Candelabrum 956

The Candelabra 956 is the first piece of hollowware Henning Koppel designed. 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.

The candelabrum was a truly pioneering hollowware design. It is like a piece of experimental art – an abstract sculpture. The organic form language is explicit and playful in its asymmetry. It has a built-in changeability and liveliness – it has no natural front or back and every new angle surprises with a completely new look.