In 1890, the first Matryoshka doll was designed and
painted by Sergey Malyutin and carved from wood by Vasily Zvyozdochkin.
Malyutin and Zvyozdochkin were both Russian folk artists living under the
patronage of the wealthy industrialist Savva Mamontov on the renowned
Abramtsevo estate. Located north of Moscow, the Abramtsevo colony has continued
to be a famous center for Slavic culture and folk art since the nineteenth
century. Matryoshka dolls received global exposure in 1900 after Mamontov’s
wife presented them at the Exposition Universelle world's fair in Paris where
they won the bronze metal. (Source)
