The Australian museum had some original Blaschkas, which I first became familiar while visiting the natural history museum at Harvard. According to the display:

“The Blaschkas were known for their exquisite models of sea creature made in the 1870’s and 1880’s. The models were widely used in museums as it was almost impossible to preserve soft-bodied creatures. They are of limited educational value today – many are anatomically incorrect or cannot be identified – but their worth resides in the provenance and artistry. Our collection is one of the few neither lost nor damaged over the years.”