This hand blown cobalt blue glass vase has been decorated with four silver and gold leaf squares and oval glass 'buttons'.
Height 18 cm
Diameter 20 cm
A nomadic existence as a child in Australia made it natural for Tchai Munch to search for a profession independent of verbal language. Clay was her first choice but glass quickly became the material that fascinated her the most. The picturesque Danish town of Ebeltoft became this nomad's final port, and she has now lived and worked there for more than 40 years. Tchai's early work concentrated on blowing, fusing and slumping, a process in which pieces of glass are fused together and then shaped by reheating. The process of composing patterns, often using ancient Venetian techniques, requires delicacy and the careful hand of an experienced artisan. More recently, Tchai has been working with sandcasting, combining clay with glass.
Read the full interviewPhoto: © Tchai Munch
This hand blown cobalt blue glass vase has been decorated with four silver and gold leaf squares and oval glass 'buttons'.
Height 18 cm
Diameter 20 cm
Photo: © Tchai Munch
This fused and slumped glass plate features a rich variety of colours separated by thick dark lines. Tchai Munch shaped these colours using pulled cane in various colours, black cane with twists and bands of black in different widths. The canes were assembled while cold in a geometric pattern and then fused in an electric kiln. The final fused piece was then trimmed and sandblasted before being slumped into a predetermined form.
Height 5 cm
Diameter 40 cm
Photo: © Tchai Munch
This handcrafted round plate was made by fusing twisted clear and dichroic glass. Small dichroic glass buttons were scattered on one side. The black glass on the plate was sandblasted, then the whole was slumped into a predetermined form. The shape was inspired by opal hunting in the deserts of Australia where Tchai Munch grew up.
Diameter 42 cm
Photo: © Tchai Munch
This handcrafted plate was shaped by fusing various coloured glass canes together. Black canes were placed next to one another across the plate, interrupted by a band of multicoloured canes protruding to one side. The fused piece was partially sandblasted and slumped.
Diameter 39 cm
Photo: © Tchai Munch
This large handcrafted oval plate was formed by fusing various pieces of coloured glass. Blue and white pulled canes are connected via a wavy, river-like band of red glass coated with gold leaf. The plate was sandblasted, avoiding the gold leaf, and then slumped. The piece was commissioned by the municipality of Ebeltoft to be presented to Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, on her official visit to the town in 2015.
Length 72 cm
Width 38 cm