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pair of highly sought after early 20th century antique american "flower" pattern prism-light glass tiles designed and patented in 1897 by notable architect frank lloyd wright for the luxfer prism co., chicago, il. of the 41 frank lloyd wright patented designs submitted, the "flower" pattern was the only one manufactured by luxfer. the highly stylized tiles exhibit a light purple hue (also known as "sun-purple"), caused by a reaction between the manganese oxide's prolonged exposure to natural sunlight. prism glass tiles contain lightly embossed concentrically-arranged ornament consisting of geometric design motifs on one side, and the "saw-tooth" prisms on the other side. the tiles date to 1905-10. the tiles were fabricated by the luxfer prism tile co., chicago. prismatic glass, which was a highly successful building material in the united states between the turn of the century and the 1920s, promised to refract daylight from the facades deep into a building and thus would help to save energy, create healthier working environments, and contribute to the development of a new modern architecture. the luxfer prism companies were the inventors and most prominent producers of this material. luxfer contributed to the contemporary architectural debate by promoting the small-scale pattern of its glass installations as a competing vision of architectural modernity to that of the emerging aesthetic of steel and glass facades. in the early 1930's prismatic glass finally lost the competition with electrical lighting and new structural day lighting devices such as hollow glass blocks. priced for the pair. each one measures approximately 4 x 4 inches.
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two original early 20th century american frank lloyd wright-designed "sun-purple" ornamented luxfer prism tiles
SKU:
UR-18838-13
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