Kalinin Maidens

Kalinin Maidens (Калининские Девочки). This set from Kalinin is not a common set. The decoration is outlined by poker-work and quite different from traditional Viatka (aka Kirov or Nolinsk), Semenov or Polkh-Maidan dolls. The doll features are very expressive. The wood is linden and the colors are bright with thickly applied.  They don't have the typical bottom base typical of other dolls. This matryoshka was made in the mid-1980's. 6 nest, 4 in height. 1 only, as shown.

Condition note: the first doll at the top has a bit of paint loss, which is commonly found in dolls from Kalinin.

The Kalinin Matryoshka (Калининская Матрешка) was made in Kalinin, situated on the Upper Volga River. In actuality, Kalinin was the medieval city of Tver, but had been renamed Kalinin after one of Stalin's loyal henchmen. After 1991, many cities were restored to their pre-Soviet names, for example Sergiev Posad (Zagorsk), Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin), Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky) to name just a few. Thus, Kalinin was restored back to Tver. .