Georg Jensen was the son of a knife grinder. He was born in 1866 in the town of Raadvad, Denmark. At the age of 14, Jensen began his training in
goldsmithing in Copenhagen. His apprenticeship with the firm Guldsmed Andersen, ended in 1884, and this freed young Georg to follow his artistic interests.
Jensen studied to be a sculptor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts where he graduated in 1892 and began exhibiting his work.
His clay sculptures were well received, but making a living as a fine artist proved difficult.
He worked as a modeller at the Bing & Grøndahl porcelain factory and, beginning in 1898, with a small pottery workshop
he founded in partnership with Christian Petersen. Again the work was well received, but sales were not strong enough to support Jensen and his two small sons.
In 1901, he abandoned ceramics and began again as a silversmith and designer with the master, Mogens Ballin. This led Jensen to make a landmark decision, when in 1904, he risked what small capital he had and opened his own little silversmithy at 36 Bredgade in Copenhagen.
Jensen's training in metalsmithing along with his education in the fine arts allowed him to combine the two disciplines and revive the tradition of the artist craftsman. Soon, the beauty and quality of his Art Nouveau creations caught the eye of the public and his success was assured. The Copenhagen quarters were greatly expanded and before the end of the 1920s, Jensen had opened retail outlets as far ranging as New York, London, Paris, Stockholm, and Berlin.
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