FOUR SILVER OBJECTS BY JENSEN

“Georg Jensen” is synonymous with excellent craftsmanship, distinctive design and organic natural forms. This name houses many different designers and spans more than one hundred years of productivity and design on an international level.

Born in Raade into a working-class family, Georg Arthur Jensen (1866-1935) was first introduced to silver at fourteen when he became an apprentice goldsmith. However, it was sculpture that really held his passion and whilst he continued his silversmithing training, he graduated from the Kunstakademiet in 1892, specialising in sculpture.

Sculpture proved to be an insufficient means of support for Jensen and after initially working with ceramics, he returned to his original profession of silversmithing. Whilst working for Mogens Bollin he was introduced to the styles of Art Nouveau. A reaction against the revivalism and traditionalism of the late 19th century, Art Nouveau featured themes from nature. Flowers, fruit, seed pods and berries are motifs repeated throughout Jensen’s work and also epitomise the stylistic environment of the time in Denmark. ‘Skonvirke’ (1920-25) literally meant ‘beautiful work’.

In 1904, Jensen founded his silversmithy at Bredgade and the company became so popular that another shop was soon opened in Berlin in 1909. Jensen’s designs were rewarded when he was awarded the gold medal at the Brussels Exhibition in 1910. He participated in many exhibitions both in Denmark and overseas, which brought him greater clientele. One important wealthy patron, William R. Hearst, met Jensen at the San Francisco Exhibition in 1916. By 1918, a store in Paris had opened, followed by London in 1921 and subsequently New York in 1924.

Whilst the company expanded internationally, Jensen spent one year in Paris in 1925, before moving back to Copenhagen to become Artistic Director. He continued to exhibit his pieces until his death in 1935. His obituary in the London Times remarked that “Jensen is one of those craftsmen whose pieces can safely be regarded as antiques of the future". A prediction that has come to pass.