For ages has Russia been known as a country rich in folk art. Sergiev Posad, a center of Russian spiritual culture, is famous throughout the world. Numerous tourists come to the city to feast their eyes on the old and majestic Saint Trinity Sergiy Lavra, the pearl of the Golden Ring of Russia. Another thing that attracts visitors is the variety of local folk arts works, among which matryoshka occupies a dominating place. Matryoshka is a small painted toy. Sergiev Posad artists claim it to be their invention, brought into the world in the 19th century and initially manufactured as a toy for peasant children. Nowadays, matryoshka is both a popular souvenir and a work of art.

The process of matryoshka creating is a complex one, requiring its manufacturers to possess excellent skills, knowledge of the process and of the traditions, and, of course, patience. The piece of wood, used for the turning of the blank doll, must be cut during wintertime, when wood has little sap in it. The trunk of the cut tree is kept and worked in a warm, well-ventilated room for a period of 2 years. A good wood turner can tell the ready raw material by its smell… The making of the blank matryoshka starts from the bottom. Once the bottom is ready the piece of wood is left for a week and only then the rest of the doll is made. The quality of the turning work wholly depends on the craftsmanship of the wood turner. A good (high-quality) blank doll has a small (permissible) clearance, and both of the pieces it consists of fit easily together, closing tightly.

Before the blank doll is painted is once again sandpapered to the ideal shape and primed with an egg mixture or a liquid paper glue (PVA) dilute with water. After this an artist drawn the main part of the painting in pencil and then starts coloring it with paint. Four kinds of pain are normally used: gouache, watercolor, acrylic paint or tempera. Dolls painted in gouache or watercolor are normally coated with 3 to 10 layers of lacquer. Wood quickly absorbs watercolor and acrylic paint, and works drawn in watercolor or acrylic paint are impossible to correct if mistakes are made in the painting itself. Hence, highly skilled, accomplished and precise artists are required for such work.

The quality of the matryoshka doll is judged by clear layers of paint and the preciseness of the painting itself.

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