Description

No two snowflakes are alike!

These beautiful snow crystals have been crafted in porcelain by Doris Borden and are a homage to Wilson A. Bentley and his life‘s work. In 1885, this young naturalist and pioneer of photography became the first to take detailed photographs of snow crystals under his microscope. Born in 1865 as the son of a farmer in the north-eastern US state of Vermont, he had developed, in an autodidactic and experimental process, a special method for this task. Bentley was so captivated by this world of transitory crystals, with its geometric beauty and boundless variety, that he dedicated his life to their study.

By the time he died in 1931, Wilson A. Bentley had taken pictures of more than 5,000 different snow crystals. He had succeeded in creating the first comprehensive corpus of snow crystal imagery, a work which continues to fascinate and inspire researchers, designers and amateurs alike.

Each year, Doris selects six different snow crystals from the photos made by Wilson A. Bentley. These are turned into graphic illustrations which are both close to nature and artistically rendered. These illustrations form the basis for shaped plaster models, which are carefully brushed with liquid porcelain in several layers. After it is fired in a kiln, the porcelain acquires a breath-taking translucency. Viewed against a backlight or under a sidelight, the snow crystals convey an impression of lightness, delicacy, even weightlessness.

Enjoy the ageless beauty of snow crystals!

Dimension: 68mm (2.7in)

Additional information