Glass Flowers and Sea Creatures: Fantastic Models by 19th Century Masters

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

It is absolutely impossible to keep fresh flowers in their original form. All of them lose their natural color and appearance, becoming colorless, absolutely shapeless. You can create a copy out of plastic, fiberglass, or good old papier-mâché. Modern technologies generally allow creating incredibly accurate 3D models. But in the 19th century, none of this was available. But there was access to one amazing material, which in the dexterous hands of a skilled craftsman could become anything, take any form at the request of a naturalist. This material was glass. How hereditary glass blowers worked wonders, creating real glass magic.

Traditionally, live specimens such as anemones and jellyfish were placed in containers filled with alcohol or formaldehyde. This treatment turned them into a jelly-like discolored slurry. Botanical specimens were no better. Flowers and leaves were traditionally placed between two sheets of paper until dry. Then these were the only available ways to create samples of natural flora.

But there were masters who knew the secrets of how to create real magic from simple glass - hereditary glass blowers Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka. They created real works of art from simple accessible material. Their models of flowers, grasses, leaves, various invertebrates, as if they were alive! In their works, there is a mixture of various seemingly completely incompatible styles. Father and son Blaschka managed to combine jewelry, sculpture, and lampwork. And most importantly, it is also science in its purest form!

Leopold Blaschka was born in North Bohemia in 1822. At that time, his parents, who were glass blowers, moved there. Before that, they lived and worked in Venice for a long time. From childhood, his father taught little Leopold glass-blowing skills. As a young man, he already independently made openwork glass ornaments and eyes for stuffed animals. In addition to the family business, Lepold Blaschka from a young age began to get involved in the science of natural history. He was interested in the deep meaning of the origin of natural things. Leopold eagerly devoured all the available botanical literature, striving for a systemic knowledge of the world.

In 1850, Leopold's wife dies of cholera, and just two years later his father dies. Heartbroken, Leopold decides to travel to the United States, hoping that travel and new experiences will help heal his broken heart. During the voyage, the ship on which Blaschka crossed the Atlantic made a forced two-week stop near the Azores. Leopold spent his time there with maximum benefit - collecting jellyfish and other marine invertebrates for experiments.

The crystal transparency of these animals, especially the bioluminescence, simply fascinated him. In his scientific diary, he wrote about it this way: “It's a beautiful May night. I look at the dark, mirror-smooth surface of the sea. Around - here and there, beams of light rays appear, surrounded by thousands of sparks. It seems that there are mirror stars under the water."

Blaschka sketched marine plants and animals. The sailors fished out various marine life for him, which he dissected in order to study their internal structure. After returning to Europe, Leopold focused on the family business of glass jewelry, costumes, laboratory equipment and other essential glass products. Blaschka devoted all his free time to the creation of glass models of exotic plants - he worked with his soul and for the soul.

Prince Camille de Rohan liked these models very much. He was a renowned expert in horticulture. The prince asked Leopold to make one hundred models of orchids and other exotic plants for him. Camille organized an exhibition of these products in his Prague palace.

Another person, Professor Ludwig Reienbach, director of the Natural History Museum in Dresden, drew attention to these amazing works. Delighted with this skill, Reichenbach asked Leopold to make glass models of the sea creatures. The professor eventually convinced Blaschka to abandon the manufacture of only haberdashery products. It was very difficult, but the professor managed to convince Leopold to devote himself and his talent to creating models of marine invertebrates. The clients were numerous museums, universities and private collectors.

Over time, Leopold Blaschke was joined by his equally talented son, Rudolph. Together they produced thousands of models that delighted customers. At that time, a fascination with aquariums spread from England. The fame of the masters reached the professor of Harvard University - George Lincoln Goodale, who was in the process of creating a botanical museum. For this purpose, Goodale ordered a series of botanical models from Leopold and Rudolph.

With difficulty, but still the professor managed to convince the masters to work only for Harvard. Over the next 50 years, they created more than four thousand glass models representing more than 780 plant species for Harvard University. These pieces continue to be one of Harvard's most valuable collections.

Many people of that time were excited by the curiosity of how glassblowers manage to create their masterpieces, in which there is not a single morphological error. In a letter to one of his customers and patrons, Mary Lee Ware, a master glassblower in 1889 wrote: “Many people think that we have some kind of secret apparatus with which we can press glass into these forms, but this is not We have tact. My son Rudolph has more than I do, because he is my son, and the tact increases with each generation. I have often told people that the only way to become a master of glass modeling is to find a good great-grandfather who loved glass. Then he should have a son with the same tastes, and that, in turn, will have a son who, like your father, passionately loves glass. You, like his son, can try your hand. If you are not it is your own fault if you succeed. But if you do not have such ancestors, it is not your fault. My grandfather was the most famous glassblower in the Czech Republic."

Something about the process of work, nevertheless, is known. "Biological modeling" began with detailed sketches on paper. Then, with the help of a burner, glassblowers blew out the blanks of the future model. These blanks were then glued, fastened small parts with thin copper wires. Sometimes wax and paper were used. Endless attention to detail made it possible to reproduce even the degree of transparency, thickness covers and texture of jellyfish!

To the greatest regret, Leopold and Rudolph had no students. They did not pass on the secrets of their skills and their unique experience to anyone. Until now, no one has managed to come even one centimeter closer to the authenticity and skill of Blasch's works. Many technologies have been irretrievably lost. Most of the work of these immensely talented craftsmen has also been lost. During World War II, Blaschk's workshop and the Dresden Royal Zoological Museum were destroyed by bombing raids. Still, many works have survived and we can enjoy this magic frozen in glass. If you were fascinated by the works of master glassblowers, read our article about the woman who is called the fairy of jewelry design. diamond lace, pumpkins and dragons: how Michelle Ong works.