The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife

RMC"The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife " Limited Edition Denim


Red Monkey Jeans - based on Hokusai
The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife by Hokusai.

The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife (???? Tako to ama?, Octopus and Shelldiver) is an erotic woodcut of the ukiyo-e genre made around 1820 by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. Perhaps the first instance of tentacle eroticism, it depicts a woman entwined sexually with a pair of octopuses, the smaller of which wraps one of its tentacles around the woman’s nipple and kisses her, while the larger one performs cunnilingus. Hokusai created The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife during the Edo period in when Shinto was making a resurgence; this influenced the piece’s animism and playful attitude towards sexuality. It is a celebrated example of shunga and has been reworked by a number of artists. Similar themes of human females having sexual intercourse with sea life have been displayed since the 17th century in Japanese netsuke, small carved sculptures only a few inches in height and often extremely elaborate.

60 pairs of super-limited multi-colour “The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife by Hokusai” will be made available.