These hand coolers were popular in the 19th century when women would carry them to the ballroom. They used these charming glass animals to keep their hands cool so they would not be damp when they accepted a suitor's hand to dance.

The bison was designed by Taf Lebel Schaefer (American, b. 1950).

From her formative years at the Rhode Island School of Design to her influential role at Steuben Glass, Taf has always allowed her love for wildlife and the outdoors to shape her creations. Her commitment to craftsmanship and conservation is not just a professional choice, but a personal creed.

Taf Schaefer’s 20 years of exploring the sculptural aspects of form, combined with her love of nature and animal life, brought new dimension to the design language of Steuben where she was the top-selling designer for 14 years. Abstract forms play a strong role in her work as a means of conveying movement, tension or tranquility, and to capture and reflect light. Her experience and ability as a sculptor have given her a talent for capturing the essence and personality of an animal within a stylized and abstract form.

Growing up on Cape Cod, Schaefer found that the teeming oceans and transcendent wild beautyinspired her to become a sculptor. Objects found on hikes in the woods and nature walks along the seashore have been a source of inspiration for Schaefer along with the powerful imagery of the world’s animals. Exploring worlds that are both a part of us and are mysteriously hidden from us informs Schaefer’s work as her sculptural vocabulary evolves.

A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Schaefer has taken a hands-on approach to her art by carving stone and wood and casting bronze sculpture. The actual process of creating the work informs the aesthetic and allows serendipity to have a place in the final imagery.

As an artist in education for the State of Maryland, a recipient of Massachusetts Arts Council Grants and an instructor at the Corcoran School of Art and the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, Schaefer helped engage, inspire and educate adults and children and the general public with her sculptural projects.