A common misconception is that a lobster in the wild is naturally bright red, probably due to the fact that most people only see the cooked product on a plate. However, lobsters actually appear in the wild in a variety of colours. They only display their iconic red shell when cooked due to the breakdown of proteins when exposed to high heat revealing a red pigment. This is true for all lobster colours except albino and white lobsters which do not change at all.
Lobsters are commonly found with a dark-coloured shell, either bluish-green or greenish-brown to camouflage themselves on the ocean bed. Atypical coloration of live lobsters happen due to a genetic mutation which suppresses certain colour pigment, and this is a fairly rare occurence at about 1 in every 2-100 million lobsters caught. Amongst the possible colours include bright red, orange, yellow, blue, white, split-coloured, pastel, and a combination of multiple.
Lladró’s Dali Sculpture (left).
Even in famous art since the Renaissance, lobsters were portrayed in its more iconic orange to red hues even when depicted as living. They have appeared in French artist Eugene Delacroix's Still Life with Lobsters and in Japanese ukiyo-e master Utagawa Kuniyoshi's Lobster. One of the most remembered uses of lobster in art was by Salvador Dali in his multi-media experience titled The Dream of Venus, where he covered female genitalia with red lobsters, and also in his infamous Lobster Telephone.
Lladró's Lobster (Blue) Figurine is an introduction to its new 2023 line-up of Kings of the Sea. Its iridescent shell in dark blue with sky blue and orange accents at the claws and tail signifies a celebration of the lobster's myriad of colours, embracing differences and the beauty of living itself. The fluid symbolism of the lobster and its colours cements itself as a timeless piece that is relevant yesterday, today and tomorrow.
