Jerry Glaser Carved Wood Sculpture on Turned Pedestal

American, mid-20th century

11 × 7.5 × 3.5 in.

A compact sculptural form by Jerry Glaser: a dark, irregular disc carved in tight radial facets that read like growth rings or a sunburst, mounted on a turned tulip base. The face is worked all over in short, rhythmic gouge cuts that catch light as you move around it. A natural split/checking runs from the center toward the lower edge and is left as part of the composition. The base is a simple turned foot and stem in warm brown hardwood, lifting the disc so it reads as an object, not a plaque.

About the artist

Jerry Glaser (c. 1920–2013) was a Chicago-born aerospace engineer who spent most of his career in California designing turbine and jet engines. He returned to the lathe in the early 1950s, and by the late 1950s and early 1960s his turnings were shown in major California exhibitions alongside Bob Stocksdale and Sam Maloof. An engineer first, he later became widely known among turners for the high-speed-steel tools and chucks that still carry his name. His own studio work is scarcer: disciplined, mid-century forms that treat wood as both material and drawing.

Carved and turned hardwood.

Dimensions: 11 × 7.5 × 3.5 in.

Desk or shelf sculpture; also strong as a small museum-style object on a console.