The Glass Ocean

Peering out from its case in the museum, the little brown octopus looks ready to uncurl its tentacles and glide away. But this octopus isn’t going anywhere. It’s made of glass.

- Charlene Brusso

Nearby cases are filled with life-like jellyfish, sea worms, sponges, and corals—all crafted out of glass more than 150 years ago. There is even some glass seaweed. Who made all these creatures? And why?

The story of the glass octopus begins in 1822, when Leopold Blaschka was born to a family of glass makers in what is now the Czech Republic. The Blaschka family had been making glass for 300 years. They specialized in glass eyes—the best in Europe.

Leopold, too, became a master glassmaker. Then he took a trip to America. On the long sea voyage, Leopold marveled at the delicate jellyfish and Portuguese men-o-war he could see in the water. They looked like living glass. He itched to see if he could capture their beauty in a more permanent form.

After his trip, Leopold got married and made some glass orchids for his own amusement. Soon a local museum asked him to make glass flowers and sea creatures for its displays. In the days before computers or videos, glass models were often used to teach students about ocean life. Glass corals and sea slugs didn’t need food or fancy aquariums. Leopold studied scientific drawings and living plants and animals to make sure that his glass models were scientifically accurate.