Necklace (Denmark)

The firm of Georg Jensen was founded in the early 1900s and quickly became one of the leading European silversmiths. The “Jensen style” was highly influential throughout the 1920s and the firm has continued to produce high quality silver, plated, and stainless wares to the present day.
Perhaps the most eminent artist attached to the firm in the period following World War II was Henning Koppel. Koppel trained as a sculptor and designer at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and at the Académie Ranson in Paris, and began working for the Jensen firm in 1945. Breaking from Jensen tradition, Koppel’s silverwork was distinguished by his interest in modernism, made evident in his particular use of abstract and sculptural forms. Though substantial in weight, this cast necklace (first designed in 1947) displays Koppel’s extraordinary sensitivity to accentuate the unexpected suppleness of the material.
Koppel is a pivotal design figure, whose drawings and works are represented in major museum collections throughout the world. He won innumerable awards, including gold medals at the Milan Triennale in 1951, 1954, and 1957, and the ID Prize of the Society of International Design in 1966.
This would be the first Koppel piece to enter the museum’s collection. It would enhance our collection of 20th-century jewelry, augment our small collection of Jensen objects (which include a tea service, cutlery, cufflinks, and jewelry), and provide an important addition to our contemporary Scandinavian holdings.

Necklace (Denmark); Manufactured by Georg Jensen Sølvsmedie (Denmark); silver; L: 45.7 cm (18 in.); Gift of Barbara E. Busch; 2002-25-1

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Rococo: The Continuing Curve 1730-2008.