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Object Timeline

1955

  • Work on this object began.

2011

2015

2024

  • You found it!

Sample, Spectra Magna

This is a Sample. It was produced by Knoll Textiles and manufactured by Orinoka Mills. It is dated 1955 and we acquired it in 2011. Its medium is linen, cotton and its technique is twill woven variation. It is a part of the Textiles department.

Spectra Magna was one of Eszter Haraszty’s longest-lasting designs for Knoll, offered by the international division into the 1980s. Haraszty studied painting and art history at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest, with a particular focus on color theory. Once she joined Knoll, her colors consistently received favorable notice in the press.
Spectra Magna is a woven pattern of small squares in related tones of the same color, combining three colors with two different surfaces to give the illusion of six colors. In its woven fabrics, Knoll tended to favor texture over pattern; Haraszty may have been influenced by the success of Alexander Girard’s woven designs for Herman Miller when creating this rare woven pattern for Knoll.

It is credited Gift of Richard and Trudy Schultz.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 36.2 x 41.9 cm (14 1/4 x 16 1/2 in.)

Cite this object as

Sample, Spectra Magna; Produced by Knoll Textiles (United States); Manufactured by Orinoka Mills (United States); USA; linen, cotton; H x W: 36.2 x 41.9 cm (14 1/4 x 16 1/2 in.); Gift of Richard and Trudy Schultz; 2011-25-8

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18789727/ |title=Sample, Spectra Magna |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=18 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>