Candelabrum 956B

In 2014 drawings of Candelabrum 956B from 1946 were found in the Georg Jensen archives in Copenhagen. The drawings were presented to the silversmithy and model 956B was put in production for the first time.

Candelabra 956 was the first piece of hollowware Henning Koppel designed on his return from Sweden. He presented a model of the design made of plaster, clay and plasticine – it looked like nothing that had been made at Georg Jensen before. The silversmiths did not know how to make the piece in silver. It would take a lot of pounding – and bending and splitting the silver in several pieces, which then would have to be soldered together again and then the grinding and polishing.

Koppel got impatient to see the project realized and suggested casting the candelabra. Georg Jensen Silversmihy had no experience with silver casting and it was done at a bronze foundry. It was returned in several smaller pieces – because that was the only way it could be cast. It looked completely hopeless, but so much effort had already been put into the project that the candelabra might as well be assembled, grinded and polished. Finally, the candelabrum was finished and no further examples of this model were made until the re-introduction in 2005. Both candelabra are still being cast. However, with today’s techniques it is possible to cast in one piece. It is not an easy task though – for the casting technique this is a large piece, and the fact that the surface is smooth requires an expert caster as otherwise the casting will come out full of pores which are too large and too deep to polish out.