Leopold and son, Rudolf, came from a long line of glassblowers going back to the 15th century. Originally from Venice, the family had moved to Northern Bohemia (now Czech Republic) by Leopold’s birth in 1822. He apprenticed as a goldsmith and gemcutter before joining his father in making glass ornaments and glass eyes for taxidermists. But his passion was the field of natural history.

Aquaria and natural history museums were beginning to open up all over the world. Nineteenth century scientists traveled to new areas opened up by colonialism and the public was fascinated with reports about newly discovered exotic plants. The invention of deep-sea diving equipment in the mid-1800’s led to discovery of deep sea water creatures.

Techniques for preserving real plants and creatures were rudimentary, so there was a demand for replicas. Leopold began making sea anemones for museums, aquaria and private collectors, and later added snails and jellyfish. By 1876, Rudolf had joined in his father’s work. Many early models were inaccurate because they had no access to live specimens. By 1888, they were making more than 700 models and had a thriving global mail order business.

In the late 1850’s Leopold had started making models of exotic flowers. Then, in 1890, Harvard placed a large order for glass flowers. With this exclusive contract, they stopped making invertebrates and over the next 46 years everything they made went to Harvard. Many of the models are still on display, but others have spent years in storage and, due to age and fragility, are in need of restoration.

The Blaschkas learned to make glass from chemistry books and made it in small quantities. Sometimes they didn’t get the mix right and it wasn’t very homogeneous. They also didn’t understand the annealing process. Conservators are faced with thousands of models that show damage from pollution, metal corrosion, and solubility of original glues and laquers, in addition to poor storage.

Some chemicals, when added to glass, affect not only how the glass is worked (viscosity) and surface tension, but how well it will hold up over time. Certain chemicals are more volatile and evaporate more easily from molten or cooling glass. The Blaschkas knew nothing about the atomic structure of glass, chemical bonding or ion exchange (all 20th century concepts).

In 1993, a Viennese scholar met the last living Blaschka relative, Rudolf’s niece, while visiting their gravesites. She was worried about the graves because in Dresden graves are rented for 10 years and then the contract needs to be renewed. Who would do this after she was gone?

The scholar contacted a curatorial associate at Harvard. As a result, Harvard maintains the contract and also purchased what was left of Blaschka’s studio. The contents included hundreds of little boxes each filled with a different colored glass. These samples, along with the pieces that have broken off models at Harvard, are being tested. Understanding the composition of the glass, enamels, and glues will help determine what materials might be used to cure the cracks of the deteriorating Blaschka models.

For more detailed information about Dr. Pantano and the restoration process, go to: www.rps.edu/sept99.  “Flowers of Glass by Nancy Brown.