Hili: I can’t work this way!
A: So get a laptop.
Hili: No, I will be your laptop.
In Poliah:
Hili: W ten sposób ja nie mogę pracować!
Ja: To weź laptop.
Hili: Nie, ja będę twoim laptopem.
(Zdjęcie: Monika Stogowska)
Here’s an overview of the glass flower exhibit (3,000 specimens, not all on display). It’s called the Ware Collection after the Blaschka’s patron, Elizabeth Ware:
Some leaves. Note that none of the flowers or specimens were painted; they were all made using different colors of glass.
A cactus:
A diseased apple (isn’t the realism marvelous? They are extremely fragile and had to survive a boat journey across the Atlantic):
Can you identify these?
Some Irises:
As I said, these were made for teaching specimens at Harvard. In New England, the opportunities to learn what many plants and flowers looked like, was previously limited to dried, brown herbarium specimens. The Blaschkas’ work changed all that, but also gave us one of the most remarkable achievement of humanity.
Just to show you how crude their tools were, here’s a reconstruction of the Blaschka’s workbench. They didn’t even have a Bunsen burner:
If you are in Cambridge or Boston, this collection, which is part of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, is something you shouldn’t miss. It’s a Professor Ceiling Cat must-see!
And the next time you’re in Ithaca, check out the glass invertebrates, also by the Blashkas, in the basement of Corson Hall. There is also a small display of both flowers and invertebrates at the nearby Corning Museum of Glass.
Some nice photos:
The Blaschka Marine Invertebrates at Cornell University
Sheesh, I was at Cornell for 7 years and never knew of those! And during that time I vacationed in Boston once and made a special point of seeing the glass flowers.
Not sure if I’m glad to find out about the inverts now or not!
😀
Thanks for the tip. I’m not far from Ithaca so will take a trip down. Haven’t been to Corning Museum in ages either — road trip!
Crazy amazing flowers! What’s also crazy is that I grew up Arlington and worked in Cambridge in my early 20s (before moving to NYC), and all during that time I never visited the Harvard Museum.
When I was working at the Bio Labs (just East over on Divinity Ave with Bessie and Victoria), I spent many lunchtimes just browsing those specimens. Pictures don’t do them justice – they are absolutely amazing. I’m hopeful (as I look for employment to return to the region) I’ll be close enough to do so again soon, but now bring my kids. If one has the opportunity and appreciates nature and craftsmanship, one must see this exhibit.
The unidentified flower resembles the ones on a buddy’s crap-apple tree.
I was going to say peach blossoms, but I definitely agree that it’s some kind of tree fruit blossom.
I love the museum at Harvard, especially the flowers. My father’s favorite piece in the collection is their Steller’s sea cow skeleton. I haven’t been there in about ten years, but much of the collection was sadly undermaintained when I used to visit regularly.
These items need a lot of TLC & are probably best preserved in a drawer – where they would not be seen! I suppose only 5-10% of a collection would be on display at any one time – the rest in storage?
“sea cow-dugong divergence was likely as ancient as the dugong-manatee split (30 million years ago)” – did not know that! http://www.petermaas.nl/extinct/speciesinfo/stellersseacow.htm
They are apple blossoms.
Anyone who wants to see Blaschka glass in London, get to the UCL Grant Museum in Gower St
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/zoology/documents/GMZ_Blaschkas
You can see a female pistil sticking up in the highest flower surrounded by pollen sacs. So if apples are self-infertile,as many are, its not because pollen isn’t transported to the sticky pistil right next door. Does anyone know how it works?
Male and female parts mature at different rates so the pistil is not ready when the pollen is and vice versa. It’s a good strategy to ensure genetic recombination.
Thank you. I am going to watch my apple blossoms carefully this spring and see if I can see when pollen and pistil come to maturity. I thought the incompatability must be at the chemical level.
They are truly amazing. I also love both the old taxidermy collection and the newish arthropod exhibit.
Sorry, crabapple
Har.
Duty.
Glad I kept reading rather than calling you out above.
😀
“I have landed in Cambridge…”
I have been away for the winter and didn’t realize that Logan airport moved to Cambridge. Good thing I am driving back.
There are several informative museums at Harvard. The Harvard Museum of Natural History is is amazing.
I saw those glass flowers in person when I visited the museum a few years back & they are stunning! I was more obsessed with the many giant isopod specimens though. I just can’t get enough of isopods!
We might suppose you to have a few differences of opinion with Lewontin over certain aspects of evolutionary theory, as of course he co-wrote Not in Our Genes with Steven Rose (also famous for his boycott of Israeli academic institutions)!
Here’s something that will be of interest to WEIT readers. Especially to those based in London.
http://now-here-this.timeout.com/2014/02/27/exclusive-londons-first-cat-cafe-is-finally-opening-its-doors/
Get out! That’s the best ever. This is the bees knees — love it. Wish them the best. Thanks!
Yep, apple blossom.
Wow! Those are amazing flowers, etc.
Sometimes just putting live plants and glass sculptures together can be pretty amazing. As was done in 2001-2 at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago. Over a thousand pieces by Dale Chihuly were placed throughout the conservatory. Still the most stunning art exhibition I have ever seen.
http://www.chihuly.com/gardens-garfield-park-conservatory.aspx
Stupendous!
Welcome to my neck of the woods. I remember seeing the glass works at the museum at Harvard when I was a kid. We went there on a field trip. I haven’t been since and often think about going back. That’s the problem with living in an area, you never think of where you spend most of your time from the eyes of a tourist.
Are you in town for anything specific? Lecture?
Well enjoy your stay. I’d add that the Museum of Fine Art is a must see and as usual you should get in a BSO concert if you can.
Enjoy your stay.
That glass work is simply incredible! That collection is priceless!
This is really glas? WOW! What a stunning collection!
If I may ignore the impossible-to-ignore artistry of the glass for a moment…
…might Hili accept being a shoulder-top cat instead of a lap-top cat? That’s where Baihu is as I type this — on my shoulders, and it seems to work quite well for both of us.
b&
Apple blossoms and Siberian irises.
What exquisite craftsmanship!
“They didn’t even have a Bunsen burner”
Are you sure? Were you there? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist that!)
That metal gizmo just to the left of the sign in the back sure looks like a Bunsen burner to me.
I’ve been learning how to bend glass tubing, and I’ve found that an alcohol lamp just barely has enough heat to do that. I’m having a hard time imagining that they could infuse colors into glass with no hotter heat source than that.
The metal gizmo at the back has an adjustment half-way up the burner tube, which Bunsens (those I’ve used) don’t have. Or need.
I don’t recognise the thing at the back, but I’d not put it in the box with the bunsens for a stock take, but in the WTF box.
got to go … but a display like this really needs a live glass blower in residence. I’ve tried a bit myself and it’s much harder than it looks.
What a coincidence – just on Thursday I heard of these for the first time from a colleague I met at a course. They look truly amazing, thanks for posting these pictures!
What a magnificent collection. I keep looking for the glass. A nice sampling. It’s obviously beyond wonder to see it in person. Love the workbench too — am always amazed at what artisans could accomplish before the evolution of modernity.
I thought the tree was Cherry blossom. I had apple trees but apparently not the type represented above.