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Pilchuck Baskets by Dale Chihuly
Photo CreditGSA\Mary Margaret Carr
Pilchuck Baskets
Photo CreditGSA\Mary Margaret Carr

Pilchuck Baskets

Artist
Year1979
Classification sculpture
Medium hand-blown glass
Dimensionsvarying
Credits Commissioned through the Art in Architecture Program
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Location


  • "Pilchuck Baskets" is comprised of 21 hand-blown glass "baskets" that are reddish-brown in color. Most of these glass sculptures have a bulbous and organic shape, yet they still appear a delicate appearance. These works are displayed in a case that measures 6'1" by 2'10".



    The Native American baskets stored at the Tacoma Historical Society inspired Dale Chihuly to create Pilchuck Baskets. Piled up and stacked inside one another, the baskets in the storeroom were collapsing and bending under their own weight. Interpreting these forms in glass, Chihuly and his team of glassworkers created thinly blown pieces that were spun open and manipulated with gravity. The end result is a spontaneous series of unique "baskets" with amorphous characteristics.