Zoomorphism

About

Giving animal form to people, gods and objects is one of the oldest habits in art. The Lion Man, carved from mammoth ivory about 40,000 years ago and found in a cave in southern Germany, stands upright with a lion's head. Shang-dynasty bronze casters in China shaped ritual wine vessels as owls, elephants and rhinoceroses, and covered others with stylised animal masks.

Later, animal form became a way to add character, menace or wit. René Lalique's Dragonfly Woman corsage ornament (c. 1897–98) sprouts wings and claws from a woman's torso in gold, enamel and gemstones. Max Ernst adopted a bird-headed alter ego, Loplop, who presides over his collages from around 1930. Contemporary designers push furniture toward creatures: the Haas Brothers make hairy, horned and many-legged pieces, and Nacho Carbonell builds seats that look like cocoons. Look for claws, beaks, horns and feet on objects that have no need of them.