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Nature in Glass—the Blaschka Glass Models

The Blaschkas were a father and son team of glass blowers who worked out of Dresden (in northern Germany) in the late 1800s. They created glass menageries of sea animals, flowers and even enlarged microscopic organisms such as hydrazoans (pictured here). Blaschka models were distributed and acquired by museums and university collections worldwide but due to the fragility of their construction very few remain intact. The Blaschka sculptures are known as unique examples of anatomically detailed, scientifically correct glass representations of hundreds of species of marine animals, and greatly magnified microscopic organisms. The sculptures are so detailed that they are in many cases startlingly realistic. Modern glass artists have been unable to recreate these stunning, intricate sculptures and they remain ‘an artistic marvel in the field of science and a scientific marvel in the field of art’.

TheÌýBlaschka glass model exhibit launch features a presentation: Glass in Nature at 2 pm, in the Auditorium.ÌýLearn about the wonderful world of Silica and the many and varied natural life forms that exist because of it. Commonly found in nature as sands, or the hardÌýmineral quartz,ÌýSilica isÌýa major part of volcanic glass, holds up delicate sponges such as the VenusÌýBasket, and can be found in rare fossil animals from the ancientÌýBurgess Shale in the Canadian Rockies. FREE, everyone welcome. No reservation necessary.ÌýIn english.

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