Dale Chihuly Original Early Era 1976 Signed Muted Amaranth Navajo Blanket Cylinder

Artist: Dale Chihuly
Title: Muted Amaranth Navajo Blanket Cylinder
Medium: Hand Blown Glass
Size: 9 1/2" x 3 1/2"
Year: 1976
Inscription: Signed and dated "Chihuly 76" on bottom
Documentation: Includes Gallery Certificate of Authenticity

During the 1970's, Dale Chihuly was best known for his complex and innovate Navajo Blanket cylinders. Using new techniques including inserted threads and pick up drawings, Chihuly was able to create complex designs on the sides of his glass cylinders. Inspired by his love of weaving and collection of Navajo and Pendelton blankets, Chihuly’s Blanket Cylinders laid the foundation of innovation that would go on to define his career.

This early example from 1976 showcases a tremendous amount of detail on a beautifully varied background comprised of muted amaranth, rose pink, and brick red with some variations of sandy beige. Chihuly’s early era work features muted earth tones almost exclusively, but the richer color pallet of this 1976 cylinder perhaps shows the very beginning of his interest in exploring the brighter colors we’d come to see in his later works. Measuring 9 1/2" tall, Chihuly’s muted amaranth cylinder is a nice size that provides ample space to showcase his complex Navajo Blanket design. The design itself features a variety of colored details, including mint green and white circles along with bright red and soft lilac crosshatching.

Unlike most Chihuly examples from this era, this 1976 cylinder is signed and dated "Chihuly 76" on the underside. The piece includes a gallery certificate of authenticity from Modern Artifact.

About Dale Chihuly

One of the most famous contemporary glass artists in the world, Dale Chihuly is best known for his monumental sculptures and installations. He is the name behind the spectacular ceiling at the Bellagio’s flower garden in Las Vegas and the creator of the Rotunda Chandelier at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Glass works of Dale Chihuly are considered some of the most desired collectibles between the decorative arts devotees today. Despite his initial indifference towards education, Chihuly has spent a lot of time in school, obtaining both scientific and artistic degree in sculpture from prestigious graduate schools.

He displayed a proclivity for interior design and craft early on, but his true passion was always in the glass. He was a Fulbright Fellow in the late 1960s and an apprentice at the Venini Glass Factory in Venice. Mastering the art of Murano glasswork, he continued the experiments with glassblowing and thus became one of the people who brought the ancient art of glassblowing back into the spotlight on an international scale.

Monumental and small-scale artwork of Dale Chihuly is present in over 200 most renowned decorative art collections today, while the artist holds twelve honorary doctorates!

The most illustrious series in his work are Cylinders and Baskets he created in the 1970s; Macchia, Venetians, and Persians from the 1980's, Niijima Floats and Chandeliers created in the 1990s; and a more recent one, Fiori from the 2000's.

For over 30 years, Dale Chihuly has been acting as an artistic director of his team of craftsmen, since he was incapacitated in two accidents, which left him blind in one eye and incapable of holding the blowing tube. This change allowed him to see the possibilities of glass work on a broader scale, while still maintaining his recognizable style.