Russian Crafts

As we are starting a project about Russian handicrafts, here are the first links:
Matryoshka doll
http://www.russian-crafts.co.uk/history/rc_history.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matryoshka_doll
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matryoshka
https://allencentre.wikispaces.com/Russian+Words+5

The  Matryoshka doll was born in 1890 in a children’s educational workshop near Moscow. The workshop was developed by Sava Mamontov, an industrialist and patron of the arts.  At a workshop meeting, someone showed the group a Japanese figurine ['fɪɡəri:n] (статуэтка) with smaller figurines nested inside it. It is believed that this first nesting doll was made by a Russian Monk on of Island Honshu. The artists loved the idea of nesting dolls and began creating them. In 1900, Mamontov’s wife presented the Matryoshka dolls at the World Exhibition in Paris and earned a bronze medal. The dolls became very popular and soon many artists in Russia were making Matryoshka dolls.