Pearl Divers Tin (Huntley & Palmers, 1981)

This is a biscuit tin by [Huntley & Palmers](https://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/your-visit/permanent-galleries/huntley-and-palmers-gallery). The image on the lid imitates Japanese woodblock style, and depicts a scene of pearl divers (surrounded by a blue and lilac pattern, with a busy scene of people and wildlife). Traditionally, pearl divers were women, called 'ama' in Japanese. The ama's popularity with artists was partly due to the fact that nudity in woodblock prints was technically forbidden by the shogunate government. Since ama dived topless, this stricture could be circumvented through appealing to realism in art. This tin is by freelance designer Mick Hill who designed the notorious 'Kate Greenaway' tin of 1980. He doctored this design by getting a friend to translate 'sex and drugs and rock n'roll' into Japanese which appears on the far right of the lid! Museum object number REDMG : 1992.2.849 [Scan by ThinkSee3D](https://www.thinksee3d.com/).