Georg Jensen USA Pieces From The 1940's

[AGBF]

A few years ago while reading another thread (to which I will post a link)*, I realized that my mother had a few pieces of Georg Jensen USA silver jewelry from the 1940's. She gradually found some accessories as well. (Georg Jensen USA had started to sell these during World War II.) I misplaced the accessories until recently, but now have photographed them. Only one pin is now missing from her jewelry (which leaves me with only a set of a pin and earrings (unless I have forgotten some pieces). I do have some stray accessories, however.

Deb/AGBF


*This is the thread:
Original Georg Jensen Thread For AGBF...[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/georg-jensen-jewelry.25634/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/georg-jensen-jewelry.25634/[/URL]

 

[AGBF]

Here are some more photos of the purse. Inside it were a stick of red lipstick (Danish Red in color) in a sterling holder that matched the earrings and pin my mother had and also a tortoise shell comb trimmed in sterling with the same pattern. The compact was not Jensen, but Volupté, but still filled with pressed powder.

 

[AGBF]

Here are close-ups of some of the pieces.

 

[AGBF]

This is actually not Georg Jensen, but it is from the same period as the Georg Jensen and is also a well-known name. It is the sterling Volupté compact with pressed powder.

Deb/AGBF

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Oh my goodness! What treasures, Deb!!!

 

[artdecogirl]

That is so cool to have that Deb, it is just like a little time capsule, just add a hankie and a few dollars and she would be ready to go out for a jaunt. I did not know they made things like the clutch, I thought is was all silver pieces. Thanks for sharing

 

[AGBF]

That is so cool to have that Deb, it is just like a little time capsule, just add a hankie and a few dollars and she would be ready to go out for a jaunt. I did not know they made things like the clutch, I thought is was all silver pieces. Thanks for sharing

I posted an excerpt from an article on the beginnings of Georg Jensen USA in another Pricescope thread (the one to which I linked this thread). For anyone interested in how the New York store expanded under Frederik Lunning, I am reposting the excerpt here. Frederik Lunning definitely kept Georg Jensen afloat while Denmark was under German occupation during World War II, but he introduced many products on his own initiative that were later frowned upon by the main Georg Jensen shop in Denmark. This led to a split between the two facilities.

AGBF

Excerpt from article:


"The story of Georg Jensen Inc. USA begins in Denmark with Frederik Lunning, an intriguing character and an art and book dealer who also sold Jensen pieces. He was to become the esteemed director of Jensen's U.S. operation.

Jensen managing directors P. Pedersen and T. Moller first hired Lunning in 1920 to arrange silver exhibitions. This turned out to be the firm's most successful year, with foreign art critics praising Jensen craftsmanship. But in 1921, grave economic crises in Europe forced massive order cancellations. The Copenhagen factory found itself suddenly overstocked; new foreign markets were urgently needed to keep the company in business.

Lunning was sent to New York with a large collection of the best pieces, which he managed to sell quickly at private showings in such top hotels as the Waldorf Astoria. Lunning's shrewd targeting of an exclusive coterie of wealthy Americans averted a financial crisis at home. New orders poured into the Copenhagen workshops. (As sales increased, so did the fineness of the silver used, rising from 825/1000 to 925/1000 sterling by 1930.)

Lunning opened a small shop on 53 St. in New York, N.Y. in 1923, went on to weather the Great Depression and moved to a new, prestigious location on Fifth Avenue. But back in Europe, the German invasion of Denmark in 1940 and the consequent end of exports meant that silver jewelry and hollowware made in Denmark were no longer available on world markets. The Jensen factory moved to the Copenhagen suburbs to produce stainless steel products.

Nineteen forty also was a pivotal year for Jensen's American connection. This was the year in which Lunning obtained sole agency rights in America for 100 years from Royal Copenhagen, the parent company of Georg Jensen, Denmark.

Lunning soon made two major policy shifts:

* He expanded his Fifth Avenue shop into a three-floor minidepartment store devoted to a mixed bag of decorative items, including silver and gold jewelry, lamps, figurines, furniture and fabrics, clocks, handbags, perfumes and even children's clothes. Quantity unfortunately replaced quality in the process.

* He filled the gap left by Danish artisans who were otherwise employed fighting Hitler by hiring two designers in America, La Paglia and JoPol. They were to produce jewelry 'in the Jensen style' to be stamped 'Georg Jensen Inc. USA' during the 1940s.

Curiously, the Copenhagen home office was not consulted and, in fact, was surprised to discover after the war the existence of the American production. Perhaps Lunning decided that his countrymen were too preoccupied with the Resistance to care about retail sales in New York. Perhaps he reasoned that having saved the day once for Jensen in the '20s, he could continue the highly successful Jensen silverware and jewelry lines during the war by using his own designers.

Whatever the case, the new American designs were still in production after the war. This prompted lawsuits by the Jensen directors in Denmark, who did not recognize pieces produced outside of the Copenhagen smithy. Lunning had broken the strong tradition of Danish 'order' and was called to account for it. Georg Jensen Inc. USA settled with the Copenhagen firm in 1949-'50."