Georg Jensen

Danish silversmith and designer Georg Arthur Jensen.

Georg Arthur Jensen (31 August 1866 in Rådvad – 2 October 1935 in Copenhagen) was a Danish silversmith.

Biography

Born in 1866, Jensen was the son of a knife grinder in the town of Raadvad just to the north of Copenhagen. Jensen began his training in goldsmithing at the age of 14 in Copenhagen. His apprenticeship with the firm Guldsmed Andersen, ended in 1884, and this freed young Georg to follow his artistic interests.

From childhood, Jensen had longed to be a sculptor and he now pursued this course of study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. He graduated in 1892 and began exhibiting his work. Although his clay sculpture was well received, making a living as a fine artist proved difficult and he turned his hand to the applied arts. First as a modeller at the Bing & Grøndahl porcelain factory and, beginning in 1898, with a small pottery workshop he founded in partnership with Christian Petersen. Again the work was well received, but sales were not strong enough to support Jensen, by this point a widower, and his two small sons.

In 1901, he abandoned ceramics and began again as a silversmith and designer with the master, Mogens Ballin. This led Jensen to make a landmark decision, when in 1904, he risked what small capital he had and opened his own little silversmithy at 36 Bredgade in Copenhagen.

Jensen's training in metalsmithing along with his education in the fine arts allowed him to combine the two disciplines and revive the tradition of the artist craftsman. Soon, the beauty and quality of his Art Nouveau creations caught the eye of the public and his success was assured. The Copenhagen quarters were greatly expanded and before the end of the 1920s, Jensen had opened retail outlets as far ranging as New York, London, Paris, Stockholm, and Berlin.

Georg Jensen brand signs

When he was twenty Georg Jensen signed his first sculpture with "My Father" (1887). In 1894 he used the markings GJ as brandsign and from 1899 he often used GJ. In most cases the year was put next to the brand sign.

Brand signs of Georg Jensen

1. Used from 1904 - 1908
2. Used from 1909 - 1914
3. Used from 1910 - 1925
4. Used from 1915 - 1930
5. Used from 1915 - 1927
6. Used from 1925 - 1932
7. Used in the years 1930-1939 for engravings
8. Used from 1933 - 1944
9. Used from 1945 - 1951 for items that were sold in Copenhagen
10. Used from 1945–present

Brand signs from the designers of Georg Jensen

1. Johan Rohde (1856-1935)
2. Gundorph Albertus (1887-1970)
3. Harald Nielsen (1892-1977)
4. Arno Malinowski (1899-1976)
5. Sigvaard Bernadotte (1907-2002)
6. Henning Koppel (1918 - 1981)
7. Bent Gabrielsen (1928)
8. Nanna en Jorgen Ditzel
9. Nanna Ditzel (1923-2005)
10. Vivianna Torun Bulow-Hube (1927-2004)
11. Allan Scharff (1940)

Family tree Georg Jensen

References

Georg Jensen, Ib (1999 & 2004) ”Der var engang en sølvsmed - Historien om min far Georg Jensen” (Once there were a silversmith – the story of my father). By Ib Georg Jensen, Georg Jensen's youngst son and published in Danish by publishing house Aschehoug, Denmark, in 1999 (1st Edition) ISBN 9788755334410, 227 pages. Also published in Danish by publishing house Forum (Forlaget Forum), Denmark, in 2004 (2nd Edition) ISBN 9788755334410, 227 pages.

External links

• Official Page
• The Georg Jensen Society