Nyon, Switzerland, c. 1880/85, probably produced under licence by S. Reich & Co, Vienna, c. 1900, mould-blown glass, the surface hermetically sealed by molten glass, all parts impressed: FALCONNIER, height each approx. 20 cm. All parts undamaged and waterproof.

Provenance:
from a now demolished building in Vienna’s 18th district, which was completed in 1871 and modified at a later date.

Falconnier’s glass blocks made it into the collection of the New York MoMA.

Lit.:
cf. P. Antonelli, Design. Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York 2003, p. 152.

Gustave Falconnier was a successful Swiss inventor and businessman, who had his ‘briques de verre’, produced with the aid of a special technique, patented in France and the USA in 1886 and 1889 respectively. That latter year he was honoured for his achievements at the Paris Universal Exhibition, and subsequently prominent architects, such as Hector Guimard, Auguste Perret, and Le Corbusier, used the new weather-resistant and highly versatile material for their modern transparent glass walls, which also stood out for their superior technical quality. Falconnier’s invention was so successful that licence agreements were concluded with companies in numerous European countries and in the United States. In Austria, the Vienna-based company S. Reich & Co, specialised in lamp shades and glass bottles, produced the ‘briques de verre’ until well into the 1930s.