glass models

Sea creatures of the deep - the Blaschka Glass models

During the late 19th century, Leopola Blaschka (1822-1895) and his son Rudolf (1857-1929) produced beautifully detailed glass models of bizarre sea creatures for natural history museums and aquaria all over the world.
Their work has been hailed as: “an artistic marvel in the field of science and a scientific marvel in the field of art.”
Today, the Blaschkas seem remarkably contemporary: working as they did on the cusp of design, craft, art and industry.

glass models

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images from a selection of these remarkable glass models held at Amgueddfa Cymru.