Plate 86: Ascidiae 1899

Plate 86: Ascidiae opens a window onto one of the ocean's most overlooked wonders, the sea squirts, in a richly detailed page from Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms in Nature). These translucent, vase-shaped creatures, technically tunicates, are drawn in glowing color and cross-section, their siphons, sacs, and clustered colonies arranged into a composition that turns humble filter-feeders into objects of surprising elegance.

Ascidians spend their adult lives anchored to rocks and reefs, drawing seawater through their bodies, yet Haeckel saw in them the same design logic that runs through all his plates. He renders their gelatinous bodies as luminous forms, some solitary and jar-like, others massed in jewel-toned colonies, and lets their soft symmetry fill the page. The result is at once a rigorous zoological study and a decorative marvel, the kind of image that rewards long, curious looking.

Kunstformen der Natur was published in ten installments between 1899 and 1904, gathering one hundred lithographs that ranged across the tree of life. The series left a lasting mark on Art Nouveau and on the way we picture the microscopic sea, and its lesser-known plates like this one hold special appeal for collectors who want something beyond the familiar jellyfish and radiolarians. Sea squirts are also of real scientific interest as close invertebrate relatives of the vertebrates, giving this plate a quiet significance.

As wall art, Plate 86 offers glowing color and unusual, conversation-starting forms. Its warm, translucent palette suits a study, a laboratory or clinic, a marine-themed gallery wall, or a bathroom where its watery subject feels fitting. It is a natural pick for biologists, tide-pool enthusiasts, and anyone who delights in the strange and the beautiful.

Each print is produced on premium 189 gsm museum-grade archival matte paper with fade-resistant pigment inks, so the delicate coloring and fine anatomical detail remain vivid and sharp for years to come. Choose your size from the drop-down menu: 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, or 24x36 inches. Prints ship rolled in a protective tube, with the smallest size sent flat to arrive in perfect shape. The frame is not included, letting you pair the print with your own choice of framing. This is a faithful reproduction of the original antique plate.

Whether you are furnishing a science-minded home, searching for an offbeat gift for a marine biologist, or simply love natural history prints with genuine character, Plate 86: Ascidiae delivers something distinctive. It slips comfortably into modern, vintage, and eclectic interiors alike, and it carries the authority of one of the most influential illustrated works in the history of science. Hang it where its glowing forms can draw the eye, and enjoy Haeckel's gift for finding art in the most unexpected corners of the living sea, where even a sea squirt becomes a small masterpiece of natural design worth celebrating on your wall.