Henry Chasey's Polyhedra Model Collection

By George W. Hart

Henry Chasey (1918-2002) created a large collection of acrylic polyhedra models in the 1980's and 1990's. The collection is now dispersed, but a sense of it can be gained from the images on this page.

About the Models

Before his retirement, Henry Chasey worked for Koppers Company, making models out of acrylic for that company's Engineering Division. His interest in polyhedra had its beginning in the popular series of Carl Sagan's, Cosmos, which first aired in the 1980. In one of that show's segments, Dr. Sagan discusses Pythagoras, and introduces the dodecahedron and the other Platonic Solids.

Henry Chasey's collection of acrylic polyhedra includes a wide range of polyhedra: the Platonic Solids, the Archimedean Solids, the Kepler and Poinsot Polyhedra, the Compound Solids, and the Stellated and Truncated Polyhedra. Included in his collection is a variation of these historical forms that he himself developed, which he refers to as "explosions." The sizes of the individual pieces vary, from larger than a soccer ball to smaller than a golf ball. The hues used include clear, translucent, black and white and colored. The acrylic sheets have been, most commonly, 1/8 inch thick. The individual sections are fused together, not glued.