Largest private collection of Russian matreshkas

The Russian Varnished Works of Art and Matreshkas exhibition from the private collection of local woman resident Anna Novolotskaya is being held at the Novosibirsk Regional Museum of Local Lore (Western Siberia). More than 1,000 works of folk applied art made in the 20th century are on display at the show. Their list includes about 200 varnished boxes from papier-mache, twenty Zhostovo trays (varnished iron salvers bearing bright pictures of vegetation) and colourful Pavlov-Posad woollen shawls. Matreshkas make up more than half of the exhibits. One of them consists of twenty wooden dolls, the biggest having a height of about 60 centimetres, and the smallest - 5 millimetres. Among these Russian dolls it is impossible to find two identical ones. This is the largest private collection of matreshkas in Russia. As owner of this fine collection Anna Novolotskaya said, she began to collect works of folk art ten years ago. All in all, her collection includes more than 7,000 items. Anna Novolotskaya plans to set up in the immediate future a public organisation which will engage in propaganda of present-day artistic activity in the Russian folk traditions.

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