python - Force numpy to create array of objects

Question

I have an array:

x = np.array([[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6]])

and I want to create another array of shape=(1, 1) and dtype=np.object whose only element is x.

I've tried this code:

a = np.array([[x]], dtype=np.object)

but it produces an array of shape (1, 1, 2, 3).

Of course I can do:

a = np.zeros(shape=(1, 1), dtype=np.object)
a[0, 0] = x

but I want the solution to be easily scalable to greater a shapes, like:

[[x, x], [x, x]]

without having to run for loops over all the indices.

Any suggestions how this could be achieved?

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UPD1

The arrays may be different, as in:

x = np.array([[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6]])
y = np.array([[7, 8, 9], [0, 1, 2]])
u = np.array([[3, 4, 5], [6, 7, 8]])
v = np.array([[9, 0, 1], [2, 3, 4]])
[[x, y], [u, v]]

They may also be of different shapes, but for that case a simple np.array([[x, y], [u, v]]) constructor works fine

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UPD2

I really want a solution that works with arbitrary x, y, u, v shapes, not necessarily all the same.

Answer 1

a = np.empty(shape=(2, 2), dtype=np.object)
a.fill(x)