Octopus in Silver & Pink Filigree Platypus gives the shoulders the wide

gives the shoulders the wide

' published in London in 1789

accession 2009

One of the funniest things about old natural history illustrations are the number of animals that were obviously drawn from descriptions

the circular hole forms the waist

Octopus in Silver & Pink Filigree Platypus gives the shoulders the wideSometimes you need to go back to 1560 to find the right octopus; the original illustration for this Polupus is from Conrad Gessners Icones animalium quadrupedum uiuiparorum et ouiparorum. The octopus is 6 inches across, stitched by hand on 8x10 inch 100% cotton watercolour paper, which means that it will pop right into any commercial frame in that size, and be ready to hang on your wall. Materials: Japanese paper, hand trimmed sequins, and cotton