When most people see nesting dolls they immediately think of the very popular Russian dolls that were first made by artist Sergei Maliutin, but in fact his creation was inspired by an older set of Japanese dolls. Apparently Sergei found a set of wooden dolls representing Shichi-fuku-jin, the Seven Japanese Gods of Fortune, and returned home to design a Russian equivalent which is comprised of 8 dolls and the inner most doll is always a baby.