Hans Hansen Jewellery

Hans Hansen - Denmark

Hans Hansen (1884-1940),was the founder of the Hans Hansen  firm which became known for superb Scandinavian modernist jewellery design. He was born in 1884, and started his workshop in 1906 on the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. He made mostly holloware until he was succesful enough to take a chance with starting a line of jewellery.

It was given the slightly derogatory term "Funkis" (for Funky functionalism) however it sold sucessfully well into the Forties. The "HaH" mark was used in 
these years often accompanied by the script Hans Hansen mark.

   

L to Right - Examples of Karl Gustav necklaces and the Hans Hansen script signature

Karl studied in and travelled throughout Italy in 1939, before returning home to lead the Hans Hansen workshop in 1940. From the fifties he mostly concentrated on holloware production. The jewellery design was left in the hands of Bent Gabrielsen Pedersen who was the artistic director from 1962. 

  

 Hansen  had exhibitions of work at the 1937 International Expo in Paris, and at the World Fair in New York in 1939.The firm also exhibited at the Nordisk Handcraft Exhibit in Paris in 1958 and 1965, and also in London in 1958 at the Danish Design Show at the Victoria and Albert Museum. His work is represented in the major museums in New York and Europe. The Hans Hansen firm was taked over in 1991 by Royal Copenhagen who also acquired Georg Jensen.