In 1962 Harvey Littleton held a series of informal workshops exploring the art of hot glassmaking in a studio. Until then, most glass objects had been blown or molded in an industrial setting-the only place artists could find the facilities to produce their work. With Littleton's determination and the involvement of other artists, the studio-glass movement was born. For Amber Crested Form, Littleton massed a dolphin-shaped appendage onto an assemblage that includes a hollow tube. He then allowed the weight and tension of the cooling glass to manipulate the outcome.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Amber Crested Form
Designer:Harvey K. Littleton (American, Corning, New York 1922–2013 Spruce Pine, North Carolina)
Date:1976
Medium:Glass
Dimensions:17 1/2 × 9 × 5 in., 14.5 lb. (44.5 × 22.9 × 12.7 cm, 6.6 kg)
Classification:Glass
Credit Line:Gift of William D. and Rose D. Barker, 1978
Object Number:1978.438
Inscription: Signed and dated (on base, incised): Harvey K. Littleton 1976 W
William D. and Rose D. Barker, New York (until 1978; their gift to MMA)
New York. Contemporary Art Glass Group. "Harvey K. Littleton: 39 Forms in Glass," January 21–February 6, 1977, no catalogue.
Washington, D. C. Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum. "Harvey K. Littleton: A Retrospective Exhibition," March 30–September 3, 1984.
New York. American Craft Museum. "Harvey K. Littleton: A Retrospective Exhibition," November 16, 1984–January 12, 1985.
Atlanta. High Museum of Art. "Harvey K. Littleton: A Retrospective Exhibition," April 28–June 16, 1985.
Portland, Me. Portland Museum of Art. "Harvey K. Littleton: A Retrospective Exhibition," November–December 1985.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Design and Architecture Since World War II: Selections from the Collection," July 6–Fall 1988, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Modern Design: 1890–1990," April 21–November 22, 1992, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Studio Glass in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 8–October 6, 1996, no. 20.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "One of a Kind: The Studio Craft Movement," December 22, 2006–December 2, 2007, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Modern Design: Selections from the Collection," May 30–October 5, 2008, no catalogue.
Penelope Hunter-Stiebel. "The Decorative Arts of the Twentieth Century." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 37 (Winter 1979–1980), p. 49, ill. (color).
Jane Hayward. Glass in the Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1982, p. 18, fig. 13.
R. Craig Miller. Modern Design in The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1890–1990. New York, 1990, p. 274, ill.
Grace Glueck. "Fun With Studio Crafts: When the Traditional Gets Quirky." New York Times (January 12, 2007), p. E45, ill.
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