Matreshka Is a wooden doll, usually in a colorful dress with successively smaller ones fitted into it. The doll is generally recognized as a symbol of Russian national art. The predecessor of this Russian doll was brought to Russia from the island Honshu. The Japanese affirm that it was an unknown Russian monk who carved the first doll of this kind on island. The first Russian matreshka appeared in the late XIX century. The female name Matrena, Matresha was wide-spread in pre-Revolutionary provinces. It derives from the Latin word mater. The name is associated with a mother of large family who has good health and a corpulent figure. For the first time the quantity production of this doll was organized near Moscow in Sergiev Posad. The style of Russian matreshka painting was greatly influenced by icon-painters of Sergiev Posad.