A Magical View of the World in Glass: Steffen Dam’s Captivating Jellyfish Panel

1st October 2025

Contemporary Danish artist Steffen Dam (b.1961) has spent over thirty-five years exploring the expressive possibilities of glass, developing a unique and highly acclaimed visual language that merges science, imagination, and craft. He is internationally recognised for his cabinet of curiosities or Wunderkammer; a collection of clear glass cylinders housing intricate botanical and marine-like forms, suspended in delicate stillness.

Originally trained as a toolmaker, Dam began his artistic journey as a glassblower. Over time, his practice evolved through the integration of casting, grinding, and techniques drawn from other disciplines. His early work consisted of flat glass panels, influenced by the natural history illustrations he discovered as a child through his grandfather’s book collection. These influences laid the foundation for Dam’s later innovations: glass "jars" containing fantastical sea creatures and organic forms, entirely imagined yet rendered with scientific precision.

“You need to fine-tune your inner clock and understand what glass actually is. In this house, glass is a liquid and our job is to determine into which shape this liquid solidifies.”  Steffen Dam, interview with Crafts Magazine, 2017

Lot 194 in the upcoming Design Sale on 15 October is an exceptional example of Dam’s work: a large, dramatic glass jellyfish panel, created as a unique commission for the interior of a luxury sailing yacht. This piece exemplifies Dam’s ability to conjure entire ecosystems in glass.

Design specialist Max Fisher said; “We’re thrilled to bring this exceptional commission to auction. it’s a rare opportunity to encounter Dam’s work on such a dramatic scale, and it captures the dreamlike beauty that defines his practice.”

Additional Highlights from the Sale Include:

• Lot 193 – A impressive wave-form glass sculpture by Colin Reid (b.1953)
• Lots 90 & 91 – Studio pottery by the legendary Dame Lucie Rie (1902–1995)
• Lot 215 – A rare pair of Mouseman elephant bookends
• Lot 203 – Serpentine Dance, Folies Bergère, a gilded wood panel by Maurice Pico Picaud (1900–1977)

The Design Sale presents a rare opportunity to acquire significant contemporary and 20^th-century works of glass, ceramic, furniture and sculpture.

Design Auction: 15 October
Contact us for catalogues, condition reports, or to register to bid.