Collection Bites: Transluscent Marvels: The Blaschka Glass Models of Marine Invertebrates

Marion Endt-Jones, art historian and curator of the exhibition Coral: Something Rich and Strange (29 November 2013-16 March 2014) will talk about Manchester Museum's glass models of marine invertebrates, produced by the father and son team Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka at the end of the nineteenth century. Variously described as 'obsolete science', 'high craft', or 'low art', the models have, over time, fulfilled several roles: substitute specimens for marine creatures that are notoriously difficult to preserve; educational tools; and living room decorations. They have more recently, become fetish objects celebrated by the contemporary art scene.

Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk/nw000145?id=EVENT456620