Aritst: Dale Chihuly
Title: Cobalt Blue Basket
Medium: Hand-Blown Glass
Size: 6.75" x 8.25" x 7"
Year: 1998
Inscription: Signed and dated "Chihuly 98"
Documentation: Certificate of Authenticity included
Crafted in 1998, "Cobalt Blue Basket" exemplifies Dale Chihuly's mastery of form, color, and fluid gesture in hand-blown glass. Radiating with a deep, luminous cobalt hue, this unique work captures the delicate balance between control and spontaneity that defines Chihuly's most celebrated creations. The vessel-like form, with its softly collapsing contours and dynamic asymmetry, evokes the artist's signature Basket series, yet this piece stands apart as an entirely singular object.
Unlike the 1994 Portland Press edition Cobalt Basket with Cadmium Red Lip Wrap, which shares a similar scale and coloration, this iternation of Chihuly's "Cobalt Blue Basket" is not part of any editioned series. It features a striking black lip wrap in place of the red, a subtle yet impactful distinction that underscores the individuality of the work. The absence of a series affiliation, coupled with the artist's hand inscription and 1998 date, affirms this piece as a one-of-a-kind Chihuly glass sculpture.
Dale Chihuly's unique "Cobalt Blue Basket" is signed and dated "Chihuly 98" and includes a gallery certificate of authenticity.
About Dale Chihuly
Dale Chihuly's journey into the world of glass began with a spark of curiosity and evolved into one of the most influential and pioneering careers in contemporary art. Born in Tacoma, Washington in 1941, Chihuly was raised in a working-class family and experienced personal tragedy early in life, losing both his brother and father by the age of 17. Despite these hardships, he pursued design with fierce determination, enrolling at the University of Washington where he studied interior design. It was during this time that he first experimented with melting and shaping glass—a discovery that would become his life's calling.
After earning a Fulbright Fellowship, Chihuly traveled to Venice in 1968 to study at the Venini glass factory on the island of Murano. There, he witnessed the teamwork intrinsic to traditional glassblowing and brought that collaborative model back to the United States, where he would revolutionize the medium. In 1971, he co-founded the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington—now a world-renowned center for glass art education.
A pivotal moment in Chihuly's life came in 1976, when a car accident left him blind in one eye. Then in 1979, a body surfing accident dislocated his shoulder, preventing him from holding a glassblowing pipe. Rather than ending his artistic career, these physical setbacks transformed his creative process. Chihuly began to direct his team of artisans like a conductor, sketching his visions and guiding their execution. This allowed his work to grow in scale, complexity, and ambition.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Chihuly's signature series—Baskets, Seaforms, Persians, and Chandeliers—pushed the boundaries of what glass could express. Drawing inspiration from Native American weaving, botanical forms, and Venetian traditions, he created installations that were immersive, dynamic, and unapologetically dramatic. His Chihuly Over Venice (1995–96) and Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem (2000) projects further established him as a global force in site-specific installation art.
Today, Chihuly's work can be found in more than 200 museum collections worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Corning Museum of Glass. In 2012, the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibition opened in Seattle, offering a permanent home for his work just steps from the Space Needle.
Despite the fragility of his chosen medium, Chihuly's vision is bold and enduring. He has transformed the perception of glass from craft to fine art and redefined what it means to create beauty on a monumental scale. His work remains a vibrant celebration of form, color, light, and the collaborative spirit of art-making.
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