No this isn't a post about pregnant young women but it is about russian stacking dolls , Matryoshkas, which I have learned the best translation is "little Mothers". I grew up with a few of these dolls in my home since my father was born in St Petersburg Russia to polish parents. I loved to play with them and I imagined that they had made by hand in Russia for many , many years. I was quite surprised to read that the first russian Matryoshka was made in 1899 in Sergiev Posad, a small monastery village and a great center of toy making located near Moscow. The inspiration came from Japan, as so much of our modern crafts do, with a japanese nesting doll named Fukuruma .
One of the most talented artists in the toy workshop , Malyutin sketched out the first matryoshka and an an eight piece doll was born.
I have collected a few of these dolls over the years but my oldest daughter , Tamara, has become a serious collector. I wanted to share some of her collection with you. A few of these are dolls I have given her . Only one was purchased new at a craft fair and the rest were found at thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales. We make up little stories about them . Some of the little mothers are childless when found or sometimes children are found with no mothers. The funniest ones are those mixed families where the children are actually different , obviously originating from different mothers but they still fit together although sometimes with a little more difficulty, like an allegory of modern families. I took these photographs on a recent visit to my daughter's apartment. The light quality wasn't the greatest but it does set a nice mood for the collection.





This next picture is from my sister Helen's collection.
Then back to Tamara's with a picture of the textile version that the very talented sara made . She also designed a beautiful little pin for my daughter that you can see on her flickr pictures. She also has a beautiful art piece from tiel .
. I love the work of irina troitskaya and would love to purchase one of her fantastic sets to add to her collection .
Have a wonderful start to your weekend. It is definitely finally starting to feel like spring here in the great white north. The robins and redwing blackbirds have returned, the snow is melting and small patches of grass are visible . I even saw some real pussy willows yesterday. Tomorrow I will do a spring post about some real live "little mothers".
Sorry I forgot to insert sara's textile dolls photograph earlier. Oops!