In the 90s of the 19^th century A. Mamontova brought from Japan to the toy workshop “Children Education” a toy depicting a kind bald wise old man named Fukuruma. It represented several toy figures put into one another. The woodturner Vasiliy Zvezdochkin who worked at the workshop at that time made similar toy figures of wood that could be put into one another and the artist Sergei Malyutin painted them like girls and boys. The first matryeshka (toy figure that can be enclosed in the other one of bigger size) was painted as a girl in the folk attire: sarafan (sun dress without sleeves), apron and kerchief with the cock picture on it.  The toy consisted of 8 figures. The girl depiction was alternated with that of the boy’s differing from each other. The last one depicted a baby in the swaddling clothes.  

The Russian female name “Matryena” was wide spread at that time. So it gave the name for the toy -”matryeshka” as diminutive and pet.

At the beginning of the 20^th century the workshop “Children Education” stopped working but the matryeshkas manufacture was transferred to the Sergiev Posad, the place that was 70 km from Moscow in the teaching and demonstrative workshop. The first matryeshkas were very expensive but nevertheless they were much in demand and attractive for many of the customers. The matryeshkas production was increased very fast around the Sergiev Posad town; new workshops of the Ivanovs and the Bogoyavlenskiys appeared. Forests surrounded the Sergiev Posad town and so the town itself had many skilled woodturners. The matryeshkas manufacturing became such a widespread phenomenon that the orders for the toys began coming from abroad, namely Paris, and the toys were sold in Germany at the famous Leipzig fair. Popular matryeshkas export abroad began at the beginning of the 20^th century. The toys painting became more colorful and various. Girls in sarafans, in kerchiefs with baskets, small bundles and bunches of flowers were painted. Matryeshkas representing herdboys with reed pipes, bearded old men with a big stick and the bride in wedding dress with moustached fiance appeared. The artists fantasy was beyond the limits. The matryeshkas toys were arranged to the most various principles submitted to the only main purpose, namely to make a surprise. So the relatives of the bride and her fiance were placed inside matryeshka “The Bride and the Fiance”. Matryeshkas depicting these themes were dated to specified days. In addition to the family theme there were matryeshkas designed for a definite level of erudition and education. So for the 100-anniversary of N. V. Gogol birthday matryshkas were made depicting the heroes of his literary works, namely characters from the comedy “Inspector” (Khlestakov, gorodnichiy –mayor, judge, postmaster and others). In 1912 for the 100-anniversary of the battle near Borodino matryeshkas “Kutuzov” and “Napoleon” were made. Inside these matryeshkas smaller toys were placed there depicting their fellow-fighters, members of their headquarters staff and the participants of the council of war. There were many matryeshkas devoted to the folk traditional ceremony. The artists making matryeshkas were always fascinated by the themes of the fairy-tales. Such fairy-tales as “Turnip’, “The Golden Fish”, “Ivan-Tsarevich”, “The Heat-Bird” were often illustrated. Matryeshkas were enriched not only in colorful painting but were made complicated by increased number of enclosed toy figures. So at the beginning of the 20^th century matryeshkas in Sergiev Posad numbered up to 24 toy figures and in 1913 the woodturner Nikolai Bulychev held a record having made matryeshka consisted of 48 toy figures.   
Matryeshka toys became wide spread and were made far beyond the Sergiev Posad town – in the Semyonovskiy district of the Nizhegorodskaya Province. It looked the same but also differed in details. The matryeshka in Sergiev Posad was represented as thickset but the masters in the Semyonovskiy district made their toys well shaped and they depicted brave and smart pretty girls in colorful shawls. 

Reproduction the material from the book “Matryeshka” by N. N. Aleksakhin, published by the “Popular Education” LTD in 1998, including various publications in the periodical press of different dates.