Soviet Nesting Doll

Made in Izhevsk, the capital city of the Udmurt Republic, Russia.
Never heard of that republic before.
Is not the decoration a bit unusual for a nesting doll made during the USSR years? I guess it was made for export with the label being in English. If not wrong USSR was changed to Russia in 1992 but the communist regime fell in 1989, so maybe made in that time frame?
What do you think is the ethnicity of these island people?

 

These things have all kinds of different themes. Looks like this is 'paintings by Gaugin'. Maybe in Russian collections?

 

Here are Tahitian nesting dolls made in Russia taken from a Gauguin painting. They are not yours , but do show Russia did/does make native Tahitian/Polynesian motif nesting dolls.

https://www.fromrussia.com/gauguin-day-of-the-god-nesting-doll.html

--- Susan

 

Thank you both.

 

These are definitely from Gauguin paintings. The islanders would be Tahitian or Marquesan. Not that it matters to the Udmurt nation, of course.

 

Any theme that will sell, apparently.
I've even seen nesting dolls with "totem pole" designs inspired by the totem poles of the US and Canadian NW Coast.

 

I think the Communist system and USSR still existed until late 1991, but were loosened and changed throughout Gorbachev's time as President.

See the following quote from a Wikipedia article:
Dissolution of the USSR[edit]
Main article: Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was a process of systematic disintegration, which occurred in the economy, social structure and political structure. It resulted in the abolition of the Soviet Federal Government ("the Union center") and independence of the USSR's republics on 25 December 1991. The process was caused by a weakening of the Soviet government, which led to disintegration and took place from about 19 January 1990 to 31 December 1991.[17] The process was characterized by many of the republics of the Soviet Union declaring their independence and being recognized as sovereign nation-states.

Above is from this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1982–91)

So, I think your idea that the matryoshka was manufactured in the late 1980s or very early 1990s is probably right. Prior to Gorbachev, it seems to me that it would be far less likely that a manufacturer in the USSR would target English-speaking markets with their wares.

 

I hate those Russian dolls. They're so full of themselves...