This toy was made by a craftswoman Natalia Frolova in 2013. She created a figurine depicting a mother with two children — a traditional motif for Chernishino clay toys. The craftswoman outlined the body curves, which corresponds to the craft’s tradition of depicting women as the goddess of fertility. The costume’s painting is also performed in the Chernishino style and resembles cuckoo’s feathers — the craftswomen’s favorite bird. To make the work more authentic, Natalya Frolova painted the figurine not with acrylics or watercolors, but with aniline paints that had been used long ago.

One of the 20th-century craftswomen, Elena Shelyaeva said the following about such mother figurines,

Her story got most vivid when she talked about the outfits of local fashionmongers, ‘What used to be on the Christmas tree was on the women as well. It was good, even though they looked like scarecrows, but you see — it looked very good.’

Vasily Glagolev, an art teacher in Novosil, a great connoisseur of this toy, left interesting memories of the role of women in the Chernishino craft. Thanks to his enthusiasm, Chernishino items are now in the collections of many museums over the country. In 1933, he wrote

The researcher also said that the population still appreciated their favorite tradition, ‘The affordability and habit of buying a clay toy maintained its popularity. Despite the higher price, the toys were quickly sold out. During the fair, the streets of even the most remote villages were filled with melancholic sounds of whistles.’