Hello! It's a short post today, as my photos can speak louder than my words. This is a new vignette in the shop, which I've titled "Murderous Rue Morgue Halloween Vignette". Isn't it gorgeous?
The collection includes a framed antique etching, a set of six Halloween classics, some pretty antique objects, along with two authentic skulls and two fake crows. Also included is a pair of wall brackets. (Only one is visible.) The candlesticks are so heavy, they're lethal. The little polished wood bottle holds precisely two drams of whatever liquid you prefer. And the pair of skulls was found in our woods (remember the coywolf?) and have been soaked in bleach for several weeks. They're lovely. Lovely bones.
The etching is from 1822 and is of Paris. It's hand-colored and in really great condition. Can you believe that matte is painted directly on the glass? The gold too!
The dioramic view is of la Chambre des Députés Prise du Quai de la Grenouillière. The word 'quai' refers to the built-up walkway along the Seine, which was a new-fangled convenience for pedestrians in the 1700s. These days, during the summer, the city imports thousands of tons of sand and dumps it on the quai near Notre Dame for Parisians who can't get out of town to a real beach.
The books include The Murder in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, Seven Gothic Tales by Isak Dinesen, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving, and Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Delicious, right? It has inspired me to host a Rebecca viewing party later this month. Let me know if you want to come. And start practicing that line: "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." Oh, to pen such an opening hook!
The spectral and mysterious fire tender is my son, Atticus, who has a long ropy scar running down his spine. It is the result of a terrible fall off a building. He was very lucky and is now recovered. But as an amateur actor, not to mention the product of Halloween-crazed parents, he was not shy about baring his back for dramatic effect. After all, having survived the trauma of such an accident, how could he not put his demons to rest by flaunting his scar. Isn't that what Halloween is about? Laughing at our demons?
Happy Halloween, my little fiends! Click on the photos or click here for shopping information.
Photos by Renn Kuhnen.
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