HoneyPotGifts

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7 set nesting Russian Doll

Nesting Russian Doll Set Bigger picture Red & blue freckled 7 doll Matryoshka set Height approx. 20 cm Price £30.00 incl p&p Only 1 in stock at present

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Nesting Russian Dolls by Tanya Andreeva

Tanya Nesting Russian Doll Set Bigger picture Russian Maiden 5 doll Matryoshka set by Tanya Andreeva, in ivory and peach matt finish Height approx. 13 cm Price £75.00 incl p&p Only 1 available

Dolls by Tanya Andreeva are much sought after, collected for their beauty and their rarity. These dolls are all handpainted by Tanya and so they really are completely unique, there are no more of these exact designs and colours available anywhere else. Tanya is reducing the number of dolls she produces, especially in the larger sizes, so there may not be many more opportunities to collect dolls from this famous artist. This is the last of 6 dolls which were painted specially for HoneyPotGifts whilst Tanya was in England last year so it's really quite unique.

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Specialist dolls

Nesting Russian Doll Set Bigger picture British Royal Family 5 dollMatryoshka set Height approx. 21 cm Price £250.00 incl p&p Only 1 available	Nesting Russian Doll Set One of two specially commisioned doll sets, this is the only one available for sale anywhere in the world. Depicting the Queen, Prince Phillip and Royal residences including Buckingham Palace, Balmoral, Windsor Castle and Holyrood House, this is a unique and highly collectible doll set for anyone interested in the British Royal Family.

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Russian Dolls

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The Matryoshka Story

  Traditionally, Matryoshkas are wooden Russian nested dolls although the name is incorrectly given to other wooden dolls from Russia. They have been made since the 1880's, when a Russian merchant brought a bone carved image to Moscow from Japan. The image, of a Japanese sage called Fukuruma, nested several other images inside thus symbolising the everlasting chain of life. There are now 3 main centres of production, Sergiev Posad near Moscow and Semenov and Gorodetz in Nizhny Region.

  The tradition of Matryoshka manufacture is based on skills passed from father to son, involving lots of hard work. The wood is either Russian Silver Birch or Lime, the trees being specially cut in early spring when the bark is partially removed before piling the logs to dry. The next step is to cut the logs to the correct length for each size of doll, following which they are cut to shape and hollowed out on a lathe. The surface is sanded to polish it, then painted and varnished using techniques which vary from region to region.

  The traditional Matryoshka is a girl dressed in a sarafan and wearing a kerchief, the name comes from the Russian name Matryona. There are many designs and styles available nowadays, depicting both modern and traditional themes. They come in a range of sizes, with anything from 3 up to 15 or more nested dolls, although most of our sets at present are 5 pieces with a couple of 7 an 10 piece sets.

Tanya Dolls

  The unique dolls produced by Tanya Andreeva are highly collectable, partly because of their quality and beauty and partly because of their rarity. Tanya only ever produces small numbers of each pattern and colour, all slightly different from each other. Born in the Eastern Russian city of Magadan, she graduated from Moscow University and worked as an industrial chemist in Sergiev Posad. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, many people struggled to earn a living and Tanya returned to her childhood love of painting to help support her family. Her skill and unique style made her work much sought after and she became a full time artist, something she had always dreamed of doing as a young girl. We're very happy to be able to offer her beautifully painted dolls whenever we have some available.