Matryoshka doll

A matryoshka doll (Russian: матрёшка; IPA: [mɐˈtrʲɵʂkə], matrëška), also known as a Russian nesting doll, or Russian doll, refers to a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside another. The name "matryoshka" (матрёшка), literally "little matron", is a diminutive form of Russian female first name "Matryona" (Матрёна) or "Matriosha".

The first Russian nested doll set was made in 1890 by Vasily Zvyozdochkin from a design by Sergey Malyutin, who was a folk crafts painter at Abramtsevo. Traditionally the outer layer is a woman, dressed in a sarafan, a long and shapeless traditional Russian peasant jumper dress. The figures inside may be of either gender; the smallest, innermost doll is typically a baby turned from a single piece of wood. Much of the artistry is in the painting of each doll, which can be very elaborate. The dolls often follow a theme; the themes may vary, from fairy tale characters to Soviet leaders. The matryoshka dolls are often referred to as "babushka dolls", "babushka" meaning "grandmother" or "elderly woman".

Russian Dolls (disambiguation)

A Russian doll is a type of nested, wooden doll more precisely known as a Matryoshka doll.

Russian Doll or Russian Dolls may also refer to:

See also

Russian Dolls: Sex Trade

Russian Dolls: Sex Trade (Dutch: Matroesjka's, meaning Matryoshka doll, also known as Matrioshki or Matrёshki) is a Flemish drama series about a group of women from Lithuania and Russia who are taken to Belgium by a gang involved in the sex trade to work as sex slaves. The series starts in Lithuania, where the girls are chosen and where they have to sign a contract in Greek, which they cannot understand. The gang, under the lead of Ray Van Mechelen, takes the girls to Cyprus and from there they are taken to Club 69 in Belgium to work. Russian Dolls is sponsored by the Flemish Audiovisual Fund (Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds).

Russian Dolls is produced and directed by Guy Goossens and Marc Punt.

Because of explicit scenes of sex and violence, the program is not appropriate for people under 16 years of age (according to Dutch and Belgian ratings).

General overview

Although based on the problems associated with the sex trade, the series is not so much a documentary or engaged criticism of those problems as it is a source of entertainment. However, director Marc Punt has said that it wouldn't be terrible if the series made people aware of those problems. Already, the series is used to warn women in the former Eastern Bloc of the practices associated with the sex trade.