Q. Could you provide more information on the Blaschka works in your collection?

Image: [Untitled: no. 397, no. 398, no. 399, no. 400, no. 401], Leopold & Rudolf Blaschka, [n.d.]. CMGL 95562.

Hello! Thank you for your question. We love to talk about the Blaschka materials in our collection!

Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka Collection

Our Blaschka archive consists of drawings, business papers, and personal papers including notebooks, photos, letters, travel books and pictorial works. See the finding aid for more information.

Digital Blaschka

• Hundreds of digitized drawings are available online. We encourage you to browse our digital images of these stunning Blaschka drawings.

You can view the whole digital archive, or limit to design drawings, botanical drawings, or marine invertebrate drawings.

• View objects created by the Blaschkas in the Museum's collection.

Additional Online Resources

Selected Museum Blog Posts:

• These are a few of our favorite Blaschkas
• 3-D printing an arm for a Blaschka sea star
• Photographing glass: Blaschka glass models of marine invertebrates
• 4,747 Models, 174 Collections, 25 Countries, and Counting
• A Flood, A Fire, and The Case of the Missing Blaschka Models

Selected Museum Articles:

• Blaschkas' Glass Models of Invertebrate Animals (1863–1890)
• Blaschkas’ Glass Botanical Models (1886–1936)

• Fragile Legacy

Descriptions of Past Exhibitions:

• Fragile Legacy: The Marine Invertebrate Glass Models of Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka
• Blaschka Sea Creatures: Inspiration and Creation
• Botanical Wonders: The Story of the Harvard Glass Flowers

Additional Library Resources

You can find additional books and articles about the Blaschkas by searching the Rakow Library catalog.

Other Blaschka Archives

You may also wish to contact Harvard University, which holds The Archives of Rudolph and Leopold Blaschka
and the Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants (finding aid).

You can learn about the Ware Collection of Blaschka glass flowers at Glass Flowers: The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants​ and about the collection of marine invertebrate models at Blaschka Glass Invertebrates.



Please don't hesitate to contact us with your glass-related questions in the future!