Dunbar Historical Society
History, Art, Heritage
Visit The Pascal Annex
See The Largest Piece Of Carved Glass In The World
Pascal, who wanted to carve glass with hammer and chisel, finally found the glass she could carve. It was in the closed PA Wire Glass Company in Dunbar, Pennsylvania. She came to town around 1961 and found a floor covered with huge pieces of glass.
She also found a 4000-pound piece of solid glass left in the furnace inside the plant. Purchasing all the glass, she was able to accomplish her life’s dream of carving glass.
In addition to being a glass sculptor, Pascal was a painter and steel sculptor.
Her greatest achievement though, was her 2,800-pound "Seated Torso." The Seated Torso is 7 feet tall and 2-1/2 tons. Sold in 1994, to John Kluge, for 3 million dollars. It was the center of a fountain at his carriage house in Charlottesville, Virginia. When he died in 2010, the new owners donated the "Seated Torso" to the Dunbar Historical Society. An annex had to be added due to the size and weight of the piece. It is now back home in Dunbar...30 years after it left the glass plant. From the industrial to the cultural, Dunbar folks are thrilled to have it back home.
60 Years of the Traveling Glass
1955 Pennsylvania Wire Glass Company closes leaving a factory full of large chunks of glass and a two-ton piece of green glass in the furnace.
1960-1961 Artist Pascal is notified by a friend of a treasure trove of glass inside a closed glass plant in Dunbar, Pennsylvania. Staying in Dunbar for a year, she works on sculpting glass with a hammer and chisel. She purchases all the glass and has it moved to her studio in Beverly Hills.
1961-1967 Pascal creates many glass sculptures from the Dunbar glass. She goes to Europe and has her first gallery show at Semiha Huber Gallery. Having success in Europe, she comes back to the United States where she gains acceptance in the art world and has many shows in U.S. galleries.
1967-1993 Pascal sells her sculptures and artwork to a wide range of patrons, including President and Nancy Reagan, Frank and Barbara Sinatra, and Mr. and Mrs. Henry Mancini. Armand Hammer purchases a sculpted glass necklace and presents it to Princess Diana for her wedding.
1994 Pascal sells the Seated Torso (the largest carved glass sculpture in the world) to billionaire John Kluge for $3 million dollars. He moves it to Charlottesville, Virginia and places it in the center of a fountain in the Morven Carriage House.
2011 After Kluge dies in 2010, Donald Trump purchases his estate, which includes the carriage house. About this time, Donna Myers, Secretary of the Dunbar Historical Society, places a question on Askart.com seeking information on the Seated Torso. No response was received . . .
2013 . . . until the head winemaker at the now Trump Vineyard Winery finds the two-year-old question and contacts her. Then, the General Manager calls Myers and says the Trump family wants to donate the Seated Torso to the Dunbar Historical Society. The Society raises the funds needed to move it back to Dunbar. Due to size and weight, the sculpture is stored at the Dunbar Volunteer Fire Department since it will not fit in the Society’s center, a former United States Post Office built between 1903 and 1907.
2015 The Pascal Annex is completed, and the Seated Torso moved inside. The sculpture traveled from Dunbar to Beverly Hills, California to Charlottesville, Virginia and finally back home to Dunbar to the Pascal Annex Art Gallery.
2016 The Grand Opening was held in May 2016. In October, Pascal’s daughter, Jill Petty and her husband Stephen visited the gallery. Artist Pascal sent several of her paintings and photos, which now grace the walls of the Pascal Annex Art Gallery at the Dunbar Historical Society in Dunbar, Pennsylvania.
What an unbelievable trip!
CONTACT INFORMATION
Office Phone: 724-277-8800
Email: dhs@zoominternet.net
Secretary's Email: myers@zoominternet.net
Secretary's Phone: 724-277-8448
Address: 42 Bridge St., Dunbar, PA 15431
Business Hours:
Friday 10 am to 2 pm
Saturday 10 am to 12 noon
Other Times - Please contact us for an appointment