A Russian doll

A Russian doll, or matryoshka, is a hollow, lathe-made wooden figurine that opens in two horizontally, revealing a similar figurine of a smaller size inside. This second figurine itself contains another figurine, and so on. A series most often includes 5, 7 or 10 dolls but can go up to 64 for large models. The word matryoshka is derived from the female first name Matriona, traditionally associated with a Russian woman from the countryside, robust and generously shaped. We also sometimes speak of a nesting doll, in reference to the Nesting Mother puppet, which represents a large, strong woman surrounded by children..