Mid-Century Modern Tea Set by Georg Jensen, Silver, Denmark, 1950

For over a century, Georg Jensen has produced some of the finest objects in Scandinavian modern design, including silver tableware, serving pieces, home decor, jewelry and more, frequently partnering with leading artisans to expand its offerings and respond to shifting tastes. Known for minimal aesthetics that reference nature, the craftsmanship of this legendary Danish silverware firm has regularly married function with thoughtful and beautiful design.

Founder Georg Jensen (1866–1935) was born in the small town of Radvaad, Denmark, and began his training as a goldsmith at 14. After studying sculpture and then training with master silversmith Mogens Ballin, he established his own silver business in Copenhagen in 1904. By 1918, the company was successful enough to open a shop in Paris.

Jensen’s firm produced an incredibly vast range of silver objects, from serving dishes and barware to centerpieces and chandeliers. For his early work, which bore ornate floral details and other organic forms of Art Nouveau, Jensen looked to the splendors of the natural world. The 1905 Blossom teapot, for instance, was topped with a magnolia bud and deftly balanced on toad feet, while some of Jensen’s best-known flatware patterns included Lily of the Valley, introduced in 1913, and Acorn, which debuted in 1915.

Collaboration with outside designers, long before such partnerships were common in design, would lead to some of the company’s most popular and enduring work of the mid-century. Sigvard Bernadotte and Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe created collections, as did Henning Koppel, whose curvy 1952 Pregnant Duck pitcher is a Georg Jensen classic.

After evolving and expanding throughout the 20th century, Georg Jensen was acquired by Investcorp in 2012. Today, the company is a global luxury brand with more than 1,000 stores around the world. It continues to produce seductive new pieces, such as a tea service made with Marc Newson in 2015, as well as timeless heritage designs, including the relaunch in 2019 of the 1018 solid sterling-silver Tureen 270. In 2020, the firm introduced the Jardinière 1505. Sculptural and richly decorative, the never-before-realized showpiece is hand-hammered from sheets of the finest sterling silver and is based on a 1915 sketch from Jensen’s archives.

Find an exquisite collection of Georg Jensen serveware, ceramics, silver and glass today on 1stDibs.

Henning Koppel was a Danish sculptor and designer, who was associated with the well known Georg Jensen silver department during most of his career. In the early 1960s, he along with his work at Georg Jensen also made a few designs for the Danish porcelain factory Bing & Grøndahl from where his most known design is his dinnerware and coffee service. During this period at Bing & Grøndahl, he also made a few small and experimental productions like this bonbonniere. Henning Koppel’s works have been on display at most major exhibitions of Danish art industry in Denmark and abroad since 1947, and he is represented at art industry museums worldwide. In addition, he is represented in Den kgl. copperplate collection with drawings. During his life, Henning Koppel received many awards among them the gold medals in the Milan Triennial Italy 1951, 1953 and 1957, the K. Lunning Prize Denmark 1953, International Design Award USA 1963, Der goldene Löffel, Munich Germany 1963, Diamonds-International Award 1966, ID Award Denmark 1966, gold medal in Florence 1967 Italy, and Silver Medal Exempla Munich Germany 1970.