I wonder how many people have seen little papier-mâché dolls like this? They are ‘family heirlooms’ to me. I have adored them all my life. They were bought by my parents when they lived in Moscow and have been a feature of family dinner party tables, Christmas festivities and random decorations for years. There are sixteen little dolls, just 4inches/10cm in height, which spend most of their time lying in a cardboard box still wrapped in their original tissue which has been furled and unfurled so many times that it’s become exhausted and fragile to the touch. Each little figure is dressed in the national costume of their country. In the picture above we have: Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Moldavia and Kazakstan.
Left to right: Turkmenistan, Estonia, Tadzhikistan and Belorussia
Left to right Latvia, Azerbaidzhan, Russia and Georgia
Left to right: Lithuania, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Karelo-Finnish
These little dolls are robust and feisty; their colours are so vibrant and pure (probably thanks to spending so much time in their box). Clearly they’ve all been hand-painted and and delicious little details such as flowers in their the hair, long plaits, little feathers, veils, hats and headdresses have been painstakingly added.
Of course, as a child, I had no idea that my passion for paper would propel me into a business of my own, Papershades and Paperface and that my art would be made largely from paper later on. At the age of 12 I created portraits all of the ladies in watercolour and crayon on paper and stuck them onto a map of the Soviet Union I’d created. It was lovingly framed up and given to my father, Richard Freeborn, Professor of Russian Literature at London University, as a present. He hung it in his room at the Senate House in Bloomsbury. When the room was repainted the picture was taken down and propped against a corridor wall. It was stolen and never seen again. I sometimes wonder whether the picture is out there somewhere, hanging on a wall. I hope whoever now owns the ‘Russian Ladies’ enjoys it as much as he did.
However, I still have the originals and now feel moved to create some new paper art which incorporate impressions of these glorious little figures.
Paper Places 
Hello, I’m so excited that I found your site. I have a set of these little figures and have been trying to figure out where they are from. Thanks!
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Hello Barbara,
I’m so pleased to hear that they exist elsewhere. They’re so wonderful. My parents used to use them as table decorations so a few have been rather splashed with wine. I’ve always loved them. Something about taking them out of the old box, the rustle of the ancient tissue paper and the gorgeous colours of the paper. Glad to have found a confederate!
Best wishes,
Ros
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Hello Barbara!
I found this just by chance and so glad that I did! My mother had a wonderful Aladdin’s Cave of a shop in Dundee, Scotland in the 1960’s, 70s and 80s and sold these very dolls! They were sooo exotic to us back then in the dark British 1970’s . I had one or two of them and adored them. To my delight I found a complete unused and in packed box of them in the house when my mother died. The g brought me so much joy again at a dark time! They are very special to our family and hope to display them properly once more 🥰. Thanks for your lovely post! 😘
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Hi Ros
This is fantastic. I’ve looked online before for these, but feel blessed I came across your website.
My mum collected some of these in 60s/70s. We only have seven. Six of them are in your post above, but I have one other slender doll. Red over dress & cream underneath. Although I found these in a plastic container, there was no tissue paper there and as I remember my sister & I were allowed to play with them sometimes, they are NOT in pristine condition like yours !
I will keep my eye out for your stollen painting!
Very best wishes and thank you
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Hello Sarah,
Oh, I’m so pleased to hear that other people have these glorious little dolls. As I said in my blog, I’ve adored them all my life and the handling of them gives me such pleasure. And yes, if you happen to see an artwork featuring them, and a map of the then USSR, please do let me know!! Ros
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Hi Sarah,
I bought a single doll a few years ago, and was entranced. It took a many years of searching before I came upon a set of them. There is next to no information about them online, and I guess that their fragility made their survival through little hands and history an unlikely thing!
I came across this article, via the wonders of Google image search, thank you Ros, it was lovely to read your piece and everyone’s recollections.
Further searching brought me back to it, as I found a listing on ebay, and thought you’d like to know, although I’ve no idea whether you’ll get an alert that I’ve replied! Anyway, here is the link if you’re interested!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186124587888
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Thanks for your comment on the Russian dolls. I’m heartened to hear that there are more of them in the world. Though I dare say each one is unique because they’ve been handpainted. I just love unwrapping them from the ancient tissue (from the 1950s) and then wrapping them up again after I’ve admired and handled them. Something very special about these charming little figures. Good to have heard from you. Best,
Ros
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