I
bought this most unusual set in Moscow some years ago. I was
looking for a full set of Russian Presidents which included both
Chernyenko and Andropov and the only one I could find was this. The
faces are not painted but are a sort of transfer.
The doll itself is not
painted either but is a decoupage of old Russian banknotes. Even
more interesting is that original Russian coins have been set into
the wood of the first five dolls. The
artist explained to me that when he made the first doll in this style
there were problems about the use of the banknotes and that
eventually he was given special permission to use old notes which are
no longer legal tender. He also doesnt sign the dolls as he says
that if any problems develop he doesn want to be traced by his
name on the base of the doll.