Dale Chihuly and Italo Scanga Documented Historic Early White Cylinder with Drawings Handblown Glass

Artist: Dale Chihuly and Italo Scanga
Title: White Early Cylinder with Drawings
Medium: Handblown glass
Size: 8 1/2” × 7 ½”
Year: 1974
Condition: Very good condition overall, please request a full report for condition details
Documentation: Includes Gallery Certificate of Authenticity

The American glass sculptor Dale Chihuly is well-known for his innovative techniques for creating handblown glass sculptures. His glass practice is a departure from traditional symmetrical and perfectly formed vessels. Instead, his works embrace asymmetry and irregular shapes to create unique sculptural forms.

Chihuly began the series Cylinders consisting of vessels reminiscent of Native American textiles and designs in 1974. He recreated the simple motifs and intricate patterns of blankets into cylindrical glass vessels. To achieve this, Chihuly and his team developed the revolutionary glassblowing technique of “pick-up drawing” to create glass thread drawings fused into molten glass bubbles. This method consisted of using threads created from glass rods to create intricate designs. A bubble of molten glass is then rolled over the heated glass threads to fully integrate the motif instead of having them laid or inlaid on the surface.

This White Early Cylinder with Drawings is part of one of Chihuly’s earliest series, Cylinders. The white cylinder embraces minimal motifs and subtle earthy tones. The overall piece alludes to a serenity enhanced by an apparent simplicity. Additionally, the handblown glass is a collaboration between Chihuly and Italo Scanga. Scanga is one of Chihuly’s closest friends, frequent collaborator, and often credited as a strong influence. Notably, the making of this noteworthy and historic piece is cataloged in the artist’s book Team Chihuly, page 33.

White Early Cylinder with Drawings includes a gallery certificate of authenticity. The artwork is in very good condition overall. Please request a full report for condition details.

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 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 glass work on a broader scale, while still maintaining his recognizable style.