"SEMENOVSKAYA" or SEMENOV CITY MATRYOSHKA

"Semenovskaya" is a Russian adjective that stands for "that of Semenov", or - to be more precise - "that of Semenov city", a small town in Nizhny Novgorod province that greatly contributed to matryoshka history. Olga Litvina in her article "About Matryoshka" writes:

The end of the XIXth century brought with it a real "matryoshka boom". To satisfy the unexpected demand, new manufacturers emerged on the market. In less than a few years, almost the whole city of Sergiev Posad was painting matryoshkas. This city was the place that had both multitudes of experienced wood turners and the excellent raw material: birch and lime trees. The painting was done by family cartels, where even children and old people took part in the process.

As a rule, Russian matryoshkas depicted young ladies in Russian sarafans [peasant woman's dress] and shawls, holding baskets, flowers, bread-and-salt [traditional Russian sign of hospitality], etc. Matryoshkas gained considerable popularity abroad and in the beginning of the XXth century Russia started exporting the dolls in large quantities.

Matryoshka business turned out to be so profitable that a number of other matryoshka-making centers have appeared soon after the mass export has begun. The largest were based in the city of Semenov of Nizhnii Novgorod province and in the village of Polkhov-Maidan. Moreover, this was the time when first western counterfeits appeared on the market. A number of German companies, for example, were turning and painting their own nesting dolls, selling them as Russian matryoshkas.

Even though nowadays one can find matryoshkas of various unusual shapes - ball- or cone-shaped, in forms of boxes and bottle-holders - figurines imitating woman's body still remain the most popular ones. As a rule Sergiev Posad dolls are, however, wider and smaller than the Semenov-turned ones.

This nesting doll is an authentic example of a Semenov style of matryoshka painting. Handmade in the city of Semenov it features the characteristic bright red flowers and traditional yellow scarves.