Information Regarding Georg Jensen

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A topic for recording information regarding Georg Jensen and Georg Jensen Inc..











If you have any details of the above companies, advertisements, examples of their work, etc., anything that you are willing to share, then here's the place to post it.

See: GEORG JENSEN MARKS

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The Detroit Institute of Arts, through the generosity of Mr. George G. Booth, has lately acquired three pieces of hand-wrought silverware, a bonbonniere, a fruit bowl, and a small ornamental receptacle, by Georg Jensen, a Danish artist born in the little town of Raavad in 1866, who was first sculptor and then craftsman. Mr. Jensen won considerable distinction by his works in sculpture, but in 1904 he opened a silversmith's workshop and became a pioneer in improving the standard of industrial art in Denmark. Gabriel Monrey, writing of Jensen in 'The Studio', says: "This rare artist is without doubt not alone one of the most remarkable in Denmark, but in all Europe."

Source: The American Magazine of Art - June 1922

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A Georg Jensen advertisment by the London branch of the firm from 1951 showing a design by Sigvard Bernadotte:


Georg Jensen - London - 1951

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An exhibition of craft Jewelry by George Jensen, the famous Scandinavian silversmith will be on view in the Co-operative Gallery of the Art Center. 65-67 E. 56th St. from Sept. 5 to Sept. 30, inclusive. Mr. Jensen has revived in these pieces the art of the craftsmen of the middle ages. The exhibition will include brooches, rings, pendants, scarf pins, and cuff links in profusion of design and color. He makes an extensive use of semi-precious stones and attains remarkable results from these mediums. Mr. Jensen says of his work. "I do not copy the antique, but use it as inspiration in creating my own ideas. My first thought was to create beautiful work which would be within the reach of everyone." Writing of this artist, the famous Art Critic Louis Vauxelles in an article on the Salon of Autumn 1920 says "One of the most beautiful show cases at the Salon this autumn is that of the Danish silversmith Georg Jensen. His works in silver are magnificent. He is a great artist whom we like and admire." Mr. Jensen has been compared to Cellenini in craftsmanship and artistic conception. He is the only living man today who has been able to get the recognition of the Louvre Museum, which has purchased examples of his work. Last year he was made an honorary member to the Paris Salon without censorship. Mr. Jensen is not only famous as a silversmith but as a sculptor as well, having devoted the first period of his career to this branch of art. He was awarded a gold medal for some of this sculpture by the Royal Academy of Denmark. Later he expressed his ideas in gold and silver craft work, which he considers as great an art as sculpture. He was awarded a Grand Prix in an exposition of his work in Brussels. He also won this distinction in the Autumn of 1920 in another exhibition at Copenhagen. Mr. Jensen is a member of the Art Center, having recently joined one of its constituent societies, the New York Society of Craftsmen.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 30th August 1922

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A condiment set in the Parallel pattern, designed by Oscar Gundlach Pedersen, and struck with additional London import marks for 1937:





















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Perhaps the first advertisement to appear in the United States that shows the work of Georg Jensen:


Royal Copenhagen Porcelain and Danish Arts, Inc. - New York - 1920

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An exhibition of silverware made by Georg Jensen of Copenhagen was opened in Gunsaulus Hall on January I4. Mr. Jensen has combined the craftsman’s understanding of material with the sculptor’s feeling for form and proportion, having been trained both as a jeweler and a sculptor. His designs are stamped with his own individuality and the sturdiness and vigor characteristic of ancient Danish silver work. Entering this field at a time when the goldsmith and silversmith’s work was not of a high standard, he established a name for himself among the silver-workers of Europe, receiving a gold medal at Brussels exhibition of 1910. His work is found in the museums of Europe.

Source: Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago - February 1921

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A pair of serving tongs by Georg Jensen, complete with Swedish import marks:











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Georg Jensen - New York - 1923

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THE SILVERWARE OF GEORG JENSEN

THE New York Society of Craftsmen is very happy to announce an exhibition of one of its members, Georg Jensen.

Georg Jensen's silverware, on view in the Main Gallery throughout the month of November, is recognized as being among the finest examples of craftsmanship produced in this age. It has been exhibited in the capitals of Europe, where it has won the highest praise from critics and public alike. It was awarded the Grand Prix in an exhibition at Brussels, and took this honor in another exhibition at Copenhagen. Mr. Jensen has had the rare distinction of having some of his work purchased by the Louvre Museum, and last year he was made an honorary member of the Paris Salon without censorship.



To quote Emile Seyden, the famous French critic:

"Georg Jensen has not limited his talents to grand ornamented objects only: his ideas seem in the first place to be to beautify the home and all the small articles used every day and he seems to devote the same attention to the smaller things as to the more important ones. His secret lies in his understanding of the intimate connection between the artisan and the artist; it is the experienced artist's sense of expression and form which has secured him such a fine position among our best artisans.

"Georg Jensen chooses to make our useful things beautiful.

"Cups, spoons, saltcellars, teapots, sugarsifters— everyone of them—he has transformed to a little work of art; he refuses to let the machine spoil the lovely material, everything has been worked by hand, every little detail shows the artisan's love for his work. His forms are as simple and dignified and possess the same grace and noble line, as those of antiques. They combine modern convenience with the ancient grace and execution."

It is interesting to note that Jensen became a silversmith only after winning a medal with his sculpture.

Source: Bulletin of the Art Center, New York - November 1922

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A conical footed bowl designed by Gundolph Albertus, and struck with additional London import marks for 1936:










G.J. Ld - London - 1936



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Royal Copenhagen Porcelain and Danish Arts, Inc. - New York - 1921

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Craft Display at Art Center

One of the most interesting exhibits which has been shown at the Art Center, New York, is the display of crafts work now on view in the Cooperative Gallery. The exhibit includes jewelry, pottery, decorative textiles and other hand work, among which are many beautiful ornaments and useful objects. A large collection of the work of Georg Jensen, Scandinavian silversmith, is a feature of the display. The collection of Folk Craft Pottery, produced by a little group of workmen in North Carolina, is another interesting feature of the exhibit, as are also the textiles from the Flambeau weavers and the group of hand painted boxes and containers, by a Russian artist.

Source: The American Printer - 20th September 1922

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A Georg Jensen paperweight by the Greek designer Minas Spiridis:



Minas Spiridis began working with the Jensen company in 1992.

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A Georg Jensen advertisment by the London branch of the firm from 1953 showing a tea set designed by Henning Koppel:


Georg Jensen - London - 1953

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An image of Poul Andersen at work:



Poul Andersen had been a Master silversmith with the Georg Jensen company since 1958.

This image is from 1983.

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The T. Eaton Co Limited - Montreal - 1936

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Georg Jensen is dead, the name will mean nothing to most Americans, although Mr. Jensen had a deep effect upon a familiar object of our daily life - silverware.

Mr. Jensen was one of the leaders of the artistic revolution against Victorian bad taste.

He rescued silver from the obtrusive and frequently hideous designs that characterized most work in that metal during the last century and restored the simplicity that seems especially appropriate to the quiet and dignified sheen of the white metal.

From his school in Copenhagen, Mr. Jensen sent all over the world the designers and silversmiths who create or influence most of the work in silver today.

The idea of his life work came to Mr. Jensen forty years ago when he toured Europe as a young artist, noting how beautiful were the objects in the art galleries, how ugly the wares displayed in store windows.

The contrast seemed unreasonable and unnecessary to Mr. Jensen. And in his own field he accomplished wonders in bridging the gap between "art" and design in the objects of everyday life.

That achievement was enough to earn him the title of "the greatest silversmith in 300 years." (New York Post)

Source: The Virgin Islands Daily News - 21st October 1935

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A moustache brush from Georg Jensen Silversmiths Ltd., complete with London import marks for 1949:








G.J. Ld - London - 1949



The brush is 67mm in length and weighs 12-5 grams.

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The 1975 Georg Jensen spoon designed by Rigmor Andersen & Annelise Bjørner:
















RA above AB - G.J. Ld - London - 1974

Annelise Bjørner designed for Georg Jensen from 1971 to 2003.

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