed to do it. In the 17th century, one of the directions of “terimen” was the manufacture of small decorative bags into which they put fragrant substances, herbs, pieces of wood, they were worn with them (like perfumes) or used to flavor fresh linen (a kind of sachet). Currently, terimen figurines are used as decorative elements in the interior of the house. To create terimen figurines, no special training is needed, it is enough to have fabric, scissors and a lot of patience.

However, most likely, the idea of a wooden toy, which consists of several figures inserted into one another, was inspired by Russian fairy tales to the master who created the matryoshka. Many, for example, know and remember the tale of Koshchei, with whom Ivan Tsarevich is fighting. For example, the story about the search for the prince “ Koshcheev's death” sounds from Afanasyev: “To accomplish such a feat, extraordinary efforts and labors are needed, because the death of Koshchei is hidden far away: on the sea, on the ocean, on the island on Buyan there is green oak, an iron chest is buried under that oak, a hare in that chest, a duck in a hare, an egg in a duck; one has only to crush the egg - and Koschey instantly dies.

The plot is gloomy in itself, because. associated with death. But here we are talking about a symbolic meaning - where is the truth hidden? The fact is that this, almost identical mythological plot is found not only in Russian fairy tales, and even in different versions, but also among other peoples. “Obviously, in these epic expressions lies a mythical tradition, an echo of the prehistoric era; otherwise, how could such identical legends have arisen among different peoples? Koschey (serpent, giant, old sorcerer), following the usual method folk epic, tells the secret of his death in the form of a riddle; to resolve it, one must substitute metaphorical expressions for common understanding. This is our philosophical culture. And therefore, it is highly likely that the master who carved the matryoshka remembered and knew Russian fairy tales well - in Rus', a myth was often projected onto real life.

In other words, one is hidden in the other, enclosed - and in order to find the truth, it is necessary to get to the bottom, opening, one by one, all the “cloaked caps”. Maybe that's what it's all about true meaning such a wonderful Russian toy as a matryoshka - a reminder to posterity of historical memory our people? And it is no coincidence that the wonderful Russian writer Mikhail Prishvin once wrote the following: “I thought that each of us has life, like the outer shell of a folding easter egg; it seems that this red egg is so big, and this is only a shell - you open it, and there is a blue, smaller one, and again the shell, and then green, and for some reason, for some reason, a yellowish egg always pops out at the very end, but it no longer opens, and this the most, our most.” So it turns out that the Russian nesting doll is not so simple - this is an integral part of our life.

But be that as it may, the matryoshka quickly won love not only in its homeland, but also in other countries. It even got to the point that they began to fake the matryoshka abroad. Given the great demand for nesting dolls, entrepreneurs from foreign countries also began to produce wooden dolls-toys in the style of "Russ". In 1890, the Russian consul reported from Germany to St. Petersburg that the Nuremberg firm "Albert Ger" and the turner Johann Vilde were forging Russian nesting dolls. They tried to produce nesting dolls in France and other countries, but these toys did not take root there.

In Sergiev Posad, where nesting dolls began to be made after the closure of the Children's Education workshop, the assortment of dolls was gradually expanded. Together with the girls in sarafans with flowers, sickles, baskets and sheaves, they began to let out shepherds, old men, grooms with brides, in which relatives were hiding, and many others. A series of nesting dolls were specially made for some memorable event: on the centenary of the birth of Gogol, nesting dolls with characters from the writer's works were released; centenary Patriotic War 1812, a series of matryoshka dolls was produced, depicting Kutuzov and Napoleon, inside of which were placed members of their headquarters. They also liked to make nesting dolls on the themes of fairy tales: “Humpbacked Horse”, “Turnip”, “Firebird” and others.

From Sergiev Posad, the matryoshka went on a trip around Russia - they began to make it in other cities. There were attempts to change the shape of the doll, but nesting dolls in the form of a cone or an old Russian helmet did not find demand, and their production was stopped. But, having retained its shape, the matryoshka gradually lost its true content - it ceased to be a toy. If the matryoshka characters of the fairy tale “Turnip” could play this very turnip, then modern nesting dolls are not intended for games at all - they are souvenirs.

Modern artists who paint nesting dolls do not limit their imagination to anything. In addition to traditional Russian beauties in bright shawls and sundresses, you can meet nesting dolls-politicians, both Russian and foreign. You can find Schumacher matryoshka, Del Piero, Zidane, Madonna or Elvis Presley matryoshka, and many others. Except real faces, characters from fairy tales sometimes appear on nesting dolls, but modern fairy tales, “Harry Potter” or “Lord of the Rings”. In some workshops, for a fee, you and your family members will be painted on the matryoshka. And special doll connoisseurs can buy an author's matryoshka or matryoshka from Armani or Dolce and Gabbana (Fig. 9, 10).

We all know the nesting doll - a wooden folding doll, which has long become a symbol of Russian folk art and a traditional souvenir that is customary to buy in Russia. But parents should pay attention to nesting dolls as a unique educational toy that you should definitely buy for your child. Matryoshka is simple, like everything ingenious, but no less interesting for children.

Matryoshka: description of the toy

The traditional matryoshka is a wooden painted doll with smaller dolls nested inside it. The shape of the doll is close to the shape of an egg, while the toy has a flat bottom for stability. Each doll, except for the very last one, is disassembled into two parts - upper and lower. There are usually at least three dolls in a nesting doll. There are souvenir options of 20, 30 and even 50 items!

The matryoshka doll, which is familiar to us, depicts a woman in a red sundress and a scarf. However, at present there are a wide variety of variations of painting toys: girls, families (grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, child), fairy tale characters (Turnip, Teremok, Gingerbread Man, Chicken Ryaba), etc. Matryoshka dolls depicting political figures, as well as portrait ones, are popular as a souvenir.

Matryoshkas are made mainly from soft wood: linden, less often birch and alder. Logs are dried for several years, with good ventilation. Carefully monitor the quality of wood drying - it should not be damp and not dry. They start manufacturing with the smallest non-separable doll. Subsequent ones are made from blanks right size(they are cut into two parts and excess wood is removed so that the smaller doll fits tightly inside the larger one). The most big doll It has special stand for stability.

Each figurine is polished, primed and then painted. Most often gouache is used, less often - watercolor, tempera, oil paints. Next, matryoshkas are covered oil varnish and dry.

The size of the matryoshka toy depends on the number of elements. The upper doll of small nesting dolls of 3 elements has a size of 8-10 cm, for standard nesting dolls of 5 elements - 16-18 cm, of 7 elements - 18-21 cm, of 10 elements - 20-25 cm. Huge nesting dolls of 50 dolls have height 65-75 cm.

Matryoshka - a toy or a souvenir?

Before the birth of a child, the matryoshka doll is usually associated in adults with a traditional Russian souvenir. Yes, indeed, this is a very beautiful and bright memorabilia that will decorate any home. And yet, the matryoshka is not an ordinary souvenir.

When asked whether matryoshkas are toys or just a piece of furniture, you can unequivocally answer: nesting dolls are a great toy for children! Besides that traditional matryoshka in itself is attractive to the child and you can play with it like with a doll, it also unfolds, which means you can come up with a huge number of options for playing with it.

First, matryoshka is a toy that develops initial movements and perceptions . It develops visual perception and touch, teaches the perception of shapes and colors, improves coordination of movements. The simple shape of the matryoshka doll and environmental friendliness make it an excellent educational toy for the youngest children.

Secondly, matryoshka refers to toys that help physical development child . Like other collapsible toys, it trains the muscles of the hands and fingers, promotes the development of fine motor skills.

In addition, matryoshka is didactic toy . This type of toys contributes to the mental and sensory development and learning of children, broadening their general horizons. Playing with a nesting doll, the child solves the problem that lies in the very design of the toy - to assemble and disassemble the nesting doll. In the process of the game, the attention and memory of the baby develops, intelligence and observation grows.

The history of nesting dolls - Russian folk toys for children

The history of the wooden matryoshka toy is obscure, as different sources describe it differently. Most publications in the media and the Internet say that the first matryoshka doll was created at the end of the 19th century, during the heyday of public interest in one's own national culture. In the Moscow workshop "Children's Education", created specifically to preserve the traditions of Russian folk toys, turner Vasily Zvezdochkin carved the first detachable doll. The prototype of the matryoshka, according to sources, is the Japanese figurine of Fukuruma (writing options - Fukurimi, Fukurama, Fukurokuju, Fukurokuju), one of the seven gods of luck, the god of wisdom and learning.

The artist Sergey Malyutin, a propagandist of the "Russian style", is considered the author of the sketch, the "father of the matryoshka", in addition, it was he who painted the resulting toy. She was a round-faced peasant woman dressed in an embroidered shirt and sundress. She wore an apron and colorful scarf and in her hands she held a black rooster. 7 more figures were placed inside the doll: three sisters, one with a sickle and the other with a loaf, a brother in a painted shirt, two more sisters and a swaddled baby - the smallest, inseparable doll. In 1900, the matryoshka was recognized at the World Exhibition in Paris, which led to an increase in demand for this toy.

In fact, the authorship of the matryoshka has not been established for certain. On the one hand, researchers unanimously attribute it to the artist Malyutin. However, the turner Zvezdochkin in his memoirs claims that it was he who invented and created the toy. In addition, the legacy of the artist Sergey Malyutin really lacks a sketch of a nesting doll.

There is also confusion about the date of origin of the matryoshka. They name both 1893, and 1896, and 1898. Zvezdochkin himself mentions the year 1900 in general - but in April the world exhibition, and, perhaps, the author admits an inaccuracy in dating (the memoirs were written 50 years later). By the way, Zvezdochkin talks about the creation of three- and six-seat nesting dolls, although the Toy Museum in Sergiev Posad has a nesting doll of 8 elements, and it is she who is considered the first.

As for the Japanese origin of the matryoshka, the question remains open on this score. Indeed, the Japanese were excellent masters of turning. However, the idea of detachable toys was traditional in Russian folk craft - at least remember Easter eggs. Everyone knows the fairy tale about the iron chest, inside of which there is a hare, and inside it there is a duck, in the duck there is an egg - and that’s where Koshchei’s death is located ... Perhaps this is exactly deep meaning nesting dolls: in order to reach the truth, you need to literally get to the bottom of it, tearing off all the covers-lids.

The first Russian nesting doll had no name. Matryoshka, according to the general opinion of researchers, is an abbreviated form of the name Matryona, popular in Russia, which, in turn, has Latin roots and is translated as “noble woman”. In addition, the name of the matryoshka echoes the ancient Indian word "matri", which translates as "mother". Hindu mythology describes matris as feminine manifestations of divine principles, the number of matri ranged from 7 to 16. It looks like our nesting doll, doesn't it?

Matryoshka is an educational toy! The benefits of your favorite nesting dolls in the development of children

Matryoshka in the development of children is an invaluable help, despite its apparent simplicity. What is useful matryoshka for a child?

Matryoshka introduces the baby to Russian folk art, traditional Russian culture.
A child, playing with a nesting doll, develops fine motor skills, strengthens the muscles of the hands and fingers, which is important for the development of speech.
This toy can be recommended as one of the first for a child: it is not only attractive, but also environmentally friendly and safe due to its rounded shape.
Matryoshka helps to get acquainted with the colors in the game, develops tactile and visual perception.
The need to assemble and disassemble the toy, due to its design, trains the attention and thinking of the child.
With the help of nesting dolls, it is easy to explain to the baby the concepts of “big-small”, “more-less”, “before-behind-between”, to introduce the basics of counting.
Matryoshka is a great toy for role-playing games. The very idea of a matryoshka implies a game in a family where there is a matryoshka mother and her children of different ages.

In order for the nesting doll to be just an educational toy, do not make it a familiar piece of furniture that is constantly in the field of view of the baby. Take out the nesting doll only for the duration of the lesson in order to keep the child's interest in it. Also, don't forget that positive emotions are the key to the success of developmental activities - play games when the baby is located to them.

Matryoshka games for kids

Matryoshka itself is an attractive toy for a child, but it is best for parents not only to give it to their baby, but also to teach simple games.

Matryoshka games for the little ones (from about 1 year old)

Teach your child how to open a matryoshka doll. Surprise and rejoice with the baby, what's inside big doll there is another, smaller one. Is there someone inside her too?
Show your child that each figure is assembled from two specific halves. If the halves do not fit, you will not be able to assemble the whole chrysalis.
Tell the baby: “The little nesting doll got scared and asks the big one to hide it.” Let the child try to put the elements of the toy one into the other.
When the baby is not in the room, arrange nesting dolls in prominent places. Invite the child who enters to look for the lost sisters.

Educational games with matryoshka 2-3 years old

Ask the baby to give you the largest, two smallest nesting dolls, a medium-sized nesting doll. Offer to line up the pupae in order of height - in ascending or descending order. You can come up with a story: nesting dolls went to visit, mother is in front, and daughters are behind her, from the one that is bigger to the smallest. And nesting dolls return home in the reverse order.
Arrange the nesting dolls by height, and “forget” one. Let the child guess where exactly it should stand.
Place the largest and smallest nesting dolls at some distance from each other. Ask your child to share some of the large and large toys you prepared in advance. small size, sending the little ones "on a visit" to the small nesting doll, and the big ones to the big one.
Invite your child to place nesting dolls in “cribs” (for example, pyramid rings) or houses (they can be made from cardboard boxes different sizes). To do this, he will first need to distribute nesting dolls and their beds / houses by size. Another option for such a game is to make several cardboard gates of different sizes in advance. The child needs to find a gate that is suitable in height for each nesting doll.
If you have two sets of matryoshkas, mix them up and ask your child to sort them. And two sets of the same number of elements can be proposed to line up in pairs.
Trace the bases of the nesting dolls on a piece of paper or cardboard. Let the child choose for each "high chair" his mistress. Or you can think of the circles as train cars, boats, movie theater seats, and so on.
Explain, and then ask yourself questions about the concepts of “more-less”, “higher-lower”, “front-back”, “right-left”.
With the help of nesting dolls, you can learn numerals, names of the days of the week. Name nesting dolls with names that are consonant with the necessary concepts. Putting the upper halves of the dolls on your fingers, teach the names of the fingers of the hand with the child.
Hide a small nesting doll in any of the other, larger ones. Ask the child to determine by ear where the nesting doll is hiding.

Matryoshka games for older children (from 3-4 years old)

Inside nesting dolls, you can put beads / peas or cardboard mugs, in increasing size. If you want to help your child master the numbers, write on the bottom of each matryoshka how many peas are in it. Show the baby the number, and then count the peas together.
Matryoshka is great for role-playing games. Usually the biggest matryoshka is the mother, and the smaller ones are her daughters. But someone has a big nesting doll and can be a dad. Play with nesting dolls situations close to the child (or children). Communication between a mother and a child who does not obey, the relationship of older and younger children, conflicts on the playground. Several sets of nesting dolls will be able to depict several families.
Children over 4-5 years old can be offered to color the matryoshka blank. How older child the more independent and accurate his work will be.

Types of nesting dolls

There are both classic wooden (with different types of painting) and non-standard nesting dolls: soft, plastic, nesting dolls-Christmas toys and others. The photo below shows a variety of nesting dolls:

Wooden toys-matryoshkas:

(matryoshka, Khokhloma);

(matryoshka, gzhel);

(Dymkovo toy-matryoshka);

(matryoshka, Filimonov painting);

(matryoshka, Gorodets painting);

(Vyatka matryoshka);

(Semenov matryoshka).

Wooden nesting dolls depicting heroes of fairy tales

Chicken Ryaba:

Soft toy-matryoshka

(matryoshka, anti-stress toy from Smoltoys);

(knitted matryoshka, needlework).

Matryoshka-roller, plastic

New Year's nesting doll

As you can see, matryoshka is a whole world! It is not for nothing that she fell in love with and "taken root" in Russian culture ... Eco-friendly, bright, revealing many opportunities for playing, the matryoshka will definitely become one of your child's favorite toys.

A story about the history of the origin of nesting dolls for children

Children about a wooden doll - a toy

Matryoshka as a symbol of Russian culture

Egorova Galina Vasilievna
Position and place of work: homeschooling teacher, KGBOU "Motyginskaya boarding school", village Motygino, Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Material Description: IN this story the history of the origin of the Russian wooden doll - toy is briefly stated. This material can be useful and interesting for primary school teachers, teachers of older groups of kindergartens. Information about the matryoshka can be used on thematic class hours.
Target: Formation of the concept of nesting dolls through the story.
Tasks:
- educational: tell a brief history about the origin of Russian wooden toys - nesting dolls;
- developing: develop attention, memory, imagination, curiosity;
- educational: develop an interest in history vintage toys, to Russian culture.
Content.
Probably, in every house you can find everyone's favorite wooden nesting dolls. This is a toy that embodies kindness, prosperity, family well-being.

The first Russian matryoshka was eight-seater: a boy followed a girl with a black rooster, then a girl, and so on. All figurines are different from each other. The last, eighth, depicted a baby.

Initially, this doll did not even have a name. But when the turner made it, the artist painted it bright colors, then the name appeared - Matryona. Perhaps this is due to the fact that on different evenings tea was served by servants with that name.
Why is everyone's favorite Russian toy doll called "matryoshka"? Many believe that this name comes from the female name Matryona, very popular at that time in Russia. The name Matryona in Latin means "noble woman." Looking at the matryoshka, the image of a portly noble person really arises.
Matryoshka won love and recognition as a symbol of Russian folk art.
There is such a belief - if you put a note with a desire inside this wooden doll, then it will certainly come true. Matryoshka, from the very beginning of its origin, symbolizes warmth and comfort in the house.
The very idea of creating unusual doll contains deep philosophical meaning: to find the truth, you need to get to the bottom by opening, one by one, all the parts of a wooden doll. In other words, there are no easy ways to solve different problems. It takes a lot of effort to achieve a certain result.
Perhaps the idea of a wooden toy, consisting of several figurines inserted into one another, was given to the master who created the matryoshka by the content of Russian fairy tales. Let us take the tale of Koshchei, with whom Ivan Tsarevich is fighting. Recall the story about the search for "Koshcheev's death": Koshchei's death is hidden far away: on the sea on the ocean, on the island on Buyan there is a green oak, under that oak an iron chest is buried, in that chest there is a hare, in a hare a duck, in a duck an egg; one has only to crush the egg - and Koschei instantly dies.

The image of the Russian matryoshka combines the art of the masters and the endless love for folk culture. Nowadays, you can buy all kinds of souvenirs for every taste.

But all the same, when we hear “matryoshka”, the image of a cheerful Russian girl in a bright folk costume always appears in our heads. The love for our beloved doll will be passed on, I think, from generation to generation. After all, the history of the origin of nesting dolls is the history of our culture. In Russia, people are very fond of myths. Retelling old ones and creating new ones. Myths are different - legends, legends, everyday tales, stories about historical events, which over time acquired new details ... not without embellishment on the part of the next narrator. It often happened that people's memories of real events over time acquired truly fantastic, intriguing details, reminiscent of a real detective story. The same thing happened with such a famous Russian toy as a matryoshka.

Origin story

When and where did the nesting doll first appear, who invented it? Why is a wooden folding toy doll called "matryoshka"? What does such a unique work of folk art symbolize? Let's try to answer these and other questions.

From the very first attempts to find intelligible answers, it turned out to be impossible - information about the matryoshka turned out to be rather confusing. So, for example, there are “Matryoshka Museums”, in the media and on the Internet you can read a lot of interviews and articles on this topic. But museums or expositions at museums, as well as numerous publications, as it turned out, are mainly devoted to various artistic samples nesting dolls made in different regions of Russia and in different time. But little is said about the true origin of the matryoshka.

To begin with, let me remind you of the main versions-myths, regularly copied as a carbon copy and wandering through the pages of various publications.

A frequently repeated well-known version: a nested doll appeared in Russia at the end of the 19th century, it was invented by the artist Malyutin, turned by the turner Zvezdochkin in the workshop "Children's Education" Mamontov, and the figure of one of the seven Japanese gods of luck - the god of learning and wisdom Fukuruma - served as the prototype of the Russian nesting doll. He is Fukurokuju, he is also Fukurokuju (different sources indicate a different transcription of the name).

Another version of the appearance of the future nesting doll in Russia is that a certain Russian Orthodox missionary monk who visited Japan and copied a composite toy from a Japanese one was allegedly the first to carve a similar toy. Let's make a reservation right away: there is no exact information about where the legend of the mythical monk came from, and there is no specific information in any source. Moreover, some strange monk is obtained from the point of view of elementary logic: would a Christian copy a pagan, in fact, deity? For what? Did you like the toy? It is doubtful, although from the point of view of borrowing and the desire to remake it in your own way, it is possible. This is reminiscent of the legend about “Christian monks who fought against the enemies of Rus'”, but who, for some reason, bore (after baptism!) the pagan names Peresvet and Oslyabya.

The third version - the Japanese figurine was allegedly brought from the island of Honshu in 1890 to the Mamontovs' estate near Moscow in Abramtsevo. “The Japanese toy had a secret: the whole family was hiding in the old Fukurumu. On one of the Wednesdays, when the artistic elite came to the estate, the hostess showed everyone a funny figurine. The detachable toy interested the artist Sergey Malyutin, and he decided to make something similar. Of course, he did not repeat the Japanese deity, he made a sketch of a chubby peasant lady in a colorful headscarf. And to make her look more efficient, he added a black rooster to her hand. The next young lady was with a sickle in her hand. Another - with a loaf of bread. What about sisters without a brother - and he appeared in a painted shirt. A whole family, friendly and hardworking.

The first Russian matryoshka doll, carved by Vasily Zvezdochkin and painted by Sergey Malyutin, was an eight-seater: a boy followed a girl with a black feather, then another girl, and so on. All figures differed from each other, and the last, eighth, depicted a swaddled baby.

Here we are all nesting dolls and nesting dolls ... But this doll didn’t even have a name. And when the turner made it, and the artist painted it, then the name came by itself - Matryona. They also say that at the Abramtsevo evenings tea was served by servants with that name. Go through at least a thousand names - and none is better for this wooden doll.

Let's stop at this point for now. Judging by the above passage, the first matryoshka was carved in Sergiev Posad. But, firstly, the turner Zvezdochkin did not work until 1905 in the Sergiev Posad workshops! This will be discussed below. Secondly, other sources say that “she (matryoshka - approx.) was born right here, in Leontievsky Lane (in Moscow - approx.), in house number 7, where the Children's Education workshop-shop used to be, owned by Anatoly Ivanovich Mamontov, brother of the famous Savva. Anatoly Ivanovich, like his brother, was fond of national art. In his workshop-shop, artists were constantly working on creating new toys for children. And one of the samples was made in the form of a wooden doll, which was carved on a lathe and depicted a peasant girl in a headscarf and an apron. This doll opened up, and there was another peasant girl, in it - another one ... ".

Thirdly, the fact that the matryoshka could have appeared in 1890 or 1891 is doubtful, which will be discussed in more detail below.

Now confusion has already been created, according to the principle of "who, where and when was, or was not." Perhaps the most painstaking, thorough and balanced research was conducted by Irina Sotnikova, her article “Who invented the nesting doll” can be found on the Internet. The arguments given by the author of the study most objectively reflect the real facts of the appearance of such an unusual toy as a matryoshka in Russia.

ABOUT exact date appearance of the matryoshka I. Sotnikova writes the following: these dates were established according to the reports and reports of the Moscow provincial zemstvo council. In one of these reports for 1911, N.D. Bartram 1 writes that the matryoshka doll was born about 15 years ago, and in 1913, in the report of the Bureau to the handicraft council, he reports that the first nesting doll was created 20 years ago. That is, it is rather problematic to rely on such approximate reports, therefore, in order to avoid mistakes, the end of the 19th century is usually called, although there is also a mention of 1900, when the matryoshka won recognition at the World Exhibition in Paris, and orders for its manufacture appeared abroad.

This is followed by a very curious remark about the artist Malyutin, about whether he was actually the author of the nesting doll sketch: “All researchers, without saying a word, call him the author of the nesting doll sketch. But the sketch itself is not in the artist's legacy. There is no evidence that the artist ever made this sketch. Moreover, the turner Zvezdochkin attributes the honor of inventing the matryoshka to himself, without mentioning Malyutin at all.

As for the origin of our Russian nesting dolls from the Japanese Fukuruma, here Zvezdochkin does not mention anything about Fukuruma either. Now we should pay attention to an important detail, for some reason eluding other researchers, although this is visible, as they say, with the naked eye - we are talking about some kind of ethical moment. If we take as a basis the version of “the origin of the matryoshka from the sage Fukuruma”, a rather strange feeling arises - SHE and HE, i.e. the Russian matryoshka, they say, came from him, from the Japanese sage. Suspiciously, a symbolic analogy with the Old Testament fairy tale suggests itself, where Eve was created from Adam's rib (that is, she came from him, and not vice versa, as happens naturally in nature). A very strange impression is formed, but we will talk about the symbolism of the nesting dolls below.

Let's return to Sotnikova's research: “This is how the turner Zvezdochkin describes the emergence of the matryoshka: “... In 1900 (!) I invent a three- and six-seat (!) matryoshka and send it to an exhibition in Paris. Worked for Mamontov for 7 years. In 1905 V.I. Borutsky 2 writes me to Sergiev Posad in the workshop of the Moscow Provincial Zemstvo as a master. From the materials of the autobiography of V.P. Zvezdochkin, written in 1949, it is known that Zvezdochkin entered the workshop "Children's Education" in 1898 (he was from the village of Shubino, Podolsky district). This means that the matryoshka could not have been born before 1898. Since the master's memoirs were written almost 50 years later, it is still difficult to vouch for their accuracy, so the appearance of the matryoshka can be dated approximately 1898-1900. As you know, the World Exhibition in Paris opened in April 1900, which means that this toy was created a little earlier, perhaps in 1899. By the way, at the Paris exhibition, the Mamontovs received a bronze medal for toys.

But what about the shape of the toy and did Zvezdochkin borrow the idea of the future matryoshka or not? Or did the artist Malyutin create the initial sketch of the figurine?

“Interesting facts were collected by E.N. Shulgina, who in 1947 became interested in the history of the creation of nesting dolls. From conversations with Zvezdochkin, she learned that he once saw a “suitable chock” in a magazine and carved a figurine based on her model, which had a “ridiculous appearance, looked like a nun” and was “deaf” (did not open). On the advice of masters Belov and Konovalov, he carved it differently, then they showed the toy to Mamontov, who approved the product and gave it to a group of artists who worked somewhere on the Arbat to paint it. This toy was selected for an exhibition in Paris. Mamontov received an order for it, and then Borutsky bought samples and distributed them to handicraftsmen.

Probably, we will never be able to find out exactly about the participation of S.V. Malyutin in the creation of nesting dolls. According to the memoirs of V.P. Zvezdochkin, it turns out that he himself invented the shape of the nesting doll, but the master could forget about the painting of the toy, many years passed, the events were not recorded: after all, then no one could have imagined that the nesting doll would become so famous. S.V. Malyutin at that time collaborated with the publishing house A.I. Mamontov, illustrated books, so that he could well paint the first matryoshka, and then other masters painted the toy according to his model.

Let us return once again to the study by I. Sotnikova, where she writes that initially there was also no agreement on the number of nesting dolls in one set - unfortunately, there is confusion in this regard in different sources:

V. Zvezdochkin

“The turner Zvezdochkin claimed that he originally made two matryoshka dolls: a three- and six-seater. In the Toy Museum in Sergiev Posad, an eight-seat matryoshka doll is kept, which is considered the first, the same chubby girl in a sundress, apron, flowered scarf, who holds a black rooster in her hand. She is followed by three sisters, a brother, two more sisters and a baby. It is often stated that there were not eight, but seven dolls, they also say that girls and boys alternated. For the set kept in the Museum, this is not the case.

Now about the prototype matryoshka. Was there Fukuruma? Some doubt, although why then did this legend appear, and is it a legend? It seems that the wooden god is still kept in the Toy Museum in Sergiev Posad. Perhaps this is also one of the legends. By the way, N.D. Bartram, director of the Toy Museum, doubted that the matryoshka “we borrowed from the Japanese. The Japanese are great masters in the field of turning toys. But their well-known "kokeshi" in principle of their construction are not similar to a nesting doll.

Who is our mysterious Fukurum, a good-natured bald sage, where did he come from? ... By tradition, the Japanese on New Year visit temples dedicated to the deities of fortune, and purchase their small figurines there. Could it be that the legendary Fukuruma contained the other six good luck deities within it? This is only our assumption (rather controversial).

V.P. Zvezdochkin does not mention Fukuruma at all - a figurine of a saint, which was decomposed into two parts, then another old man appeared, and so on. Note that in Russian folk crafts, detachable wooden products were also very popular, for example, the well-known Easter eggs. So there was Fukuruma, there wasn’t him, it’s difficult to find out, but it’s not so important. Who remembers him now? But our matryoshka is known and loved by the whole world!

Matryoshka name

Why was the original wooden toy doll called "matryoshka"? Almost unanimously, all researchers refer to the fact that this name comes from the female name Matryona, common in Russia: “The name Matryona comes from the Latin Matrona, which means “noble woman”, Matrona was written in the church, among the diminutive names: Motya, Motya, Matryosha, Matyusha, Tyusha, Matusya, Tusya, Musya. That is, theoretically, a matryoshka could also be called a motka (or muska). It sounds, of course, strange, although what is worse, for example, "marfushka"? Also a good and common name is Martha. Or Agafya, by the way, the popular painting on porcelain is called "agashka". Although we agree that the name “matryoshka” is very successful, the doll has really become “noble”.

The very name Matrona really means "noble woman" in Latin, and is included in the Orthodox church calendar. But, as for the assertion of many researchers that Matryona - female name, very beloved and widespread among the peasantry in Russia, then here there are curious facts. Some researchers simply forget that Russia is big. And this means that the same name, or the same image, can contain both positive and negative, allegorical meaning.

So, for example, in "Tales and Traditions of the Northern Territory", collected by I.V. Karnaukhova, there is a fairy tale "Matryona". Which tells about how a woman named Matryona almost tortured the devil. In the published text, a passer-by potter saves the devil from a lazy and mischievous woman and, accordingly, further scares the devil with her.

In this context, Matryona is a kind of prototype of an evil wife, whom the devil himself is afraid of. Similar descriptions are also found in Afanasiev. The plot about the evil wife, popular in the Russian North, was repeatedly recorded by the GIIS expeditions in the "classic" versions, in particular, from A.S. Krashaninnikova, 79 years old, from the village of Meshkarevo, Povenets district.

Matryoshka symbolism

Considering one of the versions about the origin of the matryoshka, I have already mentioned “ japanese beginning". But does the above-mentioned foreign version in general suit our nesting doll in its symbolic meaning?

At one of the forums on the topic of culture, in particular, deployed on the Internet, the following was literally said: “The prototype of the Russian nesting doll (it also has indian roots) is a Japanese wooden doll. Taken as a sample Japanese toy- daruma, a tumbler doll. According to its origins, it is an image of the ancient Indian sage Daruma (Skt. Bodhidharma), who moved to China in the 5th century. His teachings spread widely in Japan in the Middle Ages. Daruma called for the comprehension of truth through silent contemplation, and in one of the legends he is a cave recluse, plump from immobility. According to another legend, his legs were taken away from immobility (hence the legless sculptural images of Daruma).

Nevertheless, the matryoshka immediately gained unprecedented recognition as a symbol of Russian folk art.

There is a belief that if you put a note with a desire inside a nesting doll, then it will certainly come true, moreover, the more labor is invested in the nesting doll, i.e. the more places in it and the better the painting of the matryoshka, the faster desire will be fulfilled. Matryoshka is warmth and comfort in the house.

It's hard to disagree with the latter more places in a matryoshka, i.e. the more internal figures, one smaller than the other, the more you can put notes with desires there and wait for them to come true. This is a kind of game, and the matryoshka here acts as a very charming, sweet, domestic symbol, a real work of art.

As for the eastern sage Daruma (here is another name for the “predecessor” of the nesting doll!) - to be honest, having grown fat from immobility, and even with weary legs, the “sage” is extremely poorly associated with a Russian toy, in which every person sees a positive, elegant symbolic image. And because of this beautiful image, our matryoshka enjoys great fame and popularity almost all over the world. We are not talking at all about “matryoshkas” in the form of male (!) political figures, whose caricature faces enterprising handicraftsmen flooded the entire Old Arbat in Moscow in the nineties. We are talking, first of all, about the continuation of the old traditions of different schools in the painting of Russian nesting dolls, about the creation of nesting dolls of different numbers (the so-called “locality”).

In the process of working on this material, it became necessary to use related sources, not only those devoted to the topic of Russian folk toys. Do not forget that in ancient times, and not only in Rus', various decorations(female and male), household items, as well as toys carved from wood or made from clay, played the role of not just objects that brighten up life - but were also carriers of certain symbols, had some meaning. And the very concept of symbolism was closely intertwined with mythology.

So, surprisingly, the coincidence of the name Matrona, which migrated (according to the generally accepted version) from Latin to Russian, with ancient Indian images, met:

MATRI (ancient Ind. "mother"), the emphasis is on the first syllable - in Hindu mythology, divine mothers, personifying the creative and destructive forces of nature. The idea of an active feminine gained wide recognition in Hinduism in connection with the spread of the cult of shakti. Matri were considered as female personifications of the creative energy of the great gods: Brahma, Shiva, Skanda, Vishnu, Indra, etc. Matri's number ranged from seven to sixteen; some texts referred to them as "the great crowd".

Doesn't this remind you of anything? Matryoshka is also a “mother”, which symbolizes, in fact, a FAMILY, and even consisting of a different number of figures that symbolize children of different ages. This is no longer just a coincidence, but proof of common, Indo-European roots, which is directly related to the Slavs.

From this we can draw the following conclusion: figuratively speaking, if the symbolic "journey" of an unusual wooden figurine begins in India, then continues in China, from there the figurine ends up in Japan, and only then "unexpectedly" finds its place in Russia - the statement that that our Russian nesting doll was copied from the figurine of a Japanese sage is untenable. If only because the very figurine of a certain oriental sage is not originally Japanese. Probably, the hypothesis about the extensive settlement of the Slavs and the spread of their culture, which later had its influence on the cultures of other peoples, including manifesting itself both in language and in the divine pantheon, has a common Indo-European civilization basis.

However, most likely, the idea of a wooden toy, which consists of several figures inserted into one another, was inspired by Russian fairy tales to the master who created the matryoshka. Many, for example, know and remember the tale of Koshchei, with whom Ivan Tsarevich is fighting. For example, the story about the prince’s search for “Koshcheev’s death” sounds from Afanasyev: “To accomplish such a feat, extraordinary efforts and labors are needed, because Koshchei’s death is hidden far away: on the sea, on the ocean, on the island on Buyan there is a green oak, under that oak is buried an iron chest, in that chest a hare, in a hare a duck, in a duck an egg; one has only to crush the egg - and Koschei instantly dies.

I agree that the plot is dark in itself. associated with death. But here we are talking about a symbolic meaning - where is the truth hidden? The fact is that this almost identical mythological plot is found not only in Russian fairy tales, and even in different versions, but also among other peoples! “Obviously, in these epic expressions lies a mythical tradition, an echo of the prehistoric era; otherwise, how could such identical legends have arisen among different peoples? Koschey (serpent, giant, old sorcerer), following the usual method of the folk epic, tells the secret of his death in the form of a riddle; to resolve it, one must substitute metaphorical expressions for common understanding.

This is our philosophical culture. And therefore, it is highly likely that the master who carved the matryoshka remembered and knew Russian fairy tales well - in Rus', a myth was often projected onto real life.

In other words, one is hidden in the other, enclosed - and in order to find the truth, it is necessary to get to the bottom, opening, one by one, all the "cloaked caps". Perhaps this is precisely the true meaning of such a wonderful Russian toy as a matryoshka - a reminder to posterity of the historical memory of our people?

And it is no coincidence that the remarkable Russian writer Mikhail Prishvin once wrote the following: “I thought that each of us has life, like the outer shell of a folding Easter egg; it seems that this red egg is so big, and this is only a shell - you open it, and there is a blue, smaller one, and again the shell, and then green, and for some reason, for some reason, a yellowish egg always pops out at the very end, but it no longer opens, and this most, most of ours.

So it turns out that the Russian nesting doll is not so simple - this is an integral part of our life.