An octopus, shrimp and a lobster

This is a pencil study by William Lionel Wyllie. It depicts an octopus in detail. The octopus's head is tilted back and its eyes are at the top of its body. It sits on its tentacles which are curled beneath its revealing suckers. Pencil marks have been used to indicate the mottled texture of its skin. At the bottom of the image, there is a shrimp or langoustine. In the top left hand corner, there is the rough outline of an octopus, swimming with its tentacle outstretched. In the top right, there is a sketch of a lobster. On the verso, there is a a rough pencil sketch, possibly depicting a vessel.

Study for Wyllie's oil painting 'Davy Jones's Locker', completed in 1890 (Museum no. ZBA5055).