A. Michelsen Nanna Ditzel letter opener; Georg Jensen Start Price USD 925.00 Current Price USD 925.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price USD 999.00 Reserve Price - Start Time Thursday, September 04, 2008 End Time Thursday, September 11, 2008 Location KBH Ø, Copenhagen See more about 'A. Michelsen Nanna Ditzel letter opener; Georg Jensen' Description Offered for bids, a beautiful and extremely rare letter opener designed by the famous Nanna and her husband Jørgen Ditzel. Nanna Ditzel was one of Denmark's most accomplished designers and was the first woman to design for Georg Jensen. She was born in Copenhagen and attended the Danish School of Arts, Crafts and Design and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, graduating in 1946. While still a student she began showing her work at the Cabinetmaker's Guild annual exhibits. She also met her first husband, Jorgen Ditzel at school and they began working and exhibiting together in 1944. She was trained in cabinet making; he in upholstery and they shared a design aesthetic based on creating comfortable, livable and simple environments.In 1954, they began to create designs for Georg Jensen. But prior to this, they designed a wonderful line of enameled silver for A. Michelsen, famous for their work with enamel. This pieces were quite expensive and is therefore today quite rare. Jorgen died in 1961 but Ditzel kept their studio going and continued to work in a variety of media, designing among others, wooden furniture and silver jewelry. In 1962, Ditzel came out with the successful "Toadstool," which was a multi-purpose, stacking stool or table for children. Ditzel created many designs for Georg Jensen, mostly jewelry although she also created some hollowware.  Ditzel has won many major awards during her long career and has had her work exhibited all over the world. She received the silver and gold medals at the Milan Tirennale (1954 and 1960), the Lunning Prize (with Jorgen Ditzel in 1954) and a gold medal at the International Furniture Design Competition in 1990. See the pictures for details. Marked "Sterling Denmark", the Michelsen stamp and logo for Nanna & Jørgen Ditzel. Great condition with no damage to the enamel. Size: Almost 7" long and 1" at the widest part. Anton Michelsen opened his first workshop in Denmark in 1841 which very quickly became the leading firm of gold and silversmiths.  He was a significant influence on Danish jewelry design during the 19th and early 20th century.  He became Crown Jeweler and Insignia Maker to the King in 1848. Producing insignia involved the fine art of enameling, a specialty the A. Michelsen refined over the years. _________________ Though a very difficult decision, I have decided to sell my private collection of Danish silver and Modern design, as I am moving abroad to enjoy my retirement. Many good items will go to new connoisseurs.   Most of the items you will see in my auctions have been collected through many years and carefully picked for their originality and rarity. I always went for the best!   My feedback isn’t really strong, but I have been on eBay for quite some time, but not in last couple of years, so probably a lot have changed. But I guess the basics still counts; honesty and fairness. I will strive at both! Payments from outside Europe is through PayPal. Payments from within EU is by IBAN-transfer. The shipping indicated is by national postal service. If UPS/FedEx is desired, this can be arranged.  Finally, please ask any question and I will answer promptly.   Good luck! Place a Bid!