I think I know what causes of the artifact to appear, though I don’t know the whys…
In sum:
1. Check Notifications, no artifact.
2. Access my wife's computer (she has Cocktail installed) via our local network. Wait for it...
3. When I relaunch Notifications... you guessed it. The artifact reappears.
4. Disconnect from my wife’s computer, relaunch Notifications, and again you guessed it. No more artifact.
Now, if I can just figure out why this happens… How are her apps affecting my Notifications? Can this somehow relate to a file sharing setting?
Indeed I'm confused.