Georg Jensen
Henning Koppel Vase, Polished Stainless Steel - Medium
- Specifications
- Description
- The Designer
- The Maker
- Brand:Georg Jensen of Denmark
- Country: Denmark
- SKU: GJ-10009654-FSK-FJ
- Material: Polished Stainless Steel
- Care:Please click here for Georg Jensen Home Product Care Instructions
- Designer:Henning Koppel
- Dimensions:H: 7.28", Ø: 8.86"
The legendary Henning Koppel's work is synonymous with both the heritage of Georg Jensen and indeed with Danish design itself. Working endlessly in his pursuit of reconciling form and function, Koppel was obsessed with creating everyday objects that were beautiful without sacrificing practicality. His work has stood the test of time and continues to be a source of inspiration to new generations of designers. Most recently the Georg Jensen design team have taken original Koppel designs and reworked them to new variations of his iconic pieces. Original Koppel watercolor sketches from the archive have inspired and introduced a new color palette of black, steel and shades of blue.
Koppel was an earlier pioneer of functionalism in design: his mission was to make everyday life products beautiful as well as practical. He was trained as a sculptor and began collaborating with Georg Jensen in 1946.
Henning Koppel is 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 continued studies in sculpture at the Royal Danish Academy and later in Paris. His superb drafting skills, developed as a child, helped him in to produce outstanding product renderings of his designs. Even on their own, they form an exceptional body of work.
Like many Danish Jews, Koppel fled to Sweden during the Second World War. At 27, he returned and began working at Georg Jensen, which marked his start in jewellery, hollowware and flatware design. His first works â?? 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.
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.
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.