Just Andersen Pewter & Cane 1059 Jug

A pewter and woven cane water pitcher with a sumptuous, organic Modernist form designed and made by Just Andersen.

Andersen was born, 1884, in Greenland but moved to Denmark age 10. At 16, he apprenticed as a decorative sculptor and later studied at several schools in Denmark, including the Royal Academy of Art and School of Danish Crafts, and was also educated in Germany & Italy.

Thanks to his wife Alba Matilde Lykke, Andersen was introduced to the craftsman Morgens Ballin for whom his wife worked as a trained chaser & silversmith. Following work for Georg Jensen and jewellers A. Michelsen and P. Hertz, Andersen & Lykke founded their own metalworking company in 1918.

Just Andersen Pewter specialised in the design of everyday articles in pewter, brass, copper, bronze, and Disko (a metal of their own invention). Specifically successful were the firm’s neoclassical yet functional designs which received numerous awards at the many World Fairs participated in from 1918.

In 1929 Just Andersen’s business became a limited company and they had their own showrooms in Berlin, Brussels, London, Los Angeles, and New York.

Simplicity became Just Andersen’s style, characterised by forms purged of superfluous decoration. The firm’s work is a fine representation of modern Danish neoclassicism. Although, inspiration was also derived from Old Norse forms.

Today, Just Andersen is the most celebrated and collected maker of 20th century pewter. Works by the Nordic maker are in the collections of the British Museum, Sweden’s National Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.