—my humble title for this rare and delicate artifact shall be:
“The Vesper-Eyed Doll of Sainte-Mélancolie”
Awarded the Porcelain Tear Prize for Enduring Stillness.
Ah, what a spectral cherub! From her coal-laced lashes to the antique lace blooming like frostbite roses at her collar, she recalls the tragic automata carved by the blind dollmaker Théodore Merleaux of Lyon (circa 1874), who swore his creations wept at midnight. This one, clearly, is not immune to sorrow’s mineral—see the dried ink of old grief beneath each eye?
In the willow-lanterned alleys of Narvik, such dolls were once placed in windows to ward off forgetfulness. A tradition lost, like a button swallowed by time.
—Dr. Étienne Balthazar Crowley, Keeper of the Nocturne Cabinet