Images(8)

chandelier

Object NameChandelier

Artist Dan Dailey (American, b. 1947)

Made FromGlass, Brass, Bronze, Aluminum, Steel, Nickel Plate, Gold Plate, Patination

Date2007

TechniqueBlown, cased, cast, flameworked

SizeOverall H: about 230 cm, W: about 105.5 cm, D: about 99 cm; (-14) Large Glass Shade Diam: 62 cm

Accession Number2014.4.67

Credit LineGift of Gary Hoffman in memory of Ileene Hoffman

Curatorial Area(s)

Postwar and Contemporary

Interpretive Notes

Web Text

The sculptor and designer Dan Dailey begins all of his creations with a drawing. The four whimsical figures on this chandelier—two male and two female—seem to have leapt straight out of one such drawing. Dailey works with his multidisciplinary studio team, which is charged with interpreting these imaginative ideas into three-dimensional form in glass and metal, to make this transformation possible. The angular forms of the figures, fashioned out of plated metals and topped with illuminated glass heads, are positioned in dancing poses around the rim of a large blown glass shade. In addition to being a pioneer in studio glass and influencing numerous artists during his prolific career, Dailey is a storyteller. Human and animal figures, which abound in his work, are full of life, color, and personality. Moreover, they are always connected to a larger narrative, which is sometimes simple, sometimes complex, and often humorous or ironic. Dailey was introduced to glass and metal as an art student in the 1960s. He earned his B.F.A. in 1969 at the Philadelphia College of Art in Pennsylvania, and his M.F.A in 1972 at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. After graduating, Dailey was awarded a Fulbright grant to study at the Venini glassworks on the island of Murano in Italy for a year. By 1973, he had established the glass department at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, where he has taught for many years. Dailey began exploring lighting fixtures as a platform for his art early in his career. Since the 1980s, lighting and architectural commissions have become a major part of his oeuvre. This chandelier is the first example of lighting by Dailey to enter the Corning Museum’s collection. For more information on Dan Dailey’s lighting, see Dan Dailey, ed. Joe Rapone, New York: Abrams, 2007. For more on the artist, see Perry A. Price, ed., Visions Realized: The Work of Dan Dailey, Boston: Fuller Craft Museum, 2012; and Dan Dailey: Simple Complexities in Drawings and Glass, 1972–1987, [Philadelphia]: Philadelphia Colleges of the Arts, 1987.

Place Made

United States, NH, Kensington

Physical DescriptionChandelier, "Four Figures Chandelier". Blown, cased, cast, and flameworked yellowish, white, transparent purple, and transparent blue glasses; brass, bronze, aluminum, steel; nickel plate, gold plate, patination. Chandelier in the form of a hanging lamp with a large, upside-down bell-shaped, illuminated glass shade. Four abstract metal figures are placed on the lip of the shade: a pair of female figures hold the central rod of the chandelier, and another pair of female figures kneel. All of the figures have small, upside-down bell-shaped illuminated glass shades on their heads. The small and large shades are made of blown glass. The four metal figures are fabricated from brass and bronze, and the chandelier’s structure is aluminum. The chandelier stem structure and the machined hanging parts are steel. Most of the metal elements are nickel-plated and patinated; some elements are gold-plated. The decorative elements of the metal star finial and the blue eyes of the metal figures are made of flameworked glass. The finial at the bottom of the chandelier is made of cast glass.
Provenance

Provenance Remark

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