1740 saw the first ice palace completed by the order of Empress Anna Ivanovna in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Empress commissioned architect Pyotr Yeropkin to design the palace with the actual construction being supervised by George Kraft. George Kraft left behind descriptions of the palace complete with ice furniture, beds, mattress, and pillows; and a garden filled with ice trees, birds, and a statue of an elephant. The outer walls were lined with ice sculptures as well as artillery pieces also made of ice. The dimensions were almost 66’ high by 164’ wide. Some accounts state the palace was constructed to celebrate Russia’s victory over Turkey while other sources include a story of forced wedding celebration, also at the hands of the Empress.

The earliest known annual ice festival was created in 1897 Harbin China. The festival has grown over time into an international ice and snow sculpture festival showcasing the work of thousands of artists, carvers, and sculptors from around the globe. To this day the festival still utilizes the naturally-harvested ice from the frozen Songhua River.

Until the 1800s, ice used for practical purposes and for sculptures could only be naturally harvested from frozen fields, lakes, and rivers. In 1834 a British patent for the first ice making machine using ether was obtained by Jacob Perkins. Later Ferdinand Carre invented an ice machine in 1859 which made clear ice by lowering cans of water into a 15 degree brine solution with air bubbles coming up through the center of the can and then chilled using ammonia. Approximately 750,000 blocks of ice were being produced in the United States alone by 1920.

Today icemen and women have it easy using a more modern technology developed and invented by Virgil Clinebell. In 1964 Virgil developed a machine that made clear 15-pound blocks of ice. Clinebell’s initial work progressed and now supplies ice manufacturers and sculptors with the more commonly used machine that manufactures 300-pound crystal-clear ice blocks used to sculpt with.

Present-day ice men and women also have a wider spectrum of tool options that tend to be somewhat painless. At the forefront is electricity… chainsaws, ice lathes, CNC machines, color, and thank you Steve Jobs for the iPod. Ice lathes produce perfect cylinders while CNC machines allow you to design a 3D ice sculpture on your laptop as well as fashion flawless logos. Barring color and iPods these technologies were developed from wood carving tools and modified to accommodate working with ice in a more efficient and precise manner.

we are all eager to see what is in store for the future of ice. As to the future of our IceSculpture.com™ blog, stay tuned for posts lke the following:

* Power Hungry – Tools: electric and sharp
* Art Lovers – A brief history of art and ice
* Functional vs. Frivolous – Ice in the 21st Century
* Love Me. Use Me. – How to incorporate ice into your event
* Be the Ice – A brief history of competitive ice sculpting
* So You Think You Can Sculpt – The Who’s Who of ice sculpting
* Ready for Action – How live ice sculpting came about
* The Musicians – Ice music
* The Passive Lover (with pockets) – The most outrageous sculptures
* Color Your World – Ice with the added vibrancy of the rainbow

And much much more…

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