Silver’s Jutland masters

Hingelberg in Århus

Hingelberg was established in 1897 at Store Torv in Århus by Frantz Hingelberg and after his death in 1919 was taken over by his son Vilhelm Hingelberg. Together with silversmith Svend Weihrauch (1899-1962) he marked out a distinct and dynamic line in the company. In the 1920s and 1930s, the collaboration resulted in more than 4,500 draft sketches, of which most were implemented. Weihrauch’s recognizable idiom aroused great contemporary interest and his works were displayed at the world exhibitions in Brussels and Paris in 1935 and in New York in 1939.

Today buyers also flock around the uniquely designed silver, which closely follows the stringent and elegant expression of the 1920s and 1930s. The small pitcher is an example of this. It was made at Hingelberg’s in 1935 and was sold for DKK 26,000 at the last modern auction in Bredgade.

Hans Hansen in Kolding

At the tender age of 22, Hans Hansen (1884-1940) opened his own business and associated workshop in Kolding, just a few years after ending his apprenticeship at Cohr’s silverware factory in Fredericia. Hans Hansen was quick to establish a market among private clients, including for his hollowware. However, the cutlery in the “Arvesølv” (Silver Heirloom) series was to become particularly synonymous with the name of Hans Hansen. Later, Karl Gustav Hansen took over his father’s company at just 25 years of age and really put Danish silver on the map with his sculptural hollowware. His works are still highly sought after as collectors’ items today, and high prices are paid for them at Danish auctions. His teapot, which was designed in 1954, is a good example of the sterling quality and the distinctive design which characterises this eminently skilled silversmith. The Martini pitcher shown, designed in 1960 and made and stamped in 1967, was sold for DKK 20,000 at an auction in Pedersholm in Vejle in 2006.

The Carl M Cohr Silverware factories in Fredericia

The Cohr family dynasty was established as far back as 1860 by Ditlev Cohr. In 1895, with his son Carl M. Cohr at the helm, production was expanded to include silver hollowware. To start with, sports trophies and coffee and tea sets were an essential source of income, and by the end of the century the Cohr factory was one of the largest and most efficient in Denmark. Into the twentieth century the factory was changed and expanded many times. Among other things, well known names in the trade were employed to bring added inspiration to the company, which by the start of the 1950s had grown to the point where it was employing a staff of some 400.

Silversmith Hans Bunde (1919-1996) is one of the most important of these names, and in 1951 he was employed to manage the company’s hollowware and one-off lines. He had been apprenticed at Cohr’s, and with the inspiration he had gained from his work both at A. Michelsen and the famous Swedish silversmith Wiwen Nilsson, Bunde’s works from the 1950s and 1960s are both streamlined, functional and amazingly beautiful. His works only rarely come up for auction, but when they do they are in great demand. The ice water pitcher was sold at auction in Pedersholm in Vejle for DKK 24,000.

If you have silverware by any of the masters mentioned or by other masters which you would like to have valued, do not hesitate to call us or send an email to the silver department.