Viatka "Enhanced Uzor" Matryoshka [Vintage]

Product Description

Viatka "Dark Brown Base" Enhanced (Вятка "Темно-коричневая база" Улучшенная). Why enhanced? We invite you to learn more about it below. Of the several (over 800) hundred 7 nested sets that passed through our shop, we can remember only one that had the base of the first piece painted a separate color, in this case, dark brown. Additionally, the third piece, which leaned to the right due to the cut of the base (this lean, in and of itself, was uncommon), was painted with a coquettish expression to compensate, giving the matryoshka even more of a "one-of-a-kind" status. In about fine condition, no cracks or signs of wear. Almost like new. 5¼" down to 1". USSR paper label on the bottom.

The largest percentage of Viatka dolls, in our many years of experience, found little to no deviation from established standards of production. Almost every nesting doll had a red shawl around orange hair, a yellow body (and less often, a purple body), and "fingerprint swirls" in a variety of configurations. The first four dolls had faces, the last three dots for eyes and mouth.

Seldom found, however, were sets that did deviate from the norm. Sometimes the differences were obvious, and sometimes they were hidden, and harder to coax out. In a world of conformity and standardization, a set such as this one could mean a "silent cry for expression". Today expression is fundamental to normative Russian existence. It's easy to forget how "hot-housed" the norm for folk art was 50 years ago, which ended, more or less in 1991, and left in its wake, these archeological showpieces.

Read about the history of Kirov dolls Here