At Harvard University’s Museum of Natural History, there is a unique Glass Flowers collection, which includes nearly 4,000 models of over 800 different plant species. Professor George Goodale, founder of Harvard’s Botanical Museum, wanted to teach botany with life-like flowery creations instead of the crude wax models that were common at the time. Luckily, one of his former students, Mary Lee Ware, was quite wealthy (shocker!) so her family helped finance the new (and very expensive) botanical models. So at the end of 19th century German artists Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka experimented with different coloring techniques and glass blowing methods to create these magnificent pieces of art. And good news…they’re in bloom year round. Oh, and as far as I know none of the plants need watering or sunlight. Bad joke.
Harvard University’s Museum of Natural History – Flowers collection
