Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

Georg Jensen: a Danish silver oval blossom brooch, designed by Gundorph Albertus, No. 274, post 1945 maker’s mark, numbered ‘274’, length 42mm. £150-£200

Gundorph Albertus (1887-1970) qualified as a chaser in 1905, and received further training as a silversmith in Munich from 1909-1911 and at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Paris from 1910-11. He began work as a chaser at the Georg Jensen Silversmithy in 1911. In 1915 he graduated from the Kunstakademiets Billedhuggerskole, (Royal Academy of Art, School of Sculpture) in Copenhagen. In 1926, Albertus became the silversmithy’s assistant director, responsible for managing hollowware production, and holding this position until 1954. He designed the “Cactus” flatware pattern in 1930, which proved very popular and is still in production today. Albertus’s work was widely exhibited, including the Salon des Arts Décoratifs in Paris from 1928-1931. He received a gold medal at the Paris international exposition in 1925 and a diplôme d’honneur at the 1937 Paris exposition.