Album C

This category started out with High Quality modern dolls. Clearly some of these listed here are not of any special quality and need to be recategorized.

Golden Cockerel is a prominent Boone, North Carolina-based company established in 1993, dedicated to importing and creating authentic, hand-painted Russian nesting dolls. Founded by Walton Conway in collaboration with Russian partners, the company specializes in high-quality, hand-carved linden wood dolls crafted in St. Petersburg, bridging traditional Russian folk art with a global market, including custom designs for collectors.

This group of nesting dolls started out grouping interesting subjects and mini sets. Eventually I need to recategorize many of these among the other albums.

Bits and Pieces is a catalog that mostly sells jigsaw puzzles and other games and puzzles, but they also sell a line of nesting dolls. Bits and Pieces offers a variety of hand-painted, wooden nesting dolls featuring thematic designs such as woodland animals, pets, and holiday scenes. Typically sold in sets of 5, these decorative figures range from $12 to $25, with popular sets including animal themes like foxes, monkeys, and owls.

Early 1990s Bits and Pieces dolls were cheaply made in China, but later in around 2000 they started selling better quality dolls made in Russia by Golden Cockerel. In 2008 the company was sold to a new owner and generally stopped making new styles of nesting dolls.

These are dolls from other catalogs or online shops I’ve found over the years, but did not continue to find many dolls or continue to shops from them. Examples are Gimbels Department Store, RedBox.ca in Canada, RusToys.com in Russia, Milleniums.org in Moscow.

This category is mostly for Art Quality dolls, but there are some here that need to be moved to another category.

Historical and political nesting dolls are often satirical or historical narratives, primarily portraying Russian and Soviet leaders to reflect changing power structures. Originating in the late 19th century, these sets often depict political leaders in descending order of power. Other sets feature America or other countries, and even dolls designed for certain companies.

These are Modern dolls mostly from Russia after the fall of the USSR. These dolls are typically not unique to any special area within Russia and could have been made by an artist any in city.

These are Christmas themed nesting dolls. In Russian tradition, Ded Moroz (Father Frost) is the primary winter gift-giver, accompanied by his granddaughter, Snegurochka (The Snow Maiden), rather than a wife or elf. They bring presents, usually on New Year’s Eve, with Snegurochka acting as his essential helper and link to children.

Many of these are uniquely shaped dolls, but some are miscategorized here and I need to move them to other albums eventually.

Sports nesting dolls gained significant popularity during the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2000s, particularly as unique collectibles. Some of these dolls are made of wood, but many are made of resin or ceramic.