Kunstkast: The Makara and Ikuchi vases

Kunstkast: The Makara and Ikuchi vases
Ceramics
Height: ca. 34 cm
2017
Collection ‘Op Visite’, Delft

The Makara and Ikuchi vases are specially made for the project ‘Kunstkast’ (‘Art cabinet’), initiated by foundation ‘Op Visite’ from Delft. They have designed two Art cabinets with each containing 5 works of Art. The ‘Kunst kast’ is traveling around different locations, mostly care institutions, in combination with an art education program.
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The Makara vase
This vase is inspired by an image of a sea creature on
a Chinese porcelain plate found in the wreck of the ‘Lena
Shoal’, a Chinese ship, (a so-called’ Jonk ‘) that sank around
1490, during the Ming dynasty in the Philippines.
The hybrid sea creature has the head of an elephant (and sometimes also
of a deer or crocodile) and the body of a marine animal / fish. This
sea ​​creature, also known as ‘Makara’ in Hindu culture. The
name Makara comes from Sanskrit and means ‘sea dragon’ or
‘Sea monster’. The Makara has many different forms
throughout Asia.
The Ikuchi vase
The inspiration for this vase comes from various Japanese myths. The
Ikuchi is a strange fish, which according to myths has been regularly seen
in the seas around Japan. It would be a sea snake sometimes
kilometers of length. According to one of the stories about this sea monster
comes a sticky oil from the skin of the sea battle, that on one
ship can end up, causing it to sink.
The sea monster is described in a famous story, ‘Tankai’ from the
Edo period in Japan.