Matryoshka is a Russian wooden toy in the form of a painted doll, inside which are similar dolls of smaller size. The number of nested dolls is usually from three or more.

Russian wooden painted doll appeared in Russia in the 90s of the XIX century, during the period of rapid economic and cultural development of the country. It was the time of the rise of national self-awareness, when in society ever more interest began to manifest in Russian culture in general and in art in particular. In this connection, a whole artistic trend emerged, known as the "Russian style". The restoration and development of the traditions of the folk peasant toy was given special attention. To this end, the workshop "Children's Upbringing" was opened in Moscow. Initially, dolls were created in it, showing holiday suits of residents of different provinces, counties of Russia, and accurately passing on the ethnographic features of women's folk clothes. In the depths of this workshop, the idea of creating a Russian wooden doll was born, sketches for which were proposed by professional artist Sergei Malyutin (1859-1937), one of the active creators and propagandists of the "Russian style" in art. The idea of creating a detachable wooden doll was suggested to S. Malyutin by the Japanese toy Daruma, brought from the island of Honshu by the wife of SI Mamontov. It was the figure of a good-natured bald old man, the sage Fukurama, in which there were several other figures, nested one in the other.

The Russian wooden doll was called Matryoshka. It was not accidental. In the pre-revolutionary province, the names Matryona, Matryosh were considered one of the most common female names, based on the word "mother". These names were associated with the mother of a large family with good health and a burly figure. Subsequently, it became a household name and began to mean a latched, disconnected, colorfully painted wooden product. But even to this day, Matryoshka remains a symbol of motherhood, fertility, because a doll with a numerous puppet family perfectly expresses the figurative basis of this ancient symbol of human culture.

Matryoshka dolls are often designed to follow a particular theme; for instance, peasant girls in traditional dress. Originally, themes were often drawn from tradition or fary tale characters, in keeping with the craft tradition—but since the 20th century, they have embraced a larger range, including Soviet leaders.

Modern artists create many new styles of nesting dolls. Common themes include floral, Christmas, Easter, religious, animal collections, portraits and caricatures of famous politicians, musicians, athletes, astronauts, "robots," and popular movie stars.