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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT
THE TALENTED
MODERNIST
HENNING KOPPEL
Henning Koppel was a leader of the Scandinavian
modern design movement, and his designs for Georg
Jensen were unlike any works ever produced. He took
the premise of organic, flowing forms to transform
hollowware, cutlery, jewellery and watches.
Henning Koppel was born to a wealthy Jewish family
and showed an early talent for art, leading him to train
in both drawing and aquarelle early on. He was trained
as a sculptor and began collaborating with Georg Jensen
in 1946.
Like many Danish Jews, Koppel fled to Sweden during
the Second World War. At 27, he returned and began
working at Georg Jensen. His first works – a series of
necklaces and linked bracelets resembling whale vertebrae
and microscopic organisms - were small masterpieces in
imaginative modelling. Henning Koppel was in every
way groundbreaking and his jewellery was unlike anything
ever created at the silver smithy in its first 40 years.
During his life, he won many awards including the
Milan Triennial, the International Design Award and
the Lunning Prize. Accolades are important, but what
means even more to us is that people still choose to wear
a watch by Henning Koppel or to serve coffee from one
of his pots. The integrity and appeal of his designs
remain vital and undiminished.
When Henning Koppel died in 1981, aged 63, he had
created an astonishing range of work: from stainless
steel cutlery such as “New York” which found its way
into the homes of millions, to magnificent one-off
signature pieces such as the silver and crystal chandelier
he designed to celebrate the 75-year anniversary of
Georg Jensen in 1979.
HENNING KOPPEL
1917-1982