Matryoshka dolls

Reading about an advertisement on Matryoshka chairs reminds me of the Russian Matryoshka dolls.These chairs go by the same name and are the stackable four-in-one series of papa, mama and two baby chairs.

I was in Sergiev Posad last year and this tiny village about an hour or more away from Moscow by coach is an area notable for Matryoshka dolls and famous for the monastery and nature. All visitors cannot resist buying these dolls and other wooden wares such as whistles, combs , cutleries etc at a price very reasonable and cheap compared to other places in the city.

" Matryoshka " is pronounced as ma-TRYOSH-ka where YO is pronounced as a hard "o".
"Matryoshka" is a derivative of the Russian female first name " matryona" which is traditionally associated with a fat, robust Russian woman.

This set of dolls of decreasing sizes placed one inside the other can have as many as 100 nested figures ending up in a baby that does not open.These figures are cylindrical, rounded at the top for the head and tapered towards the bottom. These dolls have no hands and the painting on them can be extremely elaborate.The theme for the painting ranges from pleasant girls in traditional dresses to anything from fairy tale characters to Soviet leaders.Such souvenirs are symbolic of Russia. So what are our symbolic sourvenirs ? Are they the pewterwares or the batik
ones?