Chihuly Visits Collection Which Inspired his Iconic "Basket" Series

Inspiration can come from unexpected moments. That’s what happened in 1977, when Chihuly first visited the Washington State Historical Society in Tacoma, his hometown. The museum’s collection of time-worn Native American baskets woven by people indigenous to the Northwest immediately captured Chihuly’s imagination.

“I saw beautiful Indian baskets at the Washington State Historical Society, and was struck by the grace of their slumped, sagging forms. I wanted to capture this in glass. The breakthrough for me was recognizing that heat and gravity were the tools to be used to make these forms.” —Chihuly

The unforeseen inspiration of the Native American baskets led to Chihuly’s lifelong pursuit of organic and asymmetrical forms, a departure from 2,000 years of glassblowing history. Experimenting with the use of fire, gravity, and centrifugal force, Chihuly created and presented his now-iconic Basket series in the 1978 exhibition, Baskets and Cylinders: Recent Glass by Dale Chihuly, at the Renwick Gallery, National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. In subsequent years, Chihuly has revisited the series several times, experimenting with increased scale and color.

Chihuly and Leslie Chihuly recently visited the collection of Native American baskets which inspired him nearly 50 years ago and was critical to his approach to glassblowing. Follow Chihuly as he makes his way through this historical collection, expressing his memories of the first visit and its impact on his work.

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