Zoological Glass Works

Harvard Museum of Natural History
The glass work of Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka, now on display at the Harvard Museum of Natural History in an exhibit titled "Sea Creatures in Glass," includes jellyfish, anemones, sea slugs, polyps and many other specimens.


I'm making plans to go to this show of beautiful glass sea creatures that were created to teach zoology, but are seen today mostly as spectacular works of art.

The 58 mostly life-size works on display were drawn from the Museum of Comparative Zoology's collection of 430 of the Blaschkas' glass invertebrates, including jellyfish, anemones, sea slugs, polyps and many other specimens.

When Harvard first acquired the Blaschkas' glass specimens, Sacco said they were important tools for teaching zoology because, unlike actual creatures preserved in formaldehyde, they didn't lose their color or collapse.

Metrowest Daily News: Masters of glass

The Harvard Museum of Natural History is located on 26 Oxford St., Cambridge.

All the HMNH exhibits are open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is closed New Year's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Day.

Other exhibits include "Nests & Eggs" through August 2008 and "Arthropods: Creatures that Rule" which is ongoing.

Tickets: Adults, $9; seniors and non-Harvard students, $7; children, 3-18, $6. It is free to Massachusetts residents Sunday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon and Wednesday afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m., September through May.

The museum is wheelchair accessible. For more information, call 617-495-3045 or visit the Internet Web site, www.hmnh.harvard.edu.