Kay Bojesen was born in Copenhagen in 1886, the son of publisher Ernst Bojesen. After an early apprenticeship with a goldsmith, he trained under Georg Jensen at his newly opened silver workshop from 1907, receiving his silversmith’s certificate in 1910. Jensen recognized “considerable talent” in the young craftsman. Bojesen went on to further training in Germany and worked briefly as a silversmith in Paris.
Own workshop and Grand Prix cutlery
In 1913 he returned to Copenhagen and, with his father’s support, opened his own silver workshop at Nybrogade 14, joining the city’s Goldsmith Guild the same year. His functionalist Grand Prix cutlery, first shown in 1938 and later produced in matte stainless steel, won the top prize at the IX Triennale di Milano in 1951 and is still described as Denmark’s national cutlery, used in Danish embassies worldwide.
Wooden toys
Bojesen is equally known for his wooden toys, unpainted figures with jointed limbs that he began designing in the 1920s after the birth of his son Otto. The best known, a teak-and-limba monkey introduced in 1951, sold 600 units in its first month and later entered the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection. He also designed elephants, bears, rocking horses and dachshunds in the same spare, cheerful style. Bojesen founded and directed Den Permanente, the standing exhibition for Danish crafts and applied art, from 1931.
Legacy
Bojesen died in Copenhagen in 1958, at 72; his wife Erna Drøge-Møller ran the workshop until 1986. His friend and collaborator, the architect Finn Juhl, used Bojesen’s cutlery in several of his own cabinet designs, and today Bojesen’s granddaughter Sus Bojesen Rosenqvist continues the company under his name.
More design from Kay Bojesen:
House of Finn Juhl Relaunches the Silverware Cabinet
An Overlooked Masterpiece Returns: House of Finn Juhl Relaunches the Silverware Cabinet in a Special …
Danish Design in the 20th Century @ Design Museum Danmark
Danish Design in the 20th Century – How Danish Design Became World Famous Danish Modern …
Kay Bojesen – Humøret i dansk design
Sep 13, 2018 – Jun 10, 2019 Trapholt åbner 13. september den største og mest …