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Collections

Unknown
Octopus Form Boxlate 19th century

Not on view
Ceramic lidded vessel sculpted as a seated octopus, with a pale celadon head forming the lid, caramel-brown tentacles, and cobalt blue wave forms at the base

Unknown, Octopus Form Box, late 19th century, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gift of Allan and Maxine Kurtzman, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA

Artist or Maker
Unknown
Title
Octopus Form Box
Place Made
Japan
Date Made
late 19th century
Period
Meiji period (1868-1912)
Medium
Hirado Mikawachi ware, porcelain with blue and brown glazes
Dimensions
a) Lid (head): 3 3/4 x 4 x 3 1/4 in. (9.53 x 10.16 x 8.26 cm); b) Box (body): 3 x 6 3/4 x 4 1/2 in. (7.62 x 17.15 x 11.43 cm); Overall: 6 3/4 x 6 3/4 x 4 1/2 in. (17.15 x 17.15 x 11.43 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Allan and Maxine Kurtzman
Accession Number
M.2002.147.2a-b
Classification
Ceramics
Collecting Area
Japanese Art
Selected Bibliography
  • Singer, Robert T., and Kawai Masatomo, editors. The Life of Animals in Japanese Art. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 2019.

Related Unframed

A Reverence for the Place of Animals in Japanese Art
A Reverence for the Place of Animals in Japanese Art
  • November 11, 2019
  • Robert T. Singer