Dale Chihuly Butter Yellow Basket with Black Lap Wrap Signed 1993 Handblown Glass Sculpture

Artist: Dale Chihuly
Title: Butter Yellow Basket with Black Lip Wrap
Medium: Hand Blown Glass Sculpture
Size: 13" diameter x 6" high
Inscription: Signed and dated "Chihuly 93"
Year: 1993
Documentation: Gallery Certificate of Authenticity

Dale Chihuly's "Butter Yellow Basket with Black Lip Wrap" marks an important moment in the artist's ongoing exploration of form, surface, and color within the long-running Basket series. Created in 1993, the sculpture demonstrates the artist's sustained interest in asymmetry, softness of contour, and the visual rhythm produced by thin, gently collapsing walls.

The work's butter-yellow body is notable for its uncommon chromatic balance. It bridges the subdued, earth-toned palette frequently associated with Chihuly's earlier practice and the more saturated, unconventional color combinations that characterize his later period. This transitional tonality gives the piece an especially compelling place within the evolution of the Basket series.

The pronounced black lip wrap provides a crisp visual boundary, heightening the vessel's silhouette while emphasizing the delicacy of the glass body. A fine black thread running through the form further underscores Chihuly's recurring investigations into linear structure, internal tension, and the interaction between surface detail and overall shape. Together, these elements illuminate the artist's innovative approach to hand-blown glass—an approach grounded in experimentation, gesture, and the continual redefinition of traditional vessel forms.

Measuring 13 inches in diameter and 6 inches in height, the sculpture bears the artist's signature and date, Chihuly 93, confirming its place within the artist's documented output from the early 1990s. The work is accompanied by a gallery Certificate of Authenticity.

About Dale Chihuly

Dale Chihuly (b. 1941) is an American artist known for his pioneering contributions to contemporary glass and for expanding the possibilities of glass as a sculptural medium. Over the course of his career, Chihuly has developed a distinctive visual language characterized by organic forms, vivid color, and large-scale installations that engage directly with architectural space. His work has played a central role in elevating studio glass to international prominence and in redefining how glass is understood within the broader field of contemporary art.

Trained in interior design and later in glass at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Rhode Island School of Design, Chihuly was among the first American artists to study glassblowing in Venice at the Venini factory. This experience informed his commitment to collaborative, team-based production, which remains a hallmark of his studio practice. Chihuly's approach allows for the creation of works at a scale and complexity that would be difficult to achieve through traditional solo methods.

Chihuly is widely recognized for series such as the Baskets, Cylinders, Seaforms, Macchia, Persians, and Ikebana, as well as for his large installations composed of chandeliers, towers, reeds, and site-specific environments. These works emphasize the interplay between light, transparency, and color, using glass to create immersive experiences within museums, public spaces, and botanical gardens worldwide. His outdoor exhibitions, in particular, highlight the relationship between natural landscapes and the reflective, translucent qualities of glass.

Major museums across the United States, Europe, and Asia collect and exhibit Chihuly's work, and his installations have become a significant part of the contemporary public art landscape. His contributions extend beyond sculpture to include drawings, paintings, and collaborative architectural projects, all of which demonstrate a sustained interest in material experimentation and visual impact.

Dale Chihuly's career has been central to the development of the American studio glass movement, and his practice continues to influence artists working with glass and large-scale installation. His work remains an important reference point in discussions of contemporary craft, materiality, and environmental installation.