KARL GUSTAV HANSEN (1914-2002)

Karl Gustav Hansen left school at sixteen to become an apprentice to Einar Olsen, a hollowware smith. Shortly after, the younger Hansen also apprenticed with his father, Hans Hansen (1884-1940). In 1934, Karl Hansen received the silver medal, the highest distinction in the Danish apprenticeship system. Shortly afterward, he enrolled at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, yet his interest in silver did not wane.

In 1940, he joined his father in the family business in Kolding, opened a workshop in Copenhagen, and became the artistic director at Hans Hansen Silversmithy on his father’s early death at the age of fifty-six. Most notable among his many jewelry designs was Karl Hansen’s first collection called "Future," which comprised about fifty pieces, including brooches, rings, clasps, earrings, and more. Other designers such as Bent Gabrielsen, Ole Bent Pedersen, and Bent Knudsen also worked for Hansen, and by the 1980s, Allan Scharff had become the lead designer.

In 1982, Karl Hansen was awarded the Golden Ring of Honor by the Association for Goldsmiths’ Art. In 1992, the firm merged with the Georg Jensen Company.

Visit our exhibition page for "MEDITATIONS ON MODERNISM: Thirty Years of Jewelry Design by Jacqueline Rabun, 1990–2022 and Selections from Notable Post-WWII Nordic Jewelry" to learn more about the innovative and exquisite Nordic jewelry in our collection.