Familiars of Dark Fortune - Mouse 🔴 SOLD

Oil, acrylic, fluorescent paint and copper leaf on antique mini shrine triptych, 15x15.5x3cm. (See additional photos for glow by blacklight elements) Contact us at info@louisemcnaught.com for purchase details .
Painted upon a miniature Gothic-style shrine triptych, this watchful mouse perches beneath a celestial halo, clutching an ornate golden key, a symbol of hidden knowledge, secret passageways and mysteries waiting to be unlocked. Long associated with resourcefulness, intuition and the ability to navigate unseen places, the humble mouse becomes a guardian of secrets, reminding us that even the smallest creatures can hold extraordinary power. Its sacred halo and surrounding stars suggest guidance from forces beyond our understanding.
Entwined around the mouse are clusters of bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara), their jewel-like crimson berries beautiful yet poisonous. Historically associated with witchcraft, protection and folk medicine, the plant embodies the duality of temptation and danger, healing and harm. Beyond the shrine, lightning fractures storm-laden skies, symbolising sudden revelation and the unpredictable nature of fate, while distant flames evoke destruction, purification and renewal. The weathered, chapel-like triptych opens to reveal this tiny sacred relic, its hinged doors representing the threshold between the earthly and the supernatural. Together, these elements transform the mouse into a familiar of dark fortune , a keeper of secrets and a reminder that the greatest treasures are sometimes discovered in the darkest places.