• A decisive of matryoshkas consists of a gauche figure which can be pulled apart to acknowledge another figure of the same denomination inside

• It has, in turn, another figure inside, and so on
• The shape is mostly cylindrical, rounded at the Nesting Dolls crack for the head and tapered towards the bottom, but dinky else; the dolls have no hands (except those that are painted)
• Traditionally the outer layer is a woman, dressed in a sarafan, holding a rooster
• Inside, it contains other figures that may be of both genders, mostly ending in a baby that does not open
• The artistry is in the painting of each doll, which can be extremely elaborate.

Matryoshkas are often advised to follow a particular theme, for instance peasant girls in traditional dress, but the theme can be anything, from fairy tale characters to Soviet leaders.