Dale Chihuly Signed Original One-of-a-Kind Small Tabac Indian Blanket Soft Cylinder

Artist: Dale Chihuly
Title: One-of-a-Kind Small Tabac Indian Blanket Soft Cylinder
Medium: Hand Blown Glass
Size: 3.25" x 3" x 3"
Year: 2011
Signed: Signed by Dale Chihuly
Condition: Very good condition overall
Documentation: Includes Gallery Certificate of Authenticity

This one-of-a-kind piece was commissioned by Dale Chihuly for a private collector who asked him to create the smallest soft cylinder ever produced. Small in size but rich in detail, this diminutive original Dale Chihuly vase demonstrates an astonishing amount of glassblowing techniques including the use of tabac threads in various patterns and colors as well as multiple Indian blanket shards. To pack that amount of detail onto a vessel that measures only 3.25" x 3" x 3" showcases Dale Chihuly's masterful technique and precision.

Today, Dale Chihuly is known primarily for his large-scale installation works. It's rare to see him innovate on the other side of the size scale and it's a remarkable demonstration of his technical range. Stylistically, this piece is created in the style we've come to expect from Chihuly's early era (circa 1970s and 1980s) even though it was made in 2005. This allowed Chihuly to revisit this type of style through a modern lens, with decades of additional experience and refinement. The artist's early-era work is the most sought-after by collectors, making this request to commission a work that harkens back to that time an unusual but understandable request. Dale Chihuly's One-of-a-kind Small Tabac Indian Blanket Soft Cylinder is signed by the artist and includes a gallery certificate of authenticity.

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. Glassworks 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 degrees 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 1980s, Niijima Floats and Chandeliers created in the 1990s; and a more recent one, Fiori from the 2000s.

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 glasswork on a much broader scale, while still maintaining his recognizable style.