The Glass Flowers at Harvard

I have visited the glass flower exhibit at Harvard twice and these exquisite reproductions never cease to amaze. They are as well-produced as is possible for human hands and most cannot at first be told from the real thing. In fact I had to convince myself that they were really glass! The book "The Glass Flowers at Harvard" by Richard Schultes and William Davis and produced by the Botanical Museum of Harvard University gives the reader some idea of these remarkable models. The photography of Hillel Burger was certainly difficult as each model had to be removed and photographed in a special way to avoid breakage and to produce the best likeness. In this the photographer succeeded remarkably well. The models themselves were produced not by an unknown and unreproducible method, but by an extremely tedious and exacting methodology that few people would take the time to duplicate. The Blascha's glass techniques, developed in Dresden, Germany, could only be done by people of enormous patience and talent. The models are a treasure and one of the most worthwhile collections to see in Boston. I recommend the book highly, but better still see the glass flowers in person!

This book contains stunning photos of the Blaschka's glass art, as well as information on the plants -- and is not out of print. I've seen it for sale for visitors to the Harvard Museum of Natural History in on the University campus in Cambridge, MA, where the over 3,000 amazing Blaschka glass models of plants, flowers and fruits are on permanent display. Definitely worth a visit, if you're ever near Boston.

This contains the history behind the famous glass flower collections at the Peabody Museum. It is packed full of beautiful photographs and you will be amazed how realistic (and unlike glass) these creations are! Simply excellent.