{"title":"New","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"incarnate-the-doctors-photographs","title":"Incarnate: The Doctor's Photographs","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn July 27, 1969 a family doctor captured the most graphic photographs of the possessed ever taken, images so disturbing that the Archbishop immediately ordered them sealed within the Vatican's Secret Archives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHidden for decades, these three full colour photographic slides lay preserved alongside the Archbishop's detailed and disturbing account of an exorcism that would forever alter the lives of all who witnessed it. The encounter would prey on the mind of the Doctor until his mysterious death in the spring of 1971, his body discovered in suspicious circumstances on a quiet morning in Dubuque. His death was reported as accidental but does that tell the whole story?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIncarnate: The Doctor's Photographs is the first collaboration between Laudanum House and Dark Artifice, transforming one of bizarre magic's most compelling narratives into a tangible encounter with the supernatural. This collection of authentically crafted artefacts serves as a bridge between our World and the dark events documented within Incarnate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe story begins with Dark Artifice's release of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/darkartifice.com\/products\/incarnate\" title=\"Incarnate\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eIncarnate\u003c\/a\u003e in 2024 - a chilling chronicle that captivated the bizarre magic community, with all 113 meticulously crafted editions claimed within mere weeks. At its core lies a disturbing case extracted from the Vatican's most closely guarded repository: the documented exorcism of a young boy that would forever haunt those involved.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThrough painstaking restoration and recolouring, the disturbing photographs originally published within Incarnate have been transformed into period-authentic slides, ready to cast their ethereal images through vintage projectors. What began as a whispered collaboration between Roy Lines and Bobby Hasbun has evolved into something more - a carefully curated collection that dissolves the boundary between artefact and performance, between historical document and supernatural manifestation available as a fully endorsed collaboration between Laudanum House and Dark Artifice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eThe Collection\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Vatican Archive Materials\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWithin an authentic archival envelope from the Vatican Secret Archives, you'll discover three meticulously hand-crafted 1960s slides. Each bears a restored and colorised image from the doctor's collection, complete with official Vatican reference numbers corresponding to the documented case. An accompanying archival record card provides provenance for these mysterious photographs, preserved in pristine condition as they would have been in the Archivum Secretum Vaticanum.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eResearch Materials\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe collection includes compelling evidence of the case's tragic aftermath - a carefully preserved clipping from the Dubuque Telegraph Herald in 1971, documenting the doctor's unexpected death. Accompanying this are blank prescription forms from the doctor's practice, offering performers the freedom to incorporate their own narrative elements - whether cryptic symbols, prescribed medications, or perhaps even the doctor's final words.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePremium Edition Enhancement\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThose selecting the Premium edition receive an additional set of three matching slides, perfect for advanced performance techniques. Many performers utilise these for dramatic effect, perhaps revealing a progressively deteriorating set of images that hint at the supernatural forces at work during the performance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePerformance Possibilities\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile these slides reveal their haunting details when held to light, they truly come alive when projected. The mechanical clunk of a vintage projector adds an authentically unsettling dimension to any performance, transforming intimate presentations into theatrical experiences that will haunt your audiences long after the lights come up.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eThe Editions\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eStandard Edition\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThree authentically crafted colour 1960s slides, each hand-stamped with Vatican archive reference numbers\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOriginal archival record card\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePeriod-appropriate archival storage envelope\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNewspaper clipping detailing the doctor's mysterious death\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBlank prescription slips from the doctor's office\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePerformance notes and ideas\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCertificate of Authenticity\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePremium Edition - SOLD OUT\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll items from the Standard Edition plus:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAn additional set of three matching slides for advanced performance possibilities\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePerfect for creating dramatic effects through slide switching or progressive deterioration during performance\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach piece has been carefully designed to match the period, with hand crafted archive stamps and period-appropriate materials that support the narrative of a carefully preserved Vatican document.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese artefacts seamlessly integrate with the original Incarnate narrative, allowing you to enhance your presentation with tangible evidence from the Vatican Archives. The slides can be dramatically revealed through vintage projectors or held to the light, while the accompanying documents provide compelling evidence of the case's tragic aftermath. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePlease note that you will need to own your own copy of Incarnate.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003e\u003cem\u003eIncarnate: The Doctor's Photographs is released with the full endorsement and permission of Bobby Hasbun and Steve Peebles from \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/darkartifice.com\" title=\"Dark Artifice\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eDark Artifice\u003c\/a\u003e. Images redacted on request of Dark Artifice.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e","brand":"Laudanum House","offers":[{"title":"Standard","offer_id":50354112397576,"sku":"IDP-STAN-001","price":100.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Premium","offer_id":50354112430344,"sku":"IDP-PREM-001","price":130.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0903\/6457\/6008\/files\/idp_0002.jpg?v=1732636411"},{"product_id":"mechanical-companion","title":"Peculiar Mechanical Companion","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis remarkable specimen is a Rosko McGregor Smoking Man, a battery-operated automaton manufactured in Japan during the 1950s\u003c\/span\u003e.\u003cspan\u003e Standing 11 inches tall, this uncanny figure is crafted from lithographed tin and fabric, adorned in a distinctive crimson jacket and corduroy trousers.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 class=\"mb-2 mt-6 text-lg first:mt-3\"\u003eMechanical Curiosities\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhen activated, this fascinating automaton performs a mesmerising ritual - raising a miniature cigar to his peculiarly cheerful visage. His unsettling azure eyes and fixed grin create an expression of perpetual mirth that seems to harbour darker secrets. The figure sits perched upon a decorated blue compartment, clutching a walking stick with unnaturally rigid fingers.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 class=\"mb-2 mt-6 text-lg first:mt-3\"\u003eTales of Unexplained Phenomena\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eFrom our Archives of the Unexplained: \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mt-md block\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe most disturbing accounts come from a retired toymaker in Osaka who claims these automatons were manufactured during the midnight shift at the Rosko factory. Workers reported hearing childlike giggling emanating from the storage room where completed McGregor figures were stored. More unsettling still, security logs from 1956 note multiple instances of the figures being found arranged in circles, despite being packed individually in their boxes the night before.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"mt-md block\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe specimen exhibits the expected patina of age, lending it an appropriately haunting aspect. Please see the photographs for full details of his distressed condition. When the switch is rocked he will creakily stand, raise his cigar to his lips, and open his eyes wide. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNote: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eseveral owners have reported the figure continuing its smoking ritual during the darkest hours of winter nights.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mt-md block\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eLaudanum House assumes no liability for any nocturnal disturbances or unexplained cigar smoke following acquisition of this item. Storage in a blessed display case is strongly recommended.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Laudanum House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50452613431560,"sku":"CRSTY-ATMTN-001","price":130.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0903\/6457\/6008\/files\/automaton-0057.jpg?v=1736448942"},{"product_id":"constable-hollow-eyes","title":"Constable Hollow-Eyes","description":"\u003cp\u003eBehold, dear connoisseurs of the peculiar, a most unsettling artefact now gracing the digital shelves of Laudanum House. This ghastly puppet, a relic of 1950s Britain, stands as a testament to the macabre undercurrents that once rippled through the seemingly innocent realm of children's entertainment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eThe Watchman's Curse\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis grim sentinel, with his unnaturally rosy cheeks and piercing gaze, is said to have once belonged to a travelling puppeteer known only as \"Old Grimshaw\". Legend has it that Grimshaw, driven mad by the incessant laughter of children, imbued his creations with a fraction of his tormented soul.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe puppet before you, christened \"Constable Hollow-Eyes\" by our discerning curators, is believed to be the last surviving member of Grimshaw's Punch and Judy troupe. Those who have owned him speak in hushed tones of nighttime patrols, tiny bootprints found in the dust, and the faint echo of a tinny whistle in empty rooms.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eA Collector's Prize\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNow, this eerie guardian can be yours to own, a centrepiece for any cabinet of curiosities. His plump visage, frozen in an eternal rictus of dutiful mirth, will watch over your possessions with unwavering vigilance. The vibrant, almost garish floral pattern of his sleeves serves as a jarring counterpoint to his sombre uniform, a reminder of the thin veil between order and chaos.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcquire Constable Hollow-Eyes today, and introduce a touch of unease to your modern abode. But be warned, dear customer – some say that on particularly dark nights, when the moon is but a sliver in the sky, one might catch a glimpse of those glassy eyes blinking, or hear the softest creak as that painted mouth attempts to form words best left unspoken.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAct quickly to make this disturbing piece of history your own. After all, in the realm of the curious and bizarre, is it not better to be the watcher than the watched?\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Laudanum House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50474641064200,"sku":"LHC-00001","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0903\/6457\/6008\/files\/police-puppet-0011.jpg?v=1734267530"},{"product_id":"le-diable-en-boite","title":"Le Diable en Boîte","description":"\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p md-focus\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain md-expand\"\u003eIn the fourteenth century, the rector of North Marston conjured the devil into his boot. He said certain words, the devil went in, and the boot was shut. This became a popular image across medieval England: a man holding a boot with something inside it that could not get out. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p md-focus\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain md-expand\"\u003eBy the sixteenth century, someone had made the image physical. A wooden box. A spring. A small figure of a devil that leapt out when the lid was opened. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p md-focus\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain md-expand\"\u003eThe French called it a \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-pair-s\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003ediable en boîte\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003e. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p md-focus\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eA devil in a box.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eFor two or three centuries, the figure that emerged was always a devil. Then, in the nineteenth century, it became a clown. The name stayed. The thing it named had been replaced.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eThe figure in this box is not a clown. It predates the transition. It wears a linen cap and a white cotton garment and has been looking the same way for more than a hundred years. It has no horns, no tail, no red paint. It does not look like a devil.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eIt looks like a person.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eThere is a folk tradition, older than the toy, of making a likeness to stand in for someone at a distance. A surrogate into which something might be drawn away from its host. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eIf the figure in this box was made not to represent a devil but to receive one, then what the box contains is not the possession. It is the poor soul it inhabited.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eThe box was built with a brass clasp. The clasp is gone. The hole in the front face is clean; it was removed deliberately. In the only comparable account we have, the clasp was found on the floor beside the closed box.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eThe box cannot now be closed.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 class=\"md-end-block md-heading\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eIn Performance\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eThe \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-pair-s\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003ediable en boîte\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003e is not a trick.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003e It is a genuine nineteenth-century object made in the shape of a toy for purposes that had nothing to do with play.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eSet it on the table. Do not introduce it. The figure will already be extended, already looking at the room. Let someone notice it. Tell the story when the time is right. Show them the hole where the clasp was. Everything you say is true. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eThe question the object leaves in the room is not \u003cem\u003ewhat\u003c\/em\u003e is inside it, but \u003cem\u003ewho\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eFull performance ideas are included in the accompanying field guide.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 class=\"md-end-block md-heading\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eIncludes\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eGenuine 19th-century French \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-pair-s\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003ediable en boîte\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"md-pair-s\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-pair-s\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eLe Diable en Boîte\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain md-expand\"\u003e, a Laudanum House field guide to the history of the object and the tradition it comes from\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Laudanum House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50568111522056,"sku":"LHC-00002","price":95.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0903\/6457\/6008\/files\/jack-0058_b350663d-7c99-4a67-9fcb-cf08cc06b188.jpg?v=1772474981"},{"product_id":"haunted-harriet","title":"Haunted Harriet","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe piece, named Harriet by her previous owner, features a remarkably unsettling visage with wide, staring glass eyes and rosy cheeks. The dummy is attired in a period-appropriate navy blue dress adorned with delicate white trim and embellishments, complemented by grey stockings and black shoes. A cream-coloured bow adorns its head, adding to its deceptively innocent appearance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eProduction Details\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eThis striking theatrical prop dummy is believed to originate from the acclaimed series \"Into the Badlands\", understood to have been used as set dressing in the episode \"Cobra Fang, Panther Claw\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCrafted from modern materials including resin and plastic, this static prop was designed specifically for atmospheric effect rather than performance use - the eyes and mouth are fixed in position. The construction demonstrates excellent attention to period detail while maintaining the show's signature dark aesthetic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eStrange Occurrences\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter filming, Harriet was sold through auction to a collector of theatrical props. It is believed that \u003cspan\u003eHarriet has since exhibited an unsettling tendency to relocate herself. On three separate occasions she was discovered her seated at a breakfast table, despite having been secured in a prop storage room the night before. Most disturbingly, the cream-coloured bow in her auburn hair had appeared freshly pressed each morning.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eCondition\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe piece remains in excellent display condition, retaining all its original costuming and paintwork. Minor wear consistent with production use may be present adding to its authentic character as a genuine television prop.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Laudanum House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50568189116680,"sku":"LHC-00004","price":275.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0903\/6457\/6008\/files\/dummy-0031.jpg?v=1736446038"},{"product_id":"ingalls-fortune-telling-cards","title":"Ingalls' Fortune Telling Cards","description":"\u003ch2\u003eIngalls' Wonderful Zodiac Fortune Telling Cards (1930s)\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese \u003cstrong\u003eIngalls' Wonderful Zodiac Fortune Telling Cards\u003c\/strong\u003e are a captivating relic from the 1930s, offering a glimpse into the mystique and charm of early 20th-century divination practices. Created by the self-proclaimed \"Greatest Fortune Teller in the World,\" Harry Ingalls of Swampscott, Massachusetts, this deck has intrigued and entertained seekers of fortune for decades. Highly sought after by collectors and enthusiasts of vintage mysticism, this particular set is a complete and rare find, with all 30 cards and the original instruction sheet present—an element that is frequently lost to time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eHistory\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHarry Ingalls was an enigmatic figure in the world of fortune-telling, known for his theatrical persona and bold claims of mystical prowess. Operating out of Massachusetts in the early 20th century, Ingalls marketed himself as a master diviner, offering readings and producing various occult-themed materials. His Wonderful Zodiac Fortune Telling Cards were among his most famous creations, designed to bring the art of divination into the hands of everyday people.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuring the 1930s, mysticism, astrology, and fortune-telling enjoyed a surge in popularity, fuelled by the uncertainty of the Great Depression. People sought guidance and reassurance in uncertain times, and tools such as these cards became widely used at parlour gatherings, fairs, and private readings. Ingalls capitalised on this fascination, positioning himself as a trusted authority on fate and fortune.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis deck reflects this era’s intrigue with astrology, numerology, and spiritualism, all of which were common interests of the time. The bold design, red-and-blue printing, and striking imagery align with the aesthetics of vintage mystic paraphernalia, further enhancing its appeal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eUsage\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003eIngalls' Wonderful Zodiac Fortune Telling Cards\u003c\/strong\u003e were designed for easy use, making them accessible to both seasoned fortune-tellers and curious novices. The deck comprises 30 numbered cards, each printed with zodiac symbols and direct prognostications about one’s fate. The original instruction sheet, present in this set, offers multiple ways to use the cards, including:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFortune-Telling:\u003c\/strong\u003e Users can draw cards to gain insight into their life's trajectory, uncovering potential opportunities and challenges. Each card bears predictions about success, relationships, travel, and other aspects of life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWish Prediction:\u003c\/strong\u003e The deck includes a simple yes-or-no wish system, where a card's response determines the likelihood of one’s desires coming true.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLucky Numbers:\u003c\/strong\u003e Each card provides a lucky number, which some users would reference for gambling, lottery play, or other numerological practices.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAstrology:\u003c\/strong\u003e Zodiac symbols present on the cards allow users to interpret their fortunes in relation to their astrological sign, adding another layer of depth to the readings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe straightforward nature of the deck ensures that anyone can quickly engage with its mystical offerings without the need for extensive study or a background in the occult.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eCondition\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis particular deck remains in good vintage condition, retaining all 30 original fortune-telling cards as well as the often-missing instruction sheet. The box, featuring its original bold red-and-blue design, shows signs of age-related wear, with some fraying at the edges and minor surface wear. The top flap has been repaired with sellotape, as shown in the photographs, a common necessity for well-loved vintage decks of this nature. The cards themselves remain in very good condition, with legible text and no significant creases or tears, making this a fine example of this rare and intriguing set.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eCurious Details\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDesign and Aesthetics:\u003c\/strong\u003e The cards feature vintage illustrations characteristic of the 1930s, capturing the era’s artistic style and the allure of early 20th-century divination.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCultural Impact:\u003c\/strong\u003e The deck's enduring popularity has inspired modern reproductions, but original editions like this one remain highly desirable for collectors.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCollectibility:\u003c\/strong\u003e Complete sets, especially with the \u003cstrong\u003einstruction sheet intact\u003c\/strong\u003e, are increasingly rare, making this an excellent acquisition for both vintage ephemera collectors and fortune-telling enthusiasts.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Ingalls' Wonderful Zodiac Fortune Telling Cards remain a testament to the timeless human desire to glimpse into the future, blending historical significance with the enduring fascination of the mystical arts. Whether used for divination or displayed as a relic of a bygone era, this deck is a remarkable piece of occult history.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Laudanum House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50918788071688,"sku":"LHC-00010","price":90.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0903\/6457\/6008\/files\/ingalls-fortune-cards-0037.jpg?v=1740930456"},{"product_id":"emerald-oracle","title":"The Emerald Oracle","description":"\u003ch2 data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Emerald Oracle\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the winter of 1864, in a quiet corner of Kasia, India, Cecil Hawthorne encountered a dying Buddhist monk who would change the course of his spiritual investigations forever. The monk, trembling with guilt and reverence, confessed to stealing a sacred artefacts from a temple in his youth: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ea vivid green pendulum known as the Emerald Oracle said to contain \"the trapped light of a thousand souls.\" He believed these relics carried a karmic burden: centuries of worship, suffering, and spirit energy bound within their forms. He asked only one thing of Hawthorne: let them be seen.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIts most famous public unveiling occurred in 1882 during a séance at Hawthorne's London residence. There, before a gathering of spiritualists and sceptics alike, the Oracle bathed the room in an uncanny green light, and guests reported the appearance of shadowy figures and whispered voices.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter Hawthorne's death in 1899, the Emerald Oracle vanished. It was not listed among his effects, and for decades, its fate was the subject of speculation and séance. It passed into legend, a story told in whispers and footnotes.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUntil now.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIts reappearance within the Cecil Hawthorne Collection marks the return of a relic long thought lost to time. Whether this is the original or something far older still, one cannot say. What matters is this: the pendulum has returned. And it remembers.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLimited Edition\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e Emerald Oracle is a\u003cstrong\u003e limited edition of 60\u003c\/strong\u003e. No more will exist. The first batch of \u003cstrong\u003e23 have now all sold out. \u003c\/strong\u003eThe penultimate release is now available. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Collection\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Emerald Oracle is part of the \u003c\/span\u003eCecil Hawthorne Collection\u003cspan\u003e: an ongoing, immersive archive of relics, curiosities, and ephemera drawn from the fictional life of a scholar-medium who walked the line between metaphysics and science. Each object is designed not merely as a prop, but as an invitation: a way to step through the veil of time and belief.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eIncluded within this edition:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe Emerald Oracle: \u003c\/strong\u003eHawthorne’s original pendulum constructed using genuine vintage components. The crystal glows with an unearthly hue under specific conditions (no batteries or magnets). Its presence is felt before it is seen.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHand-Aged Opium Box: \u003c\/strong\u003eBearing the image of a wrathful protective deity. Inside the Oracle rests, shrouded in aged cloth.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e1882 Séance Report (“The Medium and Daybreak”): \u003c\/strong\u003eA beautifully aged reproduction of the spiritualist journal that chronicled the infamous Russell Square séance.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e\"Beyond the Veil\" Magazine Feature:\u003c\/strong\u003e A 1983 retrospective exploring the story of the Emerald Oracle, lending historical texture and mystery to your presentation.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eComprehensive Biography (Digital Download): \u003c\/strong\u003eA rich biography detailing Hawthorne’s life, séances, and metaphysical journey from his early influences to the mystery of his final séance. A sample is available \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/laudanumhouse.com\/pages\/cecil-hawthorne-spiritualist-medium\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePerformance Guide (Digital Download)\u003c\/strong\u003e: A comprehensive exploration of the Oracle’s haunting origins, Hawthorne’s rituals, and ways to craft moments of quiet, lasting impact.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCertificate of Authenticity:\u003c\/strong\u003e Verifying your piece as part of the Cecil Hawthorne Collection.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePerformance\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Oracle does not dazzle. It reveals.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Emerald Oracle is a performance piece not of shock and illusion, but of contemplation, connection, and quiet revelation. It is not intended to perform \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eat\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e an audience, but \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003ewith\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e them. Each session becomes an act of shared inquiry, a moment suspended in time where movement may come not from the hand, but from something deeper.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe pendulum may rest in the hands of a participant, gently guided by their thoughts, intentions, or unresolved questions. It may respond with subtle swings, faint trembles, or stillness, each gesture ripe for reflection. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAt times, it may glow. At other times, it may simply wait.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUsed thoughtfully, the Oracle becomes an emotional mirror: a vessel through which intuitive truths surface. Whether as part of an intimate parlour experience or a more structured séance, it offers moments that feel personal, unforced, and deeply resonant.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor those wishing to expand the experience, the Oracle is designed to work in tandem with \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/laudanumhouse.com\/products\/whispering-token\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Whispering Token\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/a\u003e allowing for Hawthorne's storied “Test of Spiritual Integrity.” In this ritual, participants attempt to divine the token bearing the karmic weight of ages. The pendulum becomes a judge not of facts, but of feeling. The results are often unexpected.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUnder the right conditions, the Oracle can be made to glow, a mysterious, otherworldly green light that seems to pulse with unseen energy. This effect is subtle and should be revealed sparingly, enhancing the moment rather than becoming its focus.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Emerald Oracle is not a trick. It is a relic: a fragment of fiction designed to feel unsettlingly real. It carries within it a mythology, a mystery, and perhaps something else.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe pendulum waits.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWill it move for you?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch6\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eCecil Hawthorne, his stories, and his artefacts are a work of fiction under copyright by Laudanum House Limited. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eAny resemblance to actual events or persons living, dead, or undead are entirely coincidental. Note that all magical artefacts are a mixture of genuine Victoriana and highly crafted props. Cecil Hawthorne is fictitious and so are his magical artefacts and the history behind them.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/h6\u003e","brand":"Laudanum House","offers":[{"title":"Initial","offer_id":51206444482824,"sku":"LHBZ-00001","price":129.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Penultimate","offer_id":52469643542792,"sku":"LHBZ-00017","price":129.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0903\/6457\/6008\/files\/emerald-oracle-0126.jpg?v=1744120505"},{"product_id":"magic-top-secret","title":"Magic: Top Secret by Jasper Maskelyne","description":"\u003ch2\u003eMagic: Top Secret by Jasper Maskelyne\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFirst Edition, Stanley Paul, 1949\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA remarkable wartime memoir wherein the celebrated stage conjurer reveals how illusion became weaponry in the North African desert. This rare first edition, bearing its distinctive salmon and blue dust wrapper, chronicles Maskelyne's transformation from Wandsworth magician to military deceiver.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWithin these pages, illustrated with numerous photographs declassified from the secret lists, one discovers accounts of impossible deceptions: the vanishing of Alexandria harbour, phantom armies multiplied across the Western Desert, dummy battleships drawing Luftwaffe bombs whilst the true fleet lay concealed. The grandson of John Nevil Maskelyne claimed his deceptions so vexed the Führer that his name was inscribed upon the Gestapo's black list.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePublished March 1949 by Stanley Paul \u0026amp; Co., this volume emerged during that peculiar period when wartime secrets began their emergence into daylight. Whether one believes Maskelyne's grander claims matters less than the dark romance of the telling. Military historians may dispute the details, yet the book remains a singular artefact from when stage magic and military deception converged beneath the desert sun.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe dust wrapper proclaims its adaptation of \"the conjuror's art to the battlefield\", promising revelations of tanks, guns, and battleships wrought from misdirection and mirrors. A genuine curiosity for collectors of wartime ephemera or practitioners of the bizarre arts seeking authentic period atmosphere.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Laudanum House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52693749989640,"sku":"LHC-00011","price":85.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0903\/6457\/6008\/files\/top-secret-2.jpg?v=1761576443"},{"product_id":"fire-devil-retort","title":"Fire Devil Retort","description":"\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-heading md-focus\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eIn nineteenth century Tibet, when a spirit refused to leave and every gentler method had been exhausted, a lama would take a copper vessel and fill it with juniper, mountain herbs, and mustard seed. The mustard seed mattered. It was the wrathful substance, reserved for spirits that would not respond to anything else. The mixture was set alight inside the vessel's bulbous body. The smoke curled up through the curved neck and out into the air.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eThe spirit, drawn by the smoke, entered through the neck. Once inside, the curve of the passage prevented it from finding its way back out.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eThen the neck was sealed. Pinched shut. And the vessel was taken away from the living. Buried deep in the ground, or thrown into a fast-flowing river. The lama did not keep it. Nobody kept it. A vessel with something still inside it was not something you wanted in your home.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eThe vessel was called a fire devil retort. The Science Museum in London holds several, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk\/objects\/co125264\/fire-devil-retort-for-catching-devils\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003ecatalogued\u003c\/a\u003e with disarming plainness as \"fire devil retort for catching devils.\" They record almost nothing about how they were used, or what became of the spirits inside.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eThis retort is a genuine antique, dating to the 1800s. Hand-worked copper under more than a century of dark patina. It is not a reproduction. Very few survive outside of museum collections, and for good reason. They were meant to be buried. They were meant to disappear. The fact that this one is still above ground is, depending on your perspective, either a stroke of luck or a cause for concern.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eIt is also sealed.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eWe cannot say what is inside. We can say that a sealed retort is a retort that caught something, and that whoever sealed this one over a hundred years ago saw fit to ensure it stayed shut. It was supposed to be in the earth by now, or at the bottom of a river. Instead, it ended up here. Make of that what you will.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eThe vendor advises against attempting to open it.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 class=\"md-end-block md-heading\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eIn Performance\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eThe fire devil retort is not a trick. There is no method, no gimmick, no effect. It is a genuine artefact, and the history is the performance.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eSet it on your table at the start of the evening. Do not introduce it. Let someone notice it, or pick your moment. Tell the story. Hand it round. Let them feel the weight and the cold copper while you talk about the smoke, the tradition, the invisible world. Everything you say is true. You never claim the retort contains a devil. You describe how these vessels were used, how the neck was sealed once a spirit was caught, how they were buried or thrown into rivers. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eThen you let whoever is holding it discover for themselves that the neck is sealed.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eThat moment of quiet recognition is the entire piece. A real object, a real history, and a question nobody in the room will want to answer out loud.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eIt is also a door. The retort establishes something most bizarre magic has to work much harder to create: a room full of people who have accepted, even briefly, that the invisible world is real and leaves traces in physical objects.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003ePut the retort in someone's hand and a pendulum in the other, and the spirit communicates through them. Ask them to close their eyes and describe what they feel, and you have psychometry. Put a pen in their hand and whatever is inside the vessel writes through them. The retort may work best as the first thing they encounter. The quiet opening that makes everything after it feel less like a performance and more like a warning.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eFull performance ideas are included in the field guide.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 class=\"md-end-block md-heading\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eIncludes\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eGenuine antique copper fire devil retort, sealed, and dating from the 1800s.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eCustom display stand. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"md-end-block md-p\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"md-pair-s\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain\"\u003eOn the Catching of Devils\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"md-plain md-expand\"\u003e, a Laudanum House field guide to the sang tradition, Tibetan spirit trapping, and the history of the object you are now responsible for\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Laudanum House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53376945815816,"sku":"LHBZ-00027","price":550.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0903\/6457\/6008\/files\/fire-devil-retort-604.jpg?v=1772386201"},{"product_id":"seeking-glass","title":"The Seeking Glass","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c!-- obsidian --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"A Receipt, and a Question\"\u003eA Receipt, and a Question\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn October 1897, Cecil Hawthorne ordered something privately from R.S. Napier of Edinburgh. The receipt survives. The reason does not.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe clerk's hand was deliberate copperplate. The article was set down not in Napier's usual catalogue language but simply as \"\u003cem\u003egazing glass and case, as specified\"\u003c\/em\u003e. Two guineas, which is well above the catalogue rate. The correspondence in which the particulars were agreed does not survive on either side, and, for reasons never given, the sale was not entered in the shop ledger that quarter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo years and two months later, following Hawthorne's death, his lifelong companion Jonathan Blackwood came upon the case in the north wall cabinet. The leaflet of instructions sat folded inside the lid, apparently unread. He entered the article in his inventory as Item 37 and, having no other words for it, wrote the line \"Purpose uncertain.\" For the rest of his life he called it, for want of a better name, the Seeking Glass.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCecil could speak to the dead, read the histories of objects, channel automatic writing, and capture spirits on photographic plates. He could not, so far as Blackwood ever discovered, do this one thing. Whether Hawthorne ever uncovered the glass in the two years and two months between its arrival at Russell Square and his death is not on record. If he did, he did so privately and told no one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe glass is offered now, in faithful reproduction, with the papers of its first sale folded once more inside the lid.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"A Strictly Limited Edition\"\u003eA Strictly Limited Edition\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeeking Glass is a strictly limited edition of forty-eight pieces. No more will exist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the first release of sixteen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"Included within this edition\"\u003eIncluded within this edition\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe Gazing Glass.\u003c\/strong\u003e A clear sphere of glass, three inches in diameter, free of obvious bubbles or seeds and polished to an even figure. Selected, in Napier's own words, \"for clarity of material and soundness of figure.\" Supplied resting in its case.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe Fitted Case.\u003c\/strong\u003e A cube of pine, four and three-quarter inches on every side, covered in embossed pebble-grain paper in the Victorian bookbinder's manner. The interior is a black velvet recess shaped to the sphere; the lid bears the R.S. Napier seal struck into the paper. Offered in two finishes, tan-brown or dark bottle-green; and carefully hand-aged.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe Instruction Leaflet.\u003c\/strong\u003e A reproduction and subtly aged folded leaflet titled \"THE ART OF SCRYING,\" issued under the guidance of the Society for Spectral Enquiry. Sober directions, five numbered rules, and a Notice to Purchasers in Napier's commercial voice. The leaflet has its own quiet trick: not every word it carries is intended for the living eye.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe Receipt.\u003c\/strong\u003e Napier's pre-printed billhead, made out by hand to the buyer of the glass, with a Penny Lilac revenue stamp cancelled across its face under the Stamp Act 1891. Hand-aged and hand written in period dip-pen and ink.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eA Page from \u003cem\u003eThe Medium and Daybreak\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/strong\u003e A reproduction leaf torn from the spiritualist weekly of 5 June 1885, carrying a letter on the art of scrying signed \"J.A.M., Glasgow,\" and, in the adjacent column, an R.S. Napier classified advertisement.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe R.S. Napier House History (Digital Download).\u003c\/strong\u003e A full history of the firm and its Edinburgh shop, from its opening in 1884 to its closing in 1916.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCecil Hawthorne, an Illustrated Biography (Digital Download).\u003c\/strong\u003e The updated edition of Cecil's biography, revised to take account of the glass and the question it raises.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe Performance Guide (Digital Download).\u003c\/strong\u003e A guide for the custodian: the 1897 transaction, the unresolved mystery, and the presentation of the artefact and its ephemera by candle-light before a small circle.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCertificate of Authenticity.\u003c\/strong\u003e Verifying your piece as part of the Cecil Hawthorne Collection.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNote that all items are carefully hand-aged, and so will vary subtly from the product photographs.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"The Article in Performance\"\u003eIn Performance\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe glass does not answer. It asks.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeeking Glass is not a performance piece of shock and flourish. It is an artefact of unresolved enquiry, intended for the table at candle-light, in the company of a small circle who would prefer the question to the answer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe glass is the centre of the room and the source of whatever is shown. The custodian is not the seer; the glass is. Whatever happens in the evening appears to be its doing, surfacing slowly through the glass while the room watches and waits. The custodian is merely the voice through which what it shows is described.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUsed thoughtfully, the artefact becomes a witness to the evening. Pass it from hand to hand and the room reports temperatures and weights it cannot quite name. Hold it before a candle and the leaflet reveals a hand that did not write the rest of it. Set it before a sitter and the sphere returns their face, inverted, surrounded by the bent room. None of this needs explaining. The glass invites; the sitter fills the silence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCecil left a gap. Blackwood could not close it. The custodian inherits the question, not the answer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"Companion Articles\"\u003eCompanion Artefacts\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor those building a fuller continuity within the Cecil Hawthorne Collection, the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/laudanumhouse.com\/products\/emerald-oracle\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eEmerald Oracle\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e (Cecil's pendulum, returned from a Buddhist temple in 1864) and the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/laudanumhouse.com\/products\/whispering-token\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eWhispering Token\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e (his karmic psychometry pieces) sit within the same shared world. The same rooms recur. The same names. A keeper who holds several will, in time, find them speaking to one another.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCecil Hawthorne, his stories, and his artefacts are a work of fiction under copyright by Laudanum House Limited. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eAny resemblance to actual events or persons living, dead, or undead are entirely coincidental. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eNote that all reproduction artefacts are a mixture of genuine Victoriana and highly crafted props. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eCecil Hawthorne is fictitious and so are his magical artefacts and the history behind them.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Laudanum House","offers":[{"title":"Tan Brown","offer_id":57912292835592,"sku":"LHBZ-00032","price":390.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Bottle Green","offer_id":57912292868360,"sku":"LHBZ-00031","price":390.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0903\/6457\/6008\/files\/seeking-glass-green-647.jpg?v=1780071786"},{"product_id":"incarnate-the-case-file","title":"Incarnate: The Case File","description":"\u003ch2 data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eAn exorcist's secrets. A doctor's testimony. A boy's prophecy.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecovered from the depths of the Archivum Secretum Vaticanum, \u003cem\u003eIncarnate: The Case File\u003c\/em\u003e is a rare opportunity to acquire a long out-of-print copy of \u003cem\u003eIncarnate\u003c\/em\u003e from Dark Artifice, paired with Laudanum House's companion piece \u003cem\u003eThe Doctor's Photographs\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAt its heart lies a rare copy of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/darkartifice.com\/products\/incarnate\"\u003eIncarnate\u003c\/a\u003e:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e the infamous performance artefact from Dark Artifice, long since vanished into legend. Supplemented by \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/laudanumhouse.com\/products\/incarnate-the-doctors-photographs\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Doctor's Photographs\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e in authentic vintage slides, this collection forms a tactile and terrifying narrative arc designed for live performance or intimate ritual. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA selection of period-authentic artefacts enriches the experience, from including printed prescriptions, newspaper clippings, and archival documents, each carefully curated to transport your audience into the era and mindset of the original investigators. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eA rare opportunity\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eA rare copy of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/darkartifice.com\/products\/incarnate\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIncarnate\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (Dark Artifice) complete with Certificate of Authenticity. This is long sold out and very difficult to come by\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eA copy of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/laudanumhouse.com\/products\/incarnate-the-doctors-photographs\"\u003eThe Doctor's Photographs\u003c\/a\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e(Laudanum House)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, including colourised slide artefacts, stamped archival documentation, and period prescription papers\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c!-- obsidian --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTogether they form a single tactile narrative arc: the rite, the witness, the aftermath. Material designed for live performance or for intimate ritual, where the audience does not merely hear the story of \u003cem\u003eIncarnate\u003c\/em\u003e but watches you turn its pages and lift its slides to the light.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDo you believe in prophecy? You will.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003e\u003cem\u003eIncarnate: The Doctor's Photographs is released with the full permission of Bobby Hasbun from \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/darkartifice.com\" title=\"Dark Artifice\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eDark Artifice\u003c\/a\u003e. Some images redacted on request of Dark Artifice.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e","brand":"Laudanum House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57948369092872,"sku":"LHBZ-00036","price":370.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0903\/6457\/6008\/files\/incarnate-bundle-693.jpg?v=1780670071"},{"product_id":"florries-mule","title":"Florrie's Mule","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c!-- obsidian --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003c!-- obsidian --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"The story we imagine\"\u003eThe story we imagine\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSomewhere in the 1940s a father spent his evenings in the shed. He had scrap timber, a tin of paint, and a wish to make something his daughter would love. He cut the body long and narrow, jointed the legs with screws, and stitched a bridle from a scrap of old blue knitting. When it was finished he gave the mule to his daughter, and she gave him a name known only to the two of them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe photograph shows her on a doorstep working him on his strings, the mule standing at her feet. She looks down at him with the quiet fondness a child has for a favourite toy. We call her Florrie.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNow the mule is here and Florrie is not. There is a sadness in him. He misses his owner, and he has missed her a long time, waiting the way only a much-loved toy can wait, for a girl who is not coming back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"What you will receive\"\u003eWhat you will receive\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou will receive the mule himself. He is the real thing, a handmade string puppet from the 1940s, not a reproduction made to look old. His body is painted cream and dark brown, long and narrow, with jointed legs, a frayed blue bridle and a tail of rough fibre. You can see where his father's hands worked the wood. He hangs from his red wooden stand by two cords, hooves just touching the base. The stand is not original to him but made in keeping with the period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou will also receive the original photograph from the 1940s. It shows his girl on the doorstep with his strings in her hand, caught playing rather than posing. The print is mounted in a period-correct frame, exactly as it was kept.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"Using him in your show\"\u003eUsing him in your show\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe is not a trick. He is a story. Begin with the photograph and tell it. Let the audience sit with the girl on the doorstep before they ever see the mule. When you finally bring him out, the moment will already have weight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHow you use him from there is yours to decide. Perhaps you found him at a house clearance with the photograph still beside him, the only thing left that remembers her. Perhaps an old lady named Florrie entrusted him to you, and you promised to look after him. Perhaps her father passed away long ago, and the mule became a substitute for something she could not keep. Perhaps you never mention her again and let the photograph do its work alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis name is a door you can leave shut or walk through. Keep him nameless, since his name went with her and the one thing the audience wants is the one thing you cannot give them. Or make finding it the performance itself, and let the audience help you ask. But never say what became of Florrie. The gap in the story is where each listener puts their own loss.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome performers end the night by turning him to face her photograph. It costs nothing and it says everything.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhether he is a grieving object or a haunted one is yours to decide. Either way, tell his story with understatement and he will carry whatever you give him.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Laudanum House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58306256208136,"sku":"LHBZ-00039","price":180.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0903\/6457\/6008\/files\/mule-979_24694492-26ce-4126-a838-cca30871b499.jpg?v=1785157554"},{"product_id":"spare-kidney","title":"The Spare Kidney","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c!-- obsidian --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA human kidney modelled a little over life size in painted plastic, bisected into two separable halves for teaching anatomy. Made in England circa 1970 for the educational market.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"The Organ\"\u003eThe Organ\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the outside it is a plausible kidney, painted a deep matte brown with the characteristic bean shape, the hilum indicated, and the vessels picked out in relief along the concave border: the artery in red, the vein in slate grey, the ureter in buff. The brown has gone liverish and dull with age. Where handling has caught the high points and the rim, the paint has chipped away to a pale substrate beneath. It is a little larger than the organ it copies, and heavier than it looks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe two halves part along a coronal section. Inside, the internal architecture is painted in the manner of the period: a buff cortex streaked with fine radiating lines and dotted with red and black vessels, the medullary pyramids fanned and stippled, the renal pelvis a pale sage green, the calyces cupped and picked out in orange with their tubules in red and black. Nothing moves. Nothing is expected to move. It is a teaching model.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"In the Cabinet\"\u003eIn the Cabinet\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEngland produced a great many anatomical teaching models in the post-war decades. Kidneys, hearts, livers, eyes, ears, the torso with all its organs nested inside like a puzzle box. They were bought by schools, by hospital training wards, and by those private collectors who kept a cabinet of natural and medical curiosities at home. This one is from the 1970s, moulded in plastic but following the same conventions as the papier mâché and plaster models that had preceded it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA kidney on a shelf is an odd thing. It is an organ we all possess, recognise by name, and never see. There is something quietly indecent about having one in plain view. It makes the room feel like a surgery. Or like a very particular kind of private museum.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"Condition and Provenance\"\u003eCondition and Provenance\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMoulded plastic teaching model, c.1970, of the pattern made by Educational Plastics\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMade in England\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eApproximately 7 inches tall, 4½ inches wide, 2½ inches deep as a closed pair, a little over life size\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTwo separable halves; painted internal structures\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUsed condition. The paint carries a fine craquelure throughout, heaviest across the cut faces and along the section edges. Chipping and small paint losses to the rim, the ureter and the high points of the exterior. No structural breaks, no missing anatomical sections, no repairs.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is an authentic period teaching model, not a reproduction.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Laudanum House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58309017469192,"sku":"LHO-00109","price":90.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0903\/6457\/6008\/files\/kidney-915.jpg?v=1785151798"},{"product_id":"poor-devil","title":"Poor Devil","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c!-- obsidian --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"The villain who never won\"\u003eThe villain who never won\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe was built to lose.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c!-- obsidian --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the German puppet booth the devil is the standing adversary. The children start shouting warnings before he is even on. He comes with an temptation. He leaves beaten about the head, to enormous applause. He was the one character everybody was allowed to hate, and hating him was the best part of the afternoon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo he came on, night after night, charming and patient, and he was struck down every time. Nobody ever took the deal. Then the booth was folded up for the last time, the hand went out of him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePoor devil.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe is still smiling. Look at what kind of smile it is. Not a snarl. A salesman who has been refused a thousand times and still believes the next one will say yes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"What you will receive\"\u003eWhat you will receive\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou will receive the devil himself. A period glove puppet of the type used in German Kasperletheater, mid twentieth century, not a reproduction made to look old. He is unmarked. We do not know who made him and we will not pretend otherwise.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eComposition head, painted scarlet, with two black horns and a black crescent of a mouth that goes further round the face than a mouth should. Green eyes, looking slightly to one side rather than at you. A black cotton ruff, a faded coral costume, blacked wooden hands, and dangling legs ending in long wooden boots that knock together when he moves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe legs are the detail that gives him away. A glove puppet does not need legs and most do not have them. Legs are for a devil who was meant to be seen sitting on the edge of the playboard, swinging his heels, waiting for somebody to make a bad decision.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe is honestly worn and has never been restored. Paint rubbed from the horn tips and the nose, a fine craquelure across the face, frayed cuffs, threads hanging loose. The head is sound. Nobody mended him. They just stopped using him. He's about 16 inches in length.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"Using him in your show\"\u003eUsing him in your show\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is no method here. He is hollow to the shoulder, and that is the only thing he does. Whatever he does next, somebody will have done it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe was built to make an offer and be refused, so the question the object asks is what happens the one time he is not.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThen hand him to somebody else. It costs nothing to do and a great deal to receive. A sitter with a devil on their hand has been made responsible for him, and the room will feel it. Nothing needs to happen after that. Let them work out how to give him back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlay him warm. He is likeable, well mannered and endlessly persistent, and the discomfort comes from liking him rather than fearing him. He has been refused for seventy years and he is in no hurry at all.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Laudanum House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58310840779016,"sku":"LHE-00114","price":75.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0903\/6457\/6008\/files\/devil-958-3.jpg?v=1785155736"},{"product_id":"joey","title":"Joey","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c!-- obsidian --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"Somebody cut his strings\"\u003eSomebody cut his strings\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe strings did not perish. They were cut.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA marionette does not come loose all at once. Threads fray, tangle, and go one at a time, usually at the knee, usually in the middle of a show. This one lost all of them together, at the same height, in a single sitting. That takes a pair of scissors and a decision.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhoever made the decision did not finish the job. He was not burned, he was not thrown out, and the control was not thrown out either. It was put away and it has stayed with him ever since, separated from him by an inch of cut thread and however many years. They took him out of service and then kept both halves of him anyway, which is a stranger thing to do than either destroying him or leaving him alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLook at how he was put together and you will find two people in him, and they are not the same person at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSomebody made the clown, and they could not do it. The hands are flat slabs with three saw cuts for fingers. The feet are blocks shaped just enough to read as shoes. The head is worked up in gobs of paste, lump on lump, nothing on it quite matching anything else: a yellow lump for a nose, a red ring for a mouth, red daubed high on both cheeks. The eyes are blue lids over black hollows with nothing behind them, and they are not looking at the room. A cheerful face attempted by somebody without the hands for it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSomebody else made the clothes, and they were very good. Yellow twill, a double ruffled collar, a peplum over the hips, rick-rack braid in red and blue laid along every seam and both cuffs. Hours of it, inch by inch, a beautiful suit of clothes made for that. They were looking at it the whole time they worked, and they dressed him in it anyway.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery intention in the object is kindly and every result is not.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"What you will receive\"\u003eWhat you will receive\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJoey himself. A hand-made clown marionette, eighteen inches tall, mid twentieth century by the look of the cloth and the braid. Not a factory puppet and not a reproduction made to look old. He carries no maker's mark, no tag and no label. We do not know who made him, where, or when, and we will not invent it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBody, hands, legs and feet are wood, jointed on screw eyes and cord. The head is not wood. It is modelled in a composite of glue, clay and paste, painted cream, with a yellow nose, a red mouth, red high on both cheeks, and blue lids over black eyes. A low crest of red points runs across the crown.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe costume is a yellow tunic and sleeves with a ruffled collar and peplum, blue trousers gathered at the knee and edged in yellow, and rick-rack braid in red and blue on every seam and both cuffs. Well cut and well finished.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCondition is honest and unrestored. The head is dirty and finely cracked, with the black chipped from one eye. The paint is thin on the hands. The cloth is faded and the cuff threads hang loose. The strings are cut short and left exactly as they were.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe control comes with him. It is not attached and we are not attaching it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"Using him in your show\"\u003eUsing him in your show\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is no method here. He is wood, cloth and paste, and he does one thing that no working marionette can do, which is nothing at all. What he has instead is two questions, and both are worth more than any trick you could do with him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first is how many people made him. There are two hands in this object and they are nothing like each other. One cut those slabs and pushed that face together out of paste. The other sat down and sewed him a suit of clothes worth wearing. The comfortable answer is that they were two people, a poor maker and a good needlewoman, and that she did her best for what she was given. The other answer is that they were the same person. Somebody who could do beautiful work when they chose to, and who did not choose to when they came to his face. Put both to a sitter and watch which one they would rather be true.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe second is why the strings were cut. All of them, at once, and then he was kept anyway. That is not how a puppet is retired and it is not how one is thrown out. Somebody wanted him not to move, and wanted him where they could see him. Do not answer it and do not hint that you could. Let the sitter arrive at what did he do on their own, because the moment they say it out loud they have decided he was capable of doing something, and you did not put that there. He may well have been. We are not going to tell you he was not.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhatever he did, somebody made certain he would never do it again, and then kept him where they could see him. He is yours now.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDo not restring him.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Laudanum House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58312151859464,"sku":"LHE-00113","price":85.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0903\/6457\/6008\/files\/clown-928_f1a6c6b3-d106-488d-9ecb-1cfb1f125193.jpg?v=1785159447"},{"product_id":"the-regular-visitor","title":"The Regular Visitor","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c!-- obsidian --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe had to make him. How could she not?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe came every night. Not now and then. Every night. And in the daytime he was still there, because by then he had got into her head as well, and a thing you can see with your eyes shut is not a thing you can put down.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo she made him. And she could not make anything.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHer hands knew how to sew, the way most hands in that house knew how to sew. Look at the gown. A plain seam run straight up one side, the neck gathered evenly, the hood drawn round the face and tied off tidily. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNow look to the head. She mixed up a batch of composite and she built him a face out of it. The nose is two small dots. The mouth is a black smear laid on low and off to one side. Nothing on that head is level with anything else. She carried on anyway. A solid head is not an evening's work. It has to be mixed, built up, set down, left to go hard, and come back to. She had days in which to stop, and put it on the fire, and go to bed like everybody else in the house. She did not.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd then she painted the eyes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo red discs, filled in solid, the same size as one another, level and with a black centre placed carefully in the middle of each. Everything else on the face is a woman groping for a remembrance she has no idea how to make. The eyes are a woman who knows exactly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat is what a memory looks like when you set it down in front of you. Vague all over, except for the part you have looked at too many times.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd she did not draw him. A drawing would have got him out of her head and onto the sideboard and that would have been that. She made a puppet, and a puppet is a thing you have to work, so she was not finished when the paint went off. She needed him to be able to turn, and to lift, and to come across a room towards somebody.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe wanted to show him to somebody. Bring him up, work him, and watch their face while she asked: \"Is this him? Have you seen this? Say you have seen this.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe wanted him out of her head. This is what out of her head looks like.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"What you will receive\"\u003eWhat you will receive\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Regular Visitor himself. A hand-made puppet worked over the hand, with a modelled head and a full-length gown. The head is a solid modelled composite, not carved and not hollow, finished in cream white paint. It is the only weight in the object. Where the white has chipped away the composite beneath shows buff.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe body is unbleached cotton, plain and cheap, the cloth of sheets and aprons rather than of costume. A hood of the same cloth is drawn up around the face and gathered with thread, the ends of which still hang loose. The gown runs the full length of the puppet, with a plain seam up one side, two short sleeves that end without hands, and a raw unfinished hem at the bottom, open for the operator's hand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCondition is honest and unrestored. The paint is crazed across the whole head and chipped through in several places, worst around the mouth and at the edge of one eye, with a fine crack running back over the crown. The cloth is dusty, faded, marked here and there down the front, and fraying at the open hem. Nothing has been cleaned, retouched or replaced.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 data-heading=\"Using him in your show\"\u003eUsing him in your show\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat he is, is a likeness, and a likeness only ever raises the one question. Your whole job with him is to raise it and then get out of the way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWork him sparingly. He arrives, he does not chat. Give him no words at all if you can manage it, and no funny voice under any circumstances. Let him be still, and let the stillness run on slightly too long, because a glove puppet that has stopped moving is far worse than one waving its arms about. The head is solid and it has real weight on the finger, so he will want to nod. Do not let him. Everybody in the room knows there is a hand in there, and they can see that the hand has decided to wait.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe obvious piece of business is the one she may have been after in the first place. Bring him up, turn him towards a sitter, and ask them plainly whether they recognise him. The correct response to a no is nothing at all. Do not press it, do not smile, and put him down.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo questions come with him and you should answer neither. The first is whether she made him to be rid of him or made him to be shown. The second is whether anybody believed her. That second one will do more work in a quiet room than any effect you own, because everybody sitting there has at some point described something out loud and watched the other person decide.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThough give some thought to how she got him out of her head in the first place. Not by burning him. By building him, and putting him somewhere other people would have to look at him. That is the only way a thing like this ever travels.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd you have been looking at him for a good few minutes now.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShut your eyes tonight and see whether he is there. If he is, he will be there tomorrow as well, and the night after that.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe is very regular.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Laudanum House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58313000419592,"sku":"LHE-00123","price":65.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0903\/6457\/6008\/files\/ghost-953-2_bfe9a0d3-e063-4ed7-afdb-e3d8fd86389f.jpg?v=1785164770"}],"url":"https:\/\/laudanumhouse.com\/collections\/new.oembed","provider":"Laudanum House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}