Product Description
Viatka "Purple" 7-nest (Vintage). Of the over 800 hundred 7-nested USSR sets that passed through our shop, this set is the only one that has three purple dresses on the first three pieces. In about fine condition, no cracks or major signs of wear. 5" down to 1". USSR purple stamp on the bottom. 1 only.
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 (purple was uncommon), 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 deviated 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". Expressions today are fundamental to normative Russian existence. It's easy to forget how "hot-housed" folk art was 50 plusyears ago, which ended, more or less in 1991, and left in its wake, these archeological sets.
![Kirov Purple Matryoshka, 8nest [1979]. Scarce color arrangement of an 8pc Kirov doll, circa 1977. This matryoshka set was made nearly 50 years ago, some 20 years after the formation of the production center itself. Any nesting dolls from the last quarter of the 20th century are somewhat scarce in about fine, unplayed with condition. Of note here is the continuation of the color purple dresses of the first three pieces, and one more near the end. The lines are sharp, as are the features, on the first four pieces, and the expressions are somber. The flowers, dots and swirls are numerous. The pieces all fit well. There is some age-related wear at the opening, but this can be color touched, if desired (we haven't). This is a highly collectible, 49 year-old set in about fine condition. 5⅝" down to tiny. The label reads (in part): Производственное объединение "Вятка" по выпуску игрушек г. Киров (Production association "Vyatka" for the production of toys, city of Kirov), plus a state mandated price, an article number and the export date (Oct 1983). It's not easy to find information on how the Russian toy, specifically the Matryoshka doll, came to be the number one tourist and export item of the USSR era. The Russian, aka Soviet, toy production began courting the tourist trade in earnest sometime in the 1960s, when it encouraged small collectives and factories to produce souvenirs to be sold to non-Russians. It started slowly, but eventually built up speed as the Moscow 1980s Olympics was slated to welcome foreign, specifically from Europe and the West (aka USA), tourists. Interest in Russian handicrafts was also stoked by importers of said goods in the US and elsewhere.](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-kgl10g/images/stencil/500x659/products/4964/43553/Kirov_8_Purple__62604.1768270796.jpg?c=2 "Kirov Purple Matryoshka, 8nest [1979]. Scarce color arrangement of an 8pc Kirov doll, circa 1977. This matryoshka set was made nearly 50 years ago, some 20 years after the formation of the production center itself. Any nesting dolls from the last quarter of the 20th century are somewhat scarce in about fine, unplayed with condition. Of note here is the continuation of the color purple dresses of the first three pieces, and one more near the end. The lines are sharp, as are the features, on the first four pieces, and the expressions are somber. The flowers, dots and swirls are numerous. The pieces all fit well. There is some age-related wear at the opening, but this can be color touched, if desired (we haven't). This is a highly collectible, 49 year-old set in about fine condition. 5⅝\" down to tiny. The label reads (in part): Производственное объединение \"Вятка\" по выпуску игрушек г. Киров (Production association \"Vyatka\" for the production of toys, city of Kirov), plus a state mandated price, an article number and the export date (Oct 1983). It's not easy to find information on how the Russian toy, specifically the Matryoshka doll, came to be the number one tourist and export item of the USSR era. The Russian, aka Soviet, toy production began courting the tourist trade in earnest sometime in the 1960s, when it encouraged small collectives and factories to produce souvenirs to be sold to non-Russians. It started slowly, but eventually built up speed as the Moscow 1980s Olympics was slated to welcome foreign, specifically from Europe and the West (aka USA), tourists. Interest in Russian handicrafts was also stoked by importers of said goods in the US and elsewhere.")