Were The Blaschkas Rich?

Harvard's unique glass flowers are famous - they attract  the beau monde as well as tourists. Fame is, rightly or wrongly, often associated with money and wealth. Thus, when visiting  forgotten glass animal collections in Europe, I was often asked: "Those Blaschkas, were they rich?" One wonders how rich an artisan can become by only working.
The contract that Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka made with George Lincoln Goodale, director of the Botanical Museum of Harvard University, is arguably one of the most beautiful contracts of the 19th century – as it is written down by Moch and Virga. This contract enabled father and son Blaschka to devote their lives to the Glass Flowers of Harvard.
Leopold could also  buy a large house in 1887, as he wrote to Henry Augustus Ward on August 31, 1887: [translated] “This year I bought a lovely estate, a villa in Hosterwitz near Dresden, in the most beautiful part of the Dresden area, where I plan to move my apartment and studio in March next year…”

A steady income because of the contract, an agreeable house with a studio: yes, they were well to do.
But in no way they were so wealthy that they could live as comfortably rentiers. On the contrary: their lives revolved around the production of the glass botanical models. Let me recall the report of Mary Lee Ware (sponsor of the Glass Flowers) who visited Rudolf Blaschka and his wife in Hosterwitz. On the occasion of her visit in 1928 she wrote that she disapproved of the then 71 years old  Rudolf working in the evenings, sometimes till midnight. From this observation, I am inclined to conclude that he was used working for many hours a day. Even in old age he depended on his labour. No, he was not rich.

(By the way: It was also assumed that I myself had means, because of the Blaschka-Harvard connection. Several museum people commented on the fact that I stayed in a cheap & clean hotel instead of a fancy one, when I came over to examine a forgotten collection of Blaschka Animals. I too was and am not rich. But it was the 1995 Rakow Grant, a sum of Glass Research Money, that  was really helpful.)

"Les plus beaux contrats du siècle". Cheryl Moch & Vincent Virga. transl. from the American by: Marc Sich.
pp. P 245-248: “Un musée des oeuvres de Dieu”: les fleurs de verre de Harvard . Publ. Paris: First, 1988
 
How Were the Glass Flowers Made? Mary Lee Ware. Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University. Vol 19, No. 6 (January 9, 1961) pp 125-136. Publ. Cambridge MA, Harvard University Herbaria. [vid. p. 129]