The Artistry of the Blaschkas

Rudolph and Leopold Blaschka were a father and son team of artists working in glass in the 19th Century. I first came across them when Martin and I visited the Ware collection of Glass Models of Plants at Harvard University in 1992. The Blaschkas made over 4,000 botanical models of plants and flowers entirely out of glass. They are staggeringly beautiful and accurate models. What I didn’t know, until today, was that the Blaschkas were also responsible for glass models of marine animals as well. Equally staggering.