Terms and conditions of use
Sea creatures
(19th century)
- Medium
- colour and silver woodblock
- Measurements
- 21.4 × 18.7 cm (image and sheet)
- Place/s of Execution
- Japan
- Inscription
- printed (in Japanese characters) (in image) l.r.: Hokkei
- Accession Number
- 1698-5
- Department
- Asian Art
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Dr Leonard Cox, 1966
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Gordon Darling Foundation - Gallery location
- Not on display
- About this work
-
In this early nineteenth-century depiction of sea creatures, Toyota Hokkei shows an octopus and fish with impish, almost human faces. More than any other sea creature, the octopus (tako) is associated with human emotions and motivations, and is often seen in Japanese art representing humans reincarnated in their form. In folk law, octopuses are cast as healers, ghosts, lovers, subjects of ridicule, or vengeful creatures retaliating against the fisherman who have captured them.
