"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.
