Full Fathom Five

The first puzzle I did on my return to solitude was Liberty's magisterial Ocean Life (circa 1859), by James Sommerville and Christian Schussele.



Just wow.

The seven-legged* lobster alone is an inset masterpiece.



Here's the verso, so you can admire its articulation.



The octopus enantiomers are diverting.





Turned right side out, she simply and correctly fades into the under-seascape.



The diver is pure Jules Verne.  How did that lantern work underwater?



But every one of the whimsies, single or complex, is a little work of art.












Detail, with Delft man o' war:



I kept picking those blue-and-white pieces up, and thinking: what's all this broken china? A sunk cargo from Cathay?

The puzzle cut is intriguing, full of seaweed whorls and fronds. And (she says modestly), I did this jigsaw without looking at the picture.

Nine

*Did it lose a fight?