Niijima Floats: Mottled Blue Black Float with Silver Leaf

Dale Chihuly, Niijima Floats: Mottled Blue Black Float with Silver Leaf, 1992, blown glass, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dale and Doug Anderson, 1993.46.3
Copied Dale Chihuly, Niijima Floats: Mottled Blue Black Float with Silver Leaf, 1992, blown glass, 25 x 26 1⁄4 x 25 3⁄4 in. (63.5 x 66.7 x 65.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dale and Doug Anderson, 1993.46.3

Artwork Details

Title
Niijima Floats: Mottled Blue Black Float with Silver Leaf
Artist
Date
1992
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
25 x 26 1⁄4 x 25 3⁄4 in. (63.5 x 66.7 x 65.4 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Dale and Doug Anderson
Mediums
Mediums Description
blown glass
Classifications
Object Number
1993.46.3
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1993.46.3

Artwork Description

Dale Chihuly is an incandescent figure in the American studio glass movement. He began to work with glass in the 1960s, fascinated by its potential to shape light and space. In the 1990s, he began a series of Niijima Floats inspired by glass orbs used by Japanese fishermen to hold their nets in place. The Floats were among the largest glass orbs ever made by inflating molten glass with an artist’s breath. The spellbinding surfaces recall swirling currents of water and gas—wonders of earth and beyond.


This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, 2022