a brief history of ice sculpting
Btw, I totally stole much of this from an upcoming ebook/real book that’s a collaboration between myself and two other fantastic ice sculptors. Have I mentioned that I’m lazy? I did do some edits, added stuff (like a few fake ai-generated pics 
), and threw in section titles (google likes that), but much of the rest is verbatim, since I gave myself permission!
this is an AI image; AI has some trouble generating proper tools for ice sculptors (like her chisel) and the ice sculpture doesn’t look real. This is better than some of the other AI ice sculptor images I looked at though and they are getting better. AI is a brand new aspect of the history of ice sculpting and we’ll have to see what effect it will have, particularly on expectations as to what’s possible with ice.
in the beginning
Not surprisingly, there isn’t much evidence for ancient ice sculptures around. This is one of the really tricky parts about the history of ice sculpting. But just as the Inuit tribes build houses out of snow and humans create art from almost any material available, it’s reasonable to assume that ice art has been made for a very long time. Residents of northern China have a centuries long tradition of making ice lanterns that have both an artistic and utilitarian purpose, as the ice helped keep the lanternsâ flames from being snuffed out by the wind.
what an AI”thinks” the 1739 Russian ice palace might have looked like. I WISH the real castle looked like this; I doubt it was quite as elaborate, but who knows? đ€·ââïžÂ This is definitely better than what I got the last time I asked an AI for this though; they’re getting smarter. And of course, I’m going to ask it to generate more history of ice sculpting pics since a lot of what we’ve got is just guesses anyway! 
a cold-hearted Russian empress
In one of history’s first detailed accounts of ice art, late in 1739, Russian Empress Anna Ivanovna directed that an ice palace be built. Reportedly 50 m wide and 20 m tall, this palace was a very elaborate affair, complete with ice gardens and ice defensive âweapons.â The palace was the site of a mock wedding designed to punish a Russian prince that had offended the Empress. After the Empress made the prince into a jester, he and his maidservant bride were forced to spend the night naked in the ice palace, surviving only because of a sheepskin coat. Ironically, nowadays, people pay big bucks to stay overnight in ice hotels and sleep on ice beds, albeit with warmer bedcovers.
ice sculpting as a culinary art
The culinary arts play a BIG role in the history of ice sculpting. In the culinary arts, ice sculptures usually make their grand entrance in the record via Auguste Escoffierâs invention of the dish Peach Melba. Around 1892, the dessert was first presented in a sculpted ice swan to Australian soprano Nellie Melba. Itâs extremely unlikely that this was the first time that sculpted ice was used for fine food service, but Escoffierâs fame definitely adds weight to the occasion.
yup, more trouble with the history of ice sculpting! This is an AI’s best guess (I’ve tried several times) as to what Escoffier’s original Peach Melba looked like. This is a magnitude better than what I got last time, however!
North American ice palaces
Also in the late 1800s, North Americans built a series of large ice palaces, similar in concept to the Russian version, but without the forcibly imprisoned bride and groom. Sites have included Montreal (Quebec), St. Paul (Minnesota), and the more remote Leadville (Colorado). These palaces were used as tourism draws. Late in the 1900s and early in the 2000s, for similar reasons, weâve seen another boom in ice structures, with various sites in the colder parts of the world boasting ice hotels as a means to attract tourists during what otherwise might be an off season. Swedenâs ICEHOTEL is currently the most famous example.
20th century ice sculpting
Ice sculpting as a semi-legitimate art form started to take off with the combination of widespread mechanical refrigeration and the rise of publishing and entertainment. Ice sculptures usually have little longterm impact unless filmed or photographed and iceâs new availability almost anywhere, at any time, spurred its use as a decorative item as well as a utilitarian one.
One of the most revered films of all time, 1941âs âCitizen Kane,â features not just one, but three ice sculptures! Also midcentury, we saw the emergence of what some would call the first modern âice sculptors,â or artists that spent a lot of time sculpting ice as a professional endeavor. George P. Weisingâs 1954 book, âIce Carving Professionally,â is a prime indicator of this emergence. This was a milestone in the history of ice sculpting as suddenly, ice sculpting became a profession rather than a hobby or craft.
The next few decades saw ice sculpting progress as largely a culinary art, with the Japanese regarded as leaders in the art and a variety of books published in Japanese by masters such as Mitsuo Shimizu, Hideo Hasegawa, and Yukio Matsuo. There were also a few books in English, notably Joseph Amendolaâs âIce Carving Made Easyâ and later, Mac and Claire Winkerâs âIce Sculpture: The Art of Ice Carving in 12 Systematic Steps.â
Finally, importantly, innovative new ice block machines from the Clinebell Equipment Company in Colorado produced blocks that were completely clear, rather than the less than clear blocks previously available.
the last few decades have seen ice sculptors push the boundaries of ice like never before in the history of ice sculpting.
ice sculpting and power tools
The 1980s marked the formation of an association devoted to the art of ice sculpture: the National Ice Carving Association (NICA), based in Illinois. NICA events brought ice sculptors together from around the U.S. and even from around the world to compete in sanctioned competitions with a structured scoring system. These sorts of competitions gave rise to numerous innovations, as sculptors devised methods to create amazing ice sculptures within a time limit.
Competition ice sculptors also added more power tools to their sculpting arsenals, as power tools often provided more speed and versatility than traditional ice sculpting tools, like hand saws and chisels. Engraving tools such as die grinders and Dremel tools offered new precision where sculptors could create designs and logos that featured the contrast of white snow against clear ice.
The ice luge is one the most significant ice innovations that probably showed up not too long after someone first used power tools on ice. But the history of ice luges is even more murky than the history of ice sculpting. More than likely, someone first tried it with a router tool and a big random chunk of ice for a backyard BBQ. Or it COULD be something that Vikings did all the time with mead(?) or whatever they drank. (At some point, I will google and find out what Vikings actually drank, don’t worry đ) But we’ll probably never know đ€·ââïž
few tools have had as much of an impact on the history of ice sculpting as the CNC machine. This is a game changer! (I was using this CNC, affectionately know as Big Bertha, at Ice Pro Ice Sculptures in Florida.)
the CNC transforms the art of ice sculpting
But while the use of hand power tools transformed the art of sculpting ice, an even more transformative ice tool arrived near the end of the 20th century: the CNC machine. Somewhat of an ice sculpting robot, a CNC is a programmable (via design software) machine that can do the bulk of engraving and cutting for many ice sculptures, especially those incorporating logos and complicated decorative engravings.
As programmable machine technology (and potentially, artificial intelligence) advances, event planners and artists keep finding new uses for ice arts, since the art is beginning to have predictable results. The new and intimately related cocktail ice industry is a good example of this.
The adoption of the CNC is a major milestone in the history of ice sculpting. Its use marks ice sculptingâs maturation into a commercial art. Ice sculpture companies can now be more easily sold since the quality of the sculptures arenât dependent solely on the skills of the artists. Much of the creativity can be preserved in computer files and a machineâs precision canât be matched by human hands.
what's next?
I believe artificial intelligence will likely transform ice sculpting again, perhaps even more than the CNC machine has. In fact, it will be in conjunction with the CNC machine (or other machines) that it will probably happen. As I write this, AIs like Chat GPT-4 and Midjourney are making regular news. Ice sculpting is a niche industry, so it will take a little longer for the changes to come, but they will. Better to embrace it rather than pretend it won’t happen!
be a part of the history of ice sculpting
Maybe youâre taking up sculpting ice for the first time or maybe youâve been at it for a while. Either way, you might find in the coming years that YOU become part of the history of ice sculpting. While itâs actually possible now to make a living as an ice sculptor, you still donât run into ice sculptors everyday. Since ice artists are relatively rare, your odds of making significant contributions are a bit higher than they might be in other fields. So now that you know a little more about how we got here, letâs get on it, and start talking about sculpting some ice!