Charlotte Over the Sea Shrine

Ever hopeful, Charlotte awaits her future under the moon and starts in this shrine dedicated to open hearts and optimism. Her story is reimagined for 21st century believers in a series of haunting sculptures based on the story of Frozen Charlotte, from a poem by Seba Smith in 1843 entitled “A Corpse Going to a Ball.”

Created by Connecticut artist Kristin Merrill, this found object sculpture is made with driftwood, sterling silver, moonstone, native copper, crystals, and an antique Charlotte doll.

Charlotte dolls are small, white porcelain dolls, popular in the late Victorian era, roughly between 1850 and 1920, and forever linked through poem and song, to a ghost of a young girl frozen on her way to a ball in 1840. For more about the inspiration of Charlotte see: https://tinyurl.com/3hyse6zt.