A Rare Collection of Victorian Glass Microbes

This gorgeous chicken feed carving of anActinophryid , an sea micro-organism , is over 100 years older . It ’s one the few surviving scientific mannequin of tiny , swim creatures created by a Father of the Church - son team of glassmakers .

A few eld ago , Wisconsin Zoological Museum worker Paula Holahan opened some cabinets that had n’t been touched for decades . Inside , she determine several box of delicate shabu replicas of ocean living , including thisArgonauta argo . Some were crumbling , and all need to be cleaned . Fascinated by the artistry need in their creation , Holahan venture on a quest to find out who had made them and what they were for .

It turned out these pieces , like this theoretical account of an Actineria Hemprichi , sold in the recent 19th century by Ward ’s Natural Science Establishment , a company still operating today . postage in the wooden bases of some of the glass wight revealed them as the work of German glassmakers Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka , a father and son who started out making glass eyes and graduated to scientific manakin of sea creatures in the 1880s . Holahan combed through the museum ’s records and discover that a fauna professor ordered the collection in the mid-1880s as a instruction economic aid for biological science bookman at the University of Wisconsin .

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Here ’s another of their Creation , a example of Spongodes Celosia . According to University of Wisconsin - Madison News :

The Blaschkas were commissioned by museums to make glass models that would enamour the alien species ’ fanciful shapes and vivid colour . Other models were sell for exhibit or education at universities or even as elegant knickknacks for private homes .

“ These were extremely in demand . The living fauna were often so minuscule and delicate , [ models were ] an ideal path to show what they looked like , ” says Holahan .

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Working from instance or live or preserved specimen , the Blaschka craftsman meticulously reproduced the spikes , polypus , and suckers of their aquatic study . They preserved an impressive level of scientific truth , even posture the tiniest creatures at 600- to 1,000 - times actual size to show fine detail , Holahan says .

The Blaschkas pioneered many of their technique and developed original formulas for their glasses , glues , and biased enamels . They try out with method , sometimes using interior wires for documentation and other times fastidiously gluing on private spines and tentacle .

These fragile , now - restored glass creatures are a clear example of how artistic creation , skill , and craft can merge beautifully .

Lesdilley