Matryoshka

The matryoshka doll is a set of dolls of decreasing sizes placed one inside another, usually 6 or more, often designed following a theme, like girls in traditional dresses. It is said that a painter from a folk crafts workshop, Sergei Maliutin, saw a set of Korean wooden dolls representing the Seven Gods of Fortune, so he drew a sketch with a Russian version consisted of 8 dolls. The largest one was a girl in an apron, then alternating in boys and girls, finishing with a baby. It was carved by Vasiliy Zvezdochkin and painted by Sergei Maliutin.