Leopold Blaschka

Leopold Blaschka (27 May 1822 - 3 July 1895) and his son Rudolf Blaschka (17 June 1857 - 1 May 1939) were glass craftsmen originally from Dresden, famous for the creation of botanical models and invertebrate marine creatures, truly unrepeatable glass works of art present in many European and American museums.

The Blaschka family had a 300-year-long tradition in glassmaking in the manufacture of glass eyes and decorations. Leopold showed from an early age that he had extraordinary abilities in this art.
His talent emerged when Prince Camille De Rohan commissioned him to produce a hundred glass orchids for his private collection. The prince impressed by such mastery, in 1862 he exhibited them together with other exotic plants arranged on two artificial tree trunks in his palace in Prague; the exhibition brought the Blaschka's ability to the attention of the scientific naturalistic world.

From that moment on numerous scientific institutes commissioned him reproductions of plants and aquatic species.It is estimated that in his career, with the help of his son Rudolph, he produced about 10,000 original objects, now most of them are lost, perhaps in the warehouses of some museums and surely many have been destroyed by using them for exhibitions and demonstrations. If you are curious to know more about the adventurous life of the Blaschka father and son, we recommend you enjoy this fascinating article .