Our thanks to Samantha Sarafin for news on 21st century technology allowing museums to share artisanal glass from earlier centuries, among other things:

A model of how museums can share their collections more widely

3D images of 19th-century glass marine invertebrates go online

Five researchers set out three years ago to capture the full beauty of a museum’s famous glass models through images. Today, there are interactive and three-dimensional models of a blue button jellyfish, a stout bobtail squid, and sea anemone that reveal their flower-like tentacles to both in-person visitors and those online.

“Museum professionals are extremely proud of and excited about the collections in their care, and at the same time they are frustrated that many other people don’t get to see those objects,” said James Hanken, Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, curator of herpetology and director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ). “By developing a novel imaging technique that provides high-quality 3D images of the glass animals, we are helping people far from Harvard to learn about and appreciate these spectacular specimens.”…

Read the whole story here.