These photos are from The Art of the Russian Matryoshka. They are offered for editorial use by written permission. We invite publishers to contact us by e-mail.

The shots posted here are, regretably, not in a sequence of production, but in the order scanned by printers of the book. These low-resolution photos are for reference only; most have been color-corrected and adjusted in their high-resolution version. Most photos convert handsomely to black & white.
Scan 290. This woman has been a lathe turner for 40 years. Scan 292. Painting dolls is a methodical process.
Scan 309. Most factories split logs with heavy machinery.
Scan 293. Applying a coat of lacquer each day for three days is done, very literally, by hand.
Scan 311. The concentration on production leaves little time for clean-up.
Scan 310. Workpieces are trimmed to size on the table saw.
Scan 313. Drawings and specifications for dolls are unusual on the production floor.
Scan 312. Typically, a batch of bottom pieces are made, then tops to fit.
Scan 315. A final sanding is done on a small spindle lathe. Scan 319. A backyard lathe shed in the village of Maidan.
Scan 321. "Old world craftsmanship" only begins to describe Maidan.
Scan 320. Lathes in Maidan are as hand-made as the dolls.
Scan 339. The cavity and shape of the bottom piece is made to fit a specific top piece.
Scan 324. Stripped linden logs are stored upright for curing.
Scan 352. Mounting a new workpiece.
Scan 341. Marking the alignment for "fit."
Scan 340. Turning the exterior shape.
Scan 348. Preparing the raw dolls with starch to seal the wood.
Scan 346. Women work the lathes as commonly as men in the factories.
Scan 361. An automated lathe uses birch wood rather than linden.
Scan 355. Applying starch by hand.
Scan 365. The commercial workshop in Russia bears little similarity to what would be found in a US home or factory shop.
Scan 363. A load of birch logs brought from the railhead on a conveyor.
Scan 377. Logs are debarked and squared in a roller-fed saw.
Scan 368. A painting table in a factory has up to 8 work stations.
Scan 386. Used hypodermic syringes are used to handle the tiny pieces.
Scan 385. The tiniest pieces still have hand-painted details.
Credit for all photos except the last three must read:

Photo courtesy of Rick Hibberd, The Art of the Russian Matryoshka

The last three photo credits must read:

Photo courtesy of Yakov Chitov, The Art of the Russian Matryoshka
Scan 400. Some artists draw with pencil before painting. Others do not.
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