Shiva vase
Ettore Sottsass Italian, born Austria
Not on view
In the early 1970s, Sottsass fell in love with Eulàlia Grau, a Catalan artist, who served as the muse for some of his most personal work, including this vase. A modern devotional object, it is modeled on the phallic linga form that symbolizes Shiva in Hinduism. Its pale pink hue and open mouth transform a religious vessel into a startlingly human one. Sottsass called works such as this "small architectures," which he explained as "a little like monuments, a little like tombs, a little like the abandoned temples of the gods." Note: B3.
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