Minoan Octopus

Taking ourselves back 1500 years to the coast of Crete, we would find ourselves in the evolving Minoan era - a culture thriving with new crafts, innovations and expressions of fine art.

At the pinnacle of this period was the emerging “nautical” or “marine” style. Depicted in detail on amphorae, pieces in this style were highly exclusive, telling us much about how the elite met, with whom they dined and, importantly, their means to travel & trade overseas. Many pieces in the marine pattern were destroyed by a volcanic eruption on Santorini, but those that survived influenced later Greek & Roman styles for centuries to come.

The Hand (aka) painter would have used a dark slip (liquid clay) to paint this charming octopus who swims diagonally across the entire body of the vase. His friendly, almost cartoon-like expression captures the excitement and fun of this style, and I absolutely couldn’t resist recreating it with a more contemporary spin. The blue tones are soft but warm - great as a pair with the sand backgrounds of the other amphora designs, and particularly pop against neutral walls/decor.