Spanish Terracotta Pot

These pots spent their working lives on the floor of the sea, dropped on a line and left in the dark for an octopus to crawl inside and call home. Found near Béziers and dating to the early 20th century, they carry thick terracotta walls still crusted white with lime and salt from years underwater. Along the Spanish coast, fishermen strung pots like these on a long line and sank them to the seabed, knowing an octopus will always seek out a dark hollow to shelter in, then drew the whole line up again. Sylvie would plant them with herbs or stand them in a row on a shelf, each one still wearing the sea it came from.

 

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