Most of the main pottery companies have had flirtations with using various marine themed designs. The sleek, sinuous and diverse shapes of most aquatic animals make them an obvious choice for decorating curvy pottery forms and the multitude of intense colours in the sea world are well suited to the rich glazing palettes. I have included some examples from Moorcroft, Martin Brothers, Haeger, Royal Doulton, Hornsea, Bornholm, Zsolnay and other fine works from individual ceramicists. Sea creatures were widely represented in the decoration of pottery during the Minoan Civilization ( Crete ), which dates back to 7000BC. The octopus motif became popular around