Leopold Blaschka and son Rudolph Blaschka made 847 life-size glass plants for Harvard University, where they remain. More lifelike and more painstaking than a Dutch still life, these glass botanical specimens feature decaying leaves and decaying blossoms, visiting bees and fungal infections.
These plants are neither scientific-too singularly perfect to study; nor art-too much like copies to be anything other than kitsch.
These objects designed to aid classification of species, are themselves hard to classify. Originally called ‘scientific models’, now referred to as ‘the glass flowers’ their role has subtly changed since conception.
The models have rarely left Harvard, Originally a few specimens left by hearse, not by custom-made crates using NASA technology.
The glass plants have inspired acts of obsessive love. One of their creators described them as his life’s work, he was unable to go on holiday, he worked relentlessly (not even taking Christmas day off to go to Brighton as Auerbach does). The Blaschkas’ started off making jewellery and glass eyes; they felt finally they had found a craft worthy of their skill in the Harvard specimens.
The Blaschkas’ counterfeited botanical forms and modelled jellied delights: ruby petals, sapphire stamens and crosier of an emerald fern.
When visitors such as the Queen of Sweden came to visit Rudolph in his workshop, she was amazed that he worked in temperatures of 95 degrees-the windows and doors sealed so that no flicker of air could disturb the flame used to manipulate the glass.
Many others tried to visit and commission plants for themselves, or to discover the ‘secret’ method of making these objects. There were and still remain rumours that the plants were very easy to make-there was a hidden method.
In 1941 a professor at Harvard’s reaction to the bombing of Pearl Harbour was to make the glass plant cases bombproof.
Pilgrims still visit the glass flowers and are instructed to walk softly, to breathe gently and to stay (as with the reptile house at London Zoo) away from the glass.
The glass plants of South America, the Royal gardens of Pillnitz and of the Blaschkas’ own garden at Hosterwitz are still growing in cabinets at the Botanical Museum of Harvard.
