Georg Jensen Biography
George Jensen (1866 - 1935) Danish silversmith and sculptor. Jensen was apprenticed to a goldsmith as a teenager; he later studied sculpture at the Kunstakademiet in Copenhagen. Unable to make a living as a sculptor, Jensen returned to goldsmithing and worked for Mogens Ballin (1871-1941), whose fleshy, organic interpretation of Art Nouveau strongly influenced his designs. Jensen opened his first workshop, mainly jewelry, in Copenhagen in 1904. His early designs show the influence of Art Nouveau, often characterized by full, simple shapes incorporating stylized birds and floral motifs. In 1906 he produced his first complete set of cutlery, 'Continental', still in production in the 1980s. Distinctive for its sobriety and the interplay between its strong silhouette and a surface animated by small hammer marks, it is a clear expression of his involvement with the Arts and Crafts movement. Many of Jensen's most famous pieces were produced between 1908 and 1918. In 1914 the Louvre, Paris, purchased a silver bowl (1912), later known as the "Louvre bowl". It shows both the slightly lowered and bulbous profile and the use of discreet bands of decoration that are typical of his hollow ceramics. In 1907, Jensen entered into a lifelong collaboration with the painter Johan Rohde (1856-1935), who was responsible for several major designs, including the successful cutlery pattern "Acorn" (1915).
