First matryoshka nesting doll

Although the concept of nesting objets d'arte and even nesting dolls specifically originated outside Russia, matryoshka ("little mother/matron") have become the most iconic of their kind. The earliest known example was created in 1890 at the Children's Education Workshop based in Abramtsevo, Moscow, which was bankrolled by industrialist and patron of the arts Savva Mamontov. Carved by woodworker Vasilii Zvyozdochkin and decorated by painter Sergei Malyutin, it was dubbed "Rooster Girl" referring to the cockerel under the arm of the largest figure. Inside were seven other figures of descending size all in traditional rustic attire, including a female holding a scythe, a female holding a bowl (possibly containing porridge), a boy holding a broom and the smallest of which was a baby wrapped in a patchwork quilt.

The earliest examples of nesting decorative objects date back some 900 years before the emergence of the matryoshka. In China, around 1000 CE, craftsmen were making nesting boxes, both for storage and ornamental purposes. This idea of objects inside objects was also adopted by Japanese artisans, and it's in Japan where decorative wooden eggs and later dolls of decreasing size are thought to have first appeared, with nesting figures of deities such as the Shichi-Fukujin (Seven Lucky Gods) becoming popular souvenirs during pilgrimages, particularly in the Edo period (1603-1868).

Some historians suggest that Zvyozdochkin and Malyutin were inspired to create the matryoshka after Mamontov's wife, Elizaveta Mamontova, returned from a trip to Japan with a nesting doll; others assert that they developed the idea independently as a hollow doll in which toys or other gifts could be concealed within.

The matryoshka doll gained global attention after being exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, France, in 1900, where it received a bronze medal.