Doll of Shaye Groves

Antique porcelain doll with a pale, cracked complexion and ivory lace dress, attributed to the private collection of Shaye Groves, a British woman convicted in 2023 for the murder of her partner and known for her obsession with serial killers and horror aesthetics; the doll's glassy eyes and rigid limbs evoke a sense of silent expectancy, while the frayed fabric and fine fractures across its face suggest a long, disturbed past; within the macabre theatre of Groves's home-adorned with portraits of infamous murderers and horror memorabilia-this doll transcended its role as a childhood relic, becoming instead a fetish object of control, projection, and death; no longer a symbol of innocence, it stood as a mute witness to a mind enthralled by violence and the aesthetics of fear.
Doktor Lazarus Archaeologist, Historian, Collector, Independent Curator