The Nightingale and the Rose

Art Doll Assemblage

SOLD

24″H x 7″W x 8″D

"Found impaled among the thorns,
she tells a tale of loss...
Her bleeding heart forever mourns the love and what it cost."

In making this piece I was inspired to revisit one of my favorite tales, The Nightingale and the Rose, by Oscar Wilde.

First published in 1888 in his collection, The Happy Prince and Other Tales, The Nightingale and the Rose is a brutally tragic tale of self-sacrifice.

The nightingale so loved the poet in the story that she impaled herself on a white rose to produce a red rose that he wanted. No matter how many times I’ve read the story, it continues to break my heart anew.

The feathered artdoll has taxidermied bird feet and stands clutching the branch from the rose bush, dripping with blood from her wounded heart.

I’ve been so inspired by the tale of The Bleeding Bird in The Nightingale and the Rose, that I have made two additional pieces exploring her story. See the gallery pages of the The Bleeding Bird Music Box and The Bleeding Bird Story Box.

This doll was originally part of the Thornbirz series.

Based on a mythical creature, the Thornbird lives its life in fierce pursuit of a thorntree. It leaves its nest & does not rest until it has fulfilled its quest.

Silent its entire life until the final hour when it finds the perfect thorn then impales itself. The very first song it sings comes flowing from its heart before dying among the thorns.