Hippo Transforms into a Bar

During his life, French sculptor François-Xavier Lalanne (1927-2008) made several metal hippopatamus figures with built-in compartments. This glorious bronze specimen opens to reveal a bar. It was typical of Lalanne's playful approach to art:

He wanted, he once said, to bring the notion of usefulness to sculpture and to demystify art, which he regarded as a funhouse rather than a cathedral.

Obituary -via Wunderkammer | Photo: Claiborne Swanson Frank/Vogue