Bjørn Sigurd Østern for David Andersen Norway Sterling Silver & Enamel 3-D Large Statement Pendant Necklace

Circa 1960s

Measurements: Pendant: 2.5"L x 1.4"W x .4"Thick (6.35cm x 3.56cm x 1.02cm)

Chain: 18.5"L  (46.99cm)

Markings: Pendant: David-Andersen Norway Sterling 925S INV. B.S.O.

Weight: 22.7g

Fantastic Scandinavian modernist designed sterling silver and enamel pendant. Designed by Bjørn Sigurd Østern for David Andersen in the 1960's. Pendant features a 3-D design that looks like a rib cage or the skeleton of a Viking Ship. Enamel is fully intact, crisp and bright with no damage whatsoever. I have paired it with a new sterling silver chain. It has recently been professionally polished and looks phenomenal. Please excuse the lines or reflections, as it's quite shiny and hard to photograph..

Mannequin is a life-size torso representation

Bjørn Sigurd Østern (b. 1938) In the early 1960s, the David-Andersen Company again needed a new dynamic designer to modernize the company image and update the production lines along with the recent development of taste. Bjørn Sigurd Østern was chosen, and he was to work with the company on a regular basis, 1961-73 as well as from 1974 until 1985. Studying at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) 1956-61, Østern had been awarded ‘Best Student’. He spent 1963 in the US on a scholarship from the diamond company ‘de Beers Consolidated Mines’ and he held exhibitions in New York in 1964 and 1965. Østern and Harry Sørby, who had been with David-Andersen since 1929, were the leading designers of the company in the sixties and seventies, contributing to a new and modern look that continued the company’s already strong tradition of Scandinavian Design. - Courtesy of the book: Northern Lights, The Beauty of the Forgotten Scandinavian Enamel Jewelry Artists by Lois Olson and Dwight Olson

The company was founded in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway by David Andersen in 1876. Andersen (1843-1901) was a gold and silversmith with a keen sense of quality and the high standards of his workmanship brought early success to the firm. By 1888, Andersen was able to expand his workshop into a steam powered plant and a second retail location was opened in Oslo in 1892.
David Andersen died in 1901, his son, Arthur Andersen, took the reins of the firm at that time. Arthur instituted some important changes, he decided to hyphenate the family name to David-Andersen, and as chief designer, he introduced the use of enameling on the company's gold and silver jewelry as well as hollowware. The new line was so successful that enamelled jewelry has become nearly synonymous with the David-Andersen name. The firm has remained a family business and is now run by members of the fourth generation, Uni and Jon David-Andersen.