Moscow (Part III - Matrushka Dolls)

Click here for Part I, II

I love matrushka dolls, both as a toy and as an art form. I love seeing how the painters reduce the complexity of the designs as the dolls get smaller and smaller. I love that they come in so many different styles. And I love the ones that have eeny-weeny baby dolls in the middle.  They are just so cute, and I think they are under-rated as a form of art.

I owned just one, a souvenir that a friend brought me from Poland. Reviews of Moscow's Matrushka Doll Museum said it's only two rooms and displays dolls from only one specific time period, but that it has an excellent gift shop. I set aside a fairly significant sum of money to buy souvenirs there for myself, and gifts for friends. After the Kremlin, Red Square, and the Bolshoi, the Matrushka Doll Museum was the only site I was determined to see while visiting Moscow.

I was so excited! Moscow! Kremlin! Jews! Matrushka dolls!