Dahl Jensen

Jens Peter Dahl-Jensen, (23 July 1874 in Nibe, Jutland - 12 December 1960 in Copenhagen) was a Danish sculptor. In 1926 he changed his last name from Dahl-Jensen.The son of a cabinetmaker, he was originally an apprentice carpenter in Aalborg and received a silver medal for his exemplary work. During this period, he learned to carve wood and became interested in sculpture. From 1894 to 1897, Dahl-Jensen studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Arts in Copenhagen. During the holidays he traveled to Berlin and Dresden. After the final exam at the academy, he completed additional training in Switzerland and Italy. In 1900, he married his wife Martha. From 1897 to 1917 he was an exemplary craftsman at the Bing & Grøndahl Porcelain Company in Copenhagen, and from 1917 to 1925 he was Artistic Director of the Norden Porcelain Factory, also in Copenhagen. Between 1901 and 1925 Dahl-Jensen modeled numerous small sculptures of predatory beasts in bronze that have been exhibited in Charlottenborg, Malmo, Berlin, Munich and San Francisco, but he became increasingly famous for his porcelain work, especially the animal figurines for Bing & Grøndahl. the busiest animal sculptor in his company, some of his Art Nouveau figurines are still produced in Royal Copenhagen. In 1925 he started his own business, the Dahl-Jensen Porcelain Factory, in Husum, a suburb of Copenhagen. A lot was exported, mainly to the USA and Italy. In addition to animal figures, he modeled several unusual oriental figurines with deep and strong delicate glazes, from 1930 to 1958. His wife Martha Dahl-Jensen worked for the family, and his son Georg Dahl-Jensen continued production until 1981, when the company closed after the sale of the stock in 1984.