Danish sterling silver Christmas spoon and fork set by A. Michelsen, gold plated with inlaid enamel decoration, made for Christmas 1968. Designed by Henry Heerup, with the motif "A Mother’s Heart". Marked on verso "JUL 1968", "H. Heerup” for the designer, and with firm "A. Michelsen Sterling Danmark".
The tradition of the Danish Christmas spoon and fork set began with the firm A. Michelsen. Anton Michelsen was an extremely well trained and apprenticed goldsmith, who opened his own shop in Copenhagen in 1841. He immediately caught the attention of the Royal Court and by 1848 he had risen to the title of Jeweller to the Royal Court. He was the only Danish goldsmith represented at the 1855 Exposition Universelle in Paris.
Anton’s son Carl Michelsen continued the firm after his father’s death in 1877. He began to collaborate with well-known artists and designers including Arnold Krog the artistic director of Royal Copenhagen, artist and ceramic designer Harald Slott-Moller, architect Martin Nyrop, and Thorvald Bindesbold the architect, sculptor and ornamental artist best know today for having designed the Carlsberg beer label. It was during this period that the first Christmas spoon and fork were created in 1910, likely influenced by the success of the Bing & Grondahl and Royal Copenhagen Christmas (Jul) plates. This first 1910 set showed the Star of Bethlehem topped with the word Jul (Christmas in English) and was designed by one of the firm’s designers NC Dyrlund. The 1910 design does not include the year as it was intended to be a one-off. The set was a great success and started a new yearly Christmas tradition, the limited edition only made in the year of production after which the tools are destroyed.
Each year, a new artist was selected to design the Jul motif. Originally designers were mainly painters but as success continued, architects and jewellers joined as designers. The firm would select an emerging young artist who was given decision-making over design, colour and shape within the confines of the required form. Because of this each year’s design varied greatly and by 1925 enamelled decoration appeared almost every year. In 2003 Georg Jensen took over production of the Christmas spoon and fork and they continued to produce them until the final year of production in 2009, marking 100 years of production.
Size: 6.5 h x 1.5 w in
C20373
