A doll is one of the most typical toys; it has always been in the focus of attention of fashion and any art trend, it was a “tsar toy”. The Russian doll has glorious and rich history.
Since ancient times, a rag-doll was a traditional doll in everyday life of the Russian village even in the poorest peasant families. There were up to 100 of them in some houses. The doll was a symbol of future generations and adults encouraged children to play with them in every possible way. Dolls were handed down from generation to generation. Improvised materials were usually used to make them: straw, clay, wood, bast, cane, corn cobs, roots of herbs, and twigs. People believed that dolls could protect them from evil forces, take their illnesses and misfortunes, and bring them happiness. No holiday was celebrated without them. Dolls were connected not only with cults and rites with time.
They started to manufacture toys in Nurnberg in the middle of the 15th century. Craftsmen united in guilds and every guild made dolls of a certain type or accessories for them. Nurnberg’s dolls were sold all over Europe. Workshops where dolls were manufactured were founded in Moscow and other cities since the 19th century. In the 1970s, they started to produce plastic in the Soviet Union. There were millions of industrial standard toys made by about 900 enterprises. A new kind of art – author’s doll – was created in the 20th century.
The exhibition “Such Different Dolls” was opened in the Museum of Town and District History in the middle of December. Most of the exhibits are author’s dolls of M.N. Vasilieva, M.A. Sysoeva, Y.P. Makina and T.V. Trubnikova. Besides, the display presents dolls from the private collections of I.A. Gostinshchikova and T.V. Trubnikova. In all, there are 71 articles. The exhibition will be open till January 20, 2014. We invite you to visit the Museum of Town and District History during holidays and to get a lot of positive emotions!
