Glass Flowers Marvels of Art and Science at Harvard Jennifer Brown – Scott E. Fulton – Donald H. Pfister Photography by Natalja Kent Harvard University Herbaria Harvard Museums of Science & Culture Scala Arts Publishers, Inc.
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Text © 2020 President and Fellows of Harvard College. Unless otherwise noted, all photographs are by Natalja Kent and © 2020 President and Fellows of Harvard College Book © 2020 President and Fellows of Harvard College and Scala Arts Publishers, Inc. First published in 2020 by Scala Arts Publishers, Inc. c/o CohnReznick LLP 1301 Avenue of the Americas 10th floor New York, NY 10019 www.scalapublishers.com Scala – New York – London In association with Harvard University Herbaria Harvard Museums of Science & Culture 26 Oxford Street Cambridge, MA 02138 Distributed outside the Museum in the book trade by ACC Art Books 6 West 18th Street Suite 4B New York, NY 10011 ISBN 978-1-78551-224-7 Edited by Mariah Keller Designed by Benjamin Shaykin Typeset in GT Alpina and Dia Printed in China 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Names: Brown, Jennifer, author. | Fulton, Scott E., author. | Pfister, Donald H., author. | Kent, Natalja, photographer. Title: Glass Flowers : Marvels of Art and Science at Harvard / Jennifer Brown, Scott E. Fulton, Donald H. Pfister; photography by Natalja Kent. Description: New York, NY : Scala Arts Publishers, Inc, 2020. | Summary: Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, Harvard University Herbaria, Harvard Museums of Science & Culture, Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants Identifiers: LCCN 2019045562 | ISBN 9781785512247 (paperback) Subjects: LCSH: Blaschka, Leopold, 1822– 1895. | Blaschka, Rudolf, 1857–1939. | Harvard University. | Glass Flowers— Massachusetts—Cambridge—Exhibitions. Classification: LCC TT891.3 .B76 2020 | DDC 745.594/3097444—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov /2019045562 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the President and Fellows of Harvard College and Scala Arts Publishers, Inc.
Note to the Reader: A scientific name and a common name have been provided for each model. Common names have been derived from the USDA Plants Database. Quotes in the text are attributed to the following sources: G. L. Goodale, An Account of the Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Flowers in the Harvard University Museum, Unpublished lecture presented before the Boston Society of Natural History, November 7, 1894, The Archives of Rudolf and Leopold Blaschka and the Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Rudolf Blaschka to Walter Deane, October 23, 1899, Walter Deane Papers, Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Harvard University, Annual reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College 1890–1891 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Archives, Harvard University, 1892), p. 160. W. Deane, “The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Flowers at Harvard,” Botanical Gazette 19 (1894): pp. 144–48.
Every effort has been made to acknowledge correct copyright of images where applicable. Any errors or omissions are unintentional and should be notified to the Publisher, who will arrange for corrections to appear in any reprints.
Front cover: Dichanthelium xanthophysum, No. 774, pp. 60–63. Inside front cover: Utricularia vulgaris, No. 637, p. 18. Frontispiece: Lathyrus magellanicus, No. 144, pp. 88–91. Inside back cover: Aralia spinosa, No. 159, pp. 21 & 144. Back cover: Rubus repens, No. 614.
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Preface
The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants
The Glass Flowers have captivated millions of people
seen the meticulous Blaschka models of marine and
since they were first exhibited at Harvard University
terrestrial invertebrate animals in Harvard’s Museum
in the late nineteenth century. This unique collection
of Comparative Zoology and realized that glass would
of more than 4,300 individual models, representing
be the perfect medium to achieve his goal. Accordingly,
780 plant species, was created by Leopold and Rudolf
he traveled to Dresden, Germany, to convince the
Blaschka, a father and son team of Czech glass artists
Blaschkas to produce plant models for Harvard.
whose lineage of glassworkers traces back to the
Though initially hesitant, they agreed, and after a trial
fifteenth century. Astonishingly realistic, the models
period worked exclusively on the project for the rest
appear, as one commentator observed, as if “the petals
of their lives. Goodale financed the collection through
would quiver at the nearby buzzing of a bee.”
the support of Mrs. Elizabeth C. Ware and her
Conceived as a teaching tool, the collection was begun in 1886 through the efforts of George Lincoln
daughter, Mary Lee Ware. The collection has benefited from the generosity,
Goodale (1839–1923), a Harvard professor and, from
care, and attention of many dedicated individuals since
1888, director of the university’s Botanical Museum,
its arrival at Harvard. The current collection manager,
one of several institutions that are now joined under
Jennifer Brown, and conservator, Scott Fulton, have
the Harvard University Herbaria. Goodale wanted to
led recent efforts, including a collection move into new
create a permanent museum exhibit that would support
state-of-the-art storage. Conservation of the collection
botanical education and introduce the public to the
has been supported by George Putnam III (’73, JD ’77,
importance of plants. Specimens in the herbaria are
MBA ’77) and Kathy Putnam. The 2016 renovation of the
preserved for scientific study; however, accurately
exhibit gallery and the photography for this publication
depicting plants as one might observe them in nature
were made possible by a gift in memory of Melvin R.
is a challenge. Pressed and liquid-preserved specimens
Seiden (AB ’52, LLB ’55). The renovation was also
lose their color and structure, botanical illustrations
supported by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural
are two-dimensional, and scientific models made from
Facilities Fund, a program of the Commonwealth of
papier-mâché or wax often lack detail. Goodale had
Massachusetts administered through a collaborative
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Models in original shipping box prepared by the Blaschkas The Archives of Rudolf and Leopold Blaschka and the Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants, Botany Libraries, Harvard University Herbaria
his observations in correspondence. In 1899 he wrote,
Rudbeckia hirta, Black-eyed Susan, No. 679 R. Blaschka, 1900 A model packed for an exhibition in Paris, France (2017). Removable pillows provide support in a custom foam board box. The boxes are covered and placed in a double wooden crate, and each crate is lined with polyurethane foam.
The models were sent from Germany by sea, a
“On every walk I take, there must be something to study
complex task that makes the fact that they arrived
of nature, it may be a plant or insect or bird or whatever,
with little damage so remarkable. Each model set was
I think a man can never finish these studies and is
attached by wires to a cardboard base and put in a
never too old to learn from nature.” The Glass Flowers
custom-made cardboard box with a lid. Pieces of cork
were Rudolf’s lifework; he died on May 1, 1939, with
were glued around the edges to secure the base inside
unfinished models on his lampworking table.
the box and crushed tissue paper cushioned the models.
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The Glass Flowers exhibit in 1931, and in May 2016 Left: The Archives of Rudolf and Leopold Blaschka and the Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants, Botany Libraries, Harvard University Herbaria; right: Harvard Museums of Science & Culture
Several of these cardboard boxes, each containing a
increasingly attractive and useful.” Museum attendance
set of models, were packed in a large wooden crate
grew and classes, especially in the Department of
with straw separating the individual boxes from each
Botany, regularly studied the collection. Although
other and from the crate’s walls. The crate was wrapped
research trends in plant classification moved away from
with straw then burlap. Arrangements were made so
descriptive morphology during the twentieth century,
each shipment was carefully opened in the Botanical
the Glass Flowers still guide many students in their
Museum under the supervision of a customs officer. The
quest to understand plant diversity. The models are
Blaschkas’ packing methods have been an important
botanically important, but equally admired for their
reference for transporting models on the rare occasion
artistry, ingenuity, and craftsmanship.
they are loaned; although, of course, modern materials
The collection continues to be a valuable educational
have replaced the non-archival cardboard, tissue paper,
resource. Classes from Harvard and beyond, as well
and straw used by the Blaschkas.
as garden clubs, horticultural societies, and arts and
The Glass Flowers proved to be an effective teaching
culture organizations, tour the exhibit. Scholars in
collection and a popular attraction. Five years after
botany, art, the history of science, and other disciplines
his first meeting with the Blaschkas, Goodale wrote
study the collection, which is also a source of
in his 1890–91 annual report, “The number of students
inspiration for artists and writers. The Glass Flowers
of all grades who are attracted to these delineations
remain the Harvard Museum of Natural History’s most
of flowers and their parts, and the great numbers of
beloved exhibit and one of the university’s greatest
visitors, indicate that the collection cannot fail to be
treasures.
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Lathyrus magellanicus, Lord Anson’s pea, No. 144 L. & R. Blaschka, 1890
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Begonia boliviensis, No. 268 L. & R. Blaschka, 1892 Today many popular varieties of this Bolivian Andes plant are in cultivation as a result of hybridization and selection. Staminate and pistillate flowers are produced separately on the same plant, as seen here.
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96
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102
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Hypericum ascyron, Great St. Johnswort, No. 676 R. Blaschka, 1900 opposite: Different stages of flower development are often shown on one life-size model. Buds, blossoms, and senescent flowers are visible here. This model is based on specimens from the Blaschkas’ garden. this page: Using a microscope, the
Blaschkas studied the anatomy of flowers to make enlarged models of the reproductive parts. The pistil (left) is magnified 6 times and the stamen (right) is magnified 25 times.
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