See how Russian nesting dolls are made and hand painted

Dowel being fed into lathe

Cutting Head

All the dolls on this site are made from wood. Timber is usually Birch or Alder species.
The timber is first prepared as long 'dowels' of varying diameters. These rods are fed into the cutting machine which automatically shapes individual tops or bottoms.

The tops and bottoms are prepared separately and then fitted together later.

The process clearly requires very high precision , especially with the smaller pieces of the set.

We do supply blanks sets if you want to paint your own

Turned dolls are now sanded and taken to the paint room. There artists apply the various designs by hand.
Painted dolls are then stacked ready for application of lacquer coating and are then heat treated in a kiln to give a hard durable finish.
The lacquer is sometimes absent , especially from the more expensive 'one off' designs.
Matrioski shapes fall into two basic categories.
Rounded dolls with a pronounced shoulder and basal lip are usually of Russian origin . A very productive area is the town of Sergiev Possad a town noted for it's many fine artists. Artists often sign the base of better quality dolls.
More egg shaped dolls are usually of Belarussian origin.
In-between shapes are often used for novelty dolls such as sets of the Russian Presidents. They may come from Russia or Belarus

Left: Applying straw marquetry to boxes

Above: Hand painting chess pieces.