Rupert Carabin (1862–1932)
Woman with an Octopus, circa 1897

Glazed brown ceramic inkwell, an emblematic work of French Art Nouveau. The composition depicts a nude female figure, captured in a gesture of ecstasy and domination, tearing apart the head of an octopus whose ink spills out to form the very function of the object. The expressive modeling, the fusion of the female body with the animal, and the symbolic and erotic charge of the scene reflect Carabin’s radical vision and his sculptural approach to the decorative arts.

Signed, artist’s stamp.