Glass Flowers of Harvard

One of the unexpected surprises of our recent Boston trip was the collection of Glass Flowers as part of the Harvard Museum of Science. It had not come up on our radar at all, but was a must-see from almost everyone that we talked to. Being a garden lover as well as an artist, I was overwhelmed with what we saw.

You have to imagine the museum just as you would expect, an old giant, red brick academia structure with little signage out front. We had gotten confused and went to the Art Museum and were given a small hand drawn map with a trail in blue marker on it that took us to a different part of the campus. We obviously were not the first to ask this question. The Collection itself was front and center as soon as your enter and was only a modest room with 5 rows of glass cases, so expectations were not high at first. But what was inside those glass cases was magical!

Over a hundred years ago before the silk flowers we now find readily at Michael's crafts, were these specimens. A smart and dapper guide explained to us the process behind them. It was not glass blowing, but a very specific and rare process called glass "pulling." Harvard was needing some sort of Botany specimens for their horticultural studies and they stumbled onto the idea of a craftsman Leopold Blaschka in the Czech Republic who was dabbling in a new art form. His original pieces were modeled after sea urchins like jellyfish and not plants at all. From the 1880's forward to the mid 1930's Leopold and later his son Rudolf had 3 contracts with the University to compile specimens for the collection. By the project's end, there are nearly 800 species in the collection, of which only a handful are on current display.

 

Each model has a strand or stem of the blooms. Sometimes a progression as a plant was coming to fruit or maturing. Then there are also magnifications to show the intricate parts on a larger scale that students would be able to study.

The glass pulling that they used was done by heating very small pieces of glass and then pulling them into very thin, tiny layers. These could be petals, leaves, thorns, fruits and then even the smaller pistols and stamens of plants. Stems were wrapped wires and all the components were then glued onto the stems with a clear animal adhesive. To get the different textures prevalent in the plant world, they would experiment with dust, hair and other elements to fight against the translucence of glass and make it more opaque as needed. Also, like stained glass, color was added to the parts prior and most of the vibrant colors have faded in the 150 years hence.

Each species was collected and studied at length. At first from local markets there. But as demands grew, they needed more variety from around the globe. They did not have transport like we do today. So, often they would work with other conservatories there and later in the process began to cultivate some of their own gardens to catch the samples at all stages of their development.

Our guide talked about the incredible process of shipping them over to Harvard in giant crates where air was their best ally instead of trying to pack tight with cushions. Newspapers and oversize worked best. The museum also had a feature on damaged models. How they maintain them and what repairs have been made. There is no one that can replicate their process in the world today. Also, the way glass is colored is different now. Our guide corrected several guests on the fragility of the wooden cabinets while we were admiring.

It was awe inspiring seeing so many flowers I was familiar with and seeing them exactly as they bloom in my yard. The concept that they were glass was beyond comprehension. My pictures barely do justice to the craftsmanship other than a bit of color and the shape of each. An unexpected diversion. And if you are ever in the Boston area - this is a must-see