Georg Jensen

[paris_wendy]

I am new here, and tried to reply to an old Georg Jensen thread, but there was no reply function.

I've inherited a couple of silver pieces from my mother. The markings are the full lion facing left, the lion's face looking forward (London), and a date mark of a lowercase italic "m". I thought the date mark was 1967, but it clearly has a tail at the beginning of the "m" that looks unfamiliar. The date mark is on the bangle only. If there was a date mark on the locket, it is no longer visible.

The maker's mark is GJLD, with the D being superscript. I believe it is Georg Jensen.

I would love to know anything about these pieces, including the patterns, and if any of my information is incorrect.

Thanx so much.

 

[paris_wendy]

Only 1 photo per thread? My mistake. Here''s the locket.

 

[paris_wendy]

And the marks on inside of bangle here.

 

[oldmancoyote]

Hi Wendy, welcome!

As far as I can see, these are Jensen London''s hallmarks - I can''t make out the date letter, but if it is a lowercase italic ''m'' it is 1967. See here http://www.horologia.co.uk/hallmarks2.html for a picture of the 1956-1975 date letter series, where you can see that the letters have serifs (the little ''tail'' you refer to).

It''s unusual not to see import marks (an astrological Leo symbol with a St George cross underimposed in an oval) on Georg Jensen pieces, but sometimes it happens.

 

[Imdanny]

I thought this was a Danish company?

 

[Po10472]

Imdanny - The company is Danish but the jewellery could have been made in London, therefore the hallmark states the location it was made.

I am a big fan of Jensen and have a few pieces myself. Are you going to have your pieces valued?

 

[oldmancoyote]

Actually, I don''t think Jensen ever had manufacturing facilities in London. But until 1975 if you wanted to sell something as "silver" in the UK it had to be hallmarked by the UK''s Assay Office. Hence my reference to import marks.

 

[paris_wendy]

Based on other info I''ve received, I''m surprised too that there aren''t any import marks.
Neither of the pieces have them.

I''ve been told that these pieces don''t have the Jensen "style". I''m hoping that contacting
one of the relatives in England will help. They may know more about the jewelry.

As for having the pieces valued, I wouldn''t know where to begin. I have no intention of
selling them, but would love to know what they''re worth.

 

[oldmancoyote]

To be honest, the locket looks fairly "unJensenesque" - the bangle looks quite late '60s Jensen to me.

Jensen is still operating now - they may be able to help too with tracing models and/or authenticating the makers' mark.

There is a silver dealer that goes to all the major antique fairs in London and always has quite a few nice Jensen pieces, but I can't remember the name! I'll search up and see if I can find it.

On the valuation - tour a few antique dealers and show them the pieces... to begin with. See who knows what he/she is talking about and ask him/her for a paid for appraisal.

(BTW - I hope not to disappoint you too much, but you are not looking at a treasure in any case; I have seen some of the best "mass produced" pieces from the heydays of the 1920s go for up to $15-20k retail - which is a fair amount for sterling, but not for jewellery in general)

 

[paris_wendy]

Thanx for all your opinions.

In case a name might ring a bell, I''ve been in touch with William Drucker. He suggested that there are marks missing that might prove it''s a Jensen, and referred me to a book that I believe his wife wrote. I also contacted Korin Iverson who is currently looking at photos of the items.

Myself, I would think that either both are Jensen''s, or both are not. The assay marks on them are identical. I won''t be disappointed if they are not, I just really want to know more about them.

As far as value goes, they belonged to my mother''s aunt in Exeter, and my mother brought them back to Canada. My mother passed away only 2 weeks ago, so this jewellery is as valuable to me as the gardening book she left me.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 4/13/2009 7:14:12 PM
Author: paris_wendy

I am new here, and tried to reply to an old Georg Jensen thread, but there was no reply function.

What thread did you try to open, paris_wendy? I will ask Andrey and/or Ali to re-open it. Once a thread gets old, it is closed and no one is able to reply to it, but it can always be re-opened. Even if we continue to use this thread, it can be linked to the thread to which you referred if you tell us which one that was . I am a Georg Jensen aficionado although only partially trained. I keep finding new sterling silver pieces that belonged to my mother. Over the Easter break I found two silver barrettes, but I do not know if they are Georg Jensen this time!

I thought that maybe this jewelry thread was the one that you had tried to open?

AGBF

 

[oldmancoyote]

Date: 4/14/2009 6:51:31 PM
Author: paris_wendy
Thanx for all your opinions.

In case a name might ring a bell, I''ve been in touch with William Drucker. He suggested that there are marks missing that might prove it''s a Jensen, and referred me to a book that I believe his wife wrote. I also contacted Korin Iverson who is currently looking at photos of the items.

Myself, I would think that either both are Jensen''s, or both are not. The assay marks on them are identical. I won''t be disappointed if they are not, I just really want to know more about them.

As far as value goes, they belonged to my mother''s aunt in Exeter, and my mother brought them back to Canada. My mother passed away only 2 weeks ago, so this jewellery is as valuable to me as the gardening book she left me.

Assay or sponsor? (i.e. the GJLd?)

I''m sorry for your loss - and apologies if some of my words have been insensitive.

 

[paris_wendy]

AGBF, that is the correct thread. That''s what drew me to this site.

oldmancoyote, I found nothing insensitive about your comments.

As for the marks, on both pieces, the lion facing left is identical, the lion''s face looking forward is identical, and the GJLD is identical. The bangle has the letter m, but there is no letter present on the locket. If there was one on the locket, it has worn away completely.

Thanks again.

 

[oldmancoyote]

Hm - interesting and possibly bad news. I located a photo of Georg Jensen's UK mark, and it looks different from the one on your pieces

http://www.925-1000.com/dlLondon4.html#M about two-thirds down the page

now, there may have been variations in the mark design over a number of years, so it may still be good. I need to find a copy of Jackson's and look in there.

Edit: I checked, and all the Jensen production is and was actually carried out in Denmark, and thus should carry Jensen's Danish marks too. It is posible that the pieces were actually retailed by Jensen's store (who would act as sponsor with the Assay Office, and thus put their mark on the piece) but are not actually Jensen designs. This would explain the lack of Danish and import marks, since effectively the piece was never imported - it was designed and made by a British silversmith, brought to the Assay for marking by Georg Jensen Ltd and then sold in the store. Of course, they would carry legitimate (and identical) Assay marks for fineness, office and date.

 

[culham]

Hi

Regrettably these pieces have zero connection with the Jensen smithy.

The London store, in common with the Jensen store in NY, is effectively a franchise operation. This means that, as well as selling imported Jensen silver, they also retail all kinds of other stuff (including such stuff as bed linen in NY I understand!).

This includes run-of-the-mill silver, much of it imported from the Far East. This is what these pieces are, and in accordance with UK law, they have to be stamped with a silver hallmark which identifies the commissioning/importing retailer. GJLd is the shops mark - and of course it would also have to be applied to any silver imports from Jensen in Copenhagen. It means nothing in respect of whoever may have designed or produced the item.

As far as the genuine article is concerned, without exception, Jensen silver will be marked with (i) the relevant factory date stamp (all fully documented over the years and usually a variation of the Georg Jensen name), (ii) the word STERLING (and/or sometimes the silver grade on earlier pieces 826/830/925 as appropriate), (ii) the word DENMARK (or COPENHAGEN on earlier pieces),(iii) a design number, and (iv) sometimes a designers mark. Additionally, for a short period during the early years the year of manufacture was also stamped.

If it doesn''t carry most, usually all, of these marks, then it won''t be Georg Jensen. Hope that helps

 

[AGBF]

Date: 6/11/2009 10:53:59 AM
Author: culham


Regrettably these pieces have zero connection with the Jensen smithy.

The London store, in common with the Jensen store in NY, is effectively a franchise operation. This means that, as well as selling imported Jensen silver, they also retail all kinds of other stuff (including such stuff as bed linen in NY I understand!).

culham,

Georg Jensen USA as an independent entity has ceased to exist. It was bought by a large company. (I have been trying to think of which one!) It is not a franchise, however, and it has a noble history, a history that is absolutely the equal of Georg Jensen, Denmark.. When it was an independent company it carried the finest goods, although since World War II they began to differ slightly from those of Georg Jensen, Denmark. Frederik Lunning will have to be pardoned for making a few executive decisions as to how to run the New York store that was given to him by Georg Jensen, Denmark before World War II broke out. There were bombs falling in Europe and ships being torpedoed in the Atlantic Ocean. Mr. Lunning couldn't check every decision he made with the home office (which was closed) in Copenhagen. (The Denmark Georg Jensen factory had been moved outside of the city of Copenhagen and was producing stainless steel after the German invasion in 1940.)

AGBF