James Mongrain and Chihuly, The Boathouse hotshop, Seattle, 2019 © Chihuly Studio. All Rights Reserved.
The much-anticipated debut of Sharp client Dale Chihuly’s newest collection -- Chihuly Merletto -- is the culmination of his decades-long love story with Italy. This collection of work started to take shape in 2019 when Chihuly began experimenting with an ancient cane working technique called “merletto” (the Italian word for lace), Chihuly’s inspiration for the collection’s name. A labor-intensive and complex process, merletto was developed on the Italian island of Murano in the 15th century. Known as a pioneer of the studio glass movement in America, Chihuly’s latest body of work expands on his record of innovation and invention.
The work will debut at Traver Gallery in Seattle, Washington, on June 4, 2020 and will run through August 1, 2020. A behind the scenes look at the making of this collection can be viewed here. Writer Natasha Gural at Forbes explores Dale Chihuly’s Italian legacy and his new collection in a feature story for Forbes.