Saturday, June 25, 2011

Russian Dolls and Their Popularity in Russian Culture

People who are interested in art and in collecting varieties of artistic things will undoubtedly be attracted to Russian art, culture, history and Russian craftsmanship. Russian culture includes within itself Russian literature, Russian philosophy, Russian folklore, and Russian art. Russian art includes architecture and making of handicrafts. Among Russian handicraft, Russian nesting dolls rank first. Also known as "Matryoshka", these nesting dolls have a common feature of following a particular theme. The theme may range from the peasant girl (in her traditional dress) to any modern day character.

Vasily Zvyozdochkin, a doll maker and a craftsman, was the first to introduce these handmade dolls. The concept of nesting dolls is to place one doll inside the other in a nested fashion, until there is a tiny little doll inside. Since these are placed one inside the other, every doll can be separated and the separated doll contains a similar doll but in a smaller size.

Although these dolls are synonymous of Russian culture, there are several other handicrafts that are presented as popular Russian souvenirs. Prominent among them include Baltic Amber, Lacquer Boxes, Christmas decorative and even Khokhlomas.

As we all know, Amber is a popular material used in making highly sought after jewelry. The specialty of Amber is that each piece of amber is truly unique and when you rub the amber, it emanates light. There's hardly a Russian woman whose collection does not contain amber jewelry. Everything right from earrings, rings, bracelets, and necklaces are made from Baltic Amber.

But if you are not a fan of amber jewelry, there's a wide variety of things to choose from. For example, you could choose from Faberge eggs, lacquer boxes, ceramic figurines, Cheburashka dolls or many other unique Russian collectibles. Thanks to the internet, there are hundreds of online retail shops in the United States that sell Russian souvenirs. Choosing from a US company has its own advantages. These online stores with their base in the United States are often established by Russian artisans and hence assure of quality. In addition, if you would like to gift these to friends and family member, these companies also provide gift-wrapping service.

Therefore, the next time, you are looking for a gift for a wedding or a birthday; do not look further than an online shop that sells Russian handicrafts. Due to the late entry of Russians to the globalization process, there's very little information about Russia, that's known to the world. But it's the Russian dolls that continued to the beacon for popular Russian culture.

Due to the late entry of Russian to the Globalization process, Russian culture was not known to foreigners. However, Russian dolls have now become a familiar one to foreigners. The author is an art lover and has written many articles on Russian nesting dolls and on Russian gifts.


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