Victorian Christmas Snowman with Children & Holly Garland

What unfolds here is the story of three rosy-cheeked Victorian children who have apparently decided that their snowman — grinning with the serene confidence of someone who knows exactly what he is — needed accessorizing with holly garlands, and honestly, the results are giving less 'festive winter scene' and more 'ancient snow deity receiving tribute.' The child in the sailor suit has climbed directly onto the snowman's shoulders like a tiny general surveying conquered territory, while the boy in the rust-red coat and the girl in the gold dress stand on either side clutching their holly offerings with the solemn devotion of acolytes. That snowman's face — placid, wide-eyed, smiling with a calm that suggests it has seen things — watches the scene with an equanimity that can only be described as deeply unsettling. The inscription reads 'A Merry Christmas,' which feels like exactly what someone would write before the ritual begins.