Help Identifying 1940s La Paglia Georg Jensen USA Bracelet

[mikeamills]

Hi all,

I recently picked up a bracelet that I believe was designed by Alphonse La Paglia for Georg Jensen USA, and I’m hoping someone here can help confirm or clarify a few things. I’ve attached several photos below for reference.

The bracelet is stamped “GEORG JENSEN USA HAND WROUGHT STERLING” and is visually identical to design #110 as shown on page 93 of Jensen Silver (2008) by Nancy Schiffer & Janet Drucker. But there are some oddities:

-- In the book, this same design is attributed to International Silver Company, but this one clearly bears the Jensen USA hallmark.
-- No "L.P." or La Paglia mark anywhere on the piece.
-- No design number is stamped.

I know from some reading that hallmarking at Georg Jensen USA in the 1940s was often inconsistent, especially for jewelry. So I’m wondering if these discrepancies could be due to one or more of the following:

-- Some La Paglia designs were produced first by Georg Jensen USA and later reissued by International Silver.
-- Early pieces simply weren’t marked with “L.P.” or design numbers.
-- This could be a limited or uncatalogued production, possibly made before design attribution and stamping became more standardized.

If anyone has run into a similar piece or can offer any insight into this design's history and timeline, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks in advance!

[Crochetcrone]

Hi ! I am in the UK and can confirm that this is genuine.
I collect these limited pieces for wearing and for my son’s partners, and have the brooch and bracelet. The brooch has the International Sterling Georg Jensen and LP initials on it and the bracelet misses the LP off but is identical in every respect with both having a fabulous patina. I bought them from the USA .
Some of the later pieces are in much thinner silver sheet. I have a photo of the pieces (there are more) but will need to get back to you with close ups of the silver marks.

I can’t work out how to upload images but you can be sure they are genuine and match your piece. Will get back to you.

[Crochetcrone]

Hi again, Mike,
Ok the brooch has GEORG JENSEN
U.S.A. LP
STERLING. 122

The bracelet has INTERNATIONAL
STERLING
La Paglia Designed
110
So my researched guess is the design was made used before La Paglia died in 1953 for the bracelet
but may have come with him to the USA when they fled Nazi Germany and is like my brooch bearing an earlier USA mark.
The brooch may have been a prototype or your bracelet and mine were separated in time and yours is older maybe just a little bit. The International Silver Dates you will be able to find! I’m sitting in be with cat and mug of tea so not quite fully in my research mode!

[mikeamills]

Hi Crochetcrone,

Thank you again for sharing your bracelet and brooch details. Your observations have been incredibly helpful.

I wanted to pass along some information from a great book I’ve been referencing: Jensen Silver by Nancy Schiffer and Janet Drucker.






A few things I found interesting:

Your brooch seems to match the one in the first image, labeled #122. You mentioned it’s marked:
"GEORG JENSEN U.S.A. LP STERLING. 122"
That same brooch appears in a 1944 Jensen USA catalog on page 53, titled “Leaf in Whirlpool.”
Curiously, the book also lists it on page 87 as an International Silver Company piece from circa 1952.

As for the bracelet, we both have the design shown as #110, also attributed to International Silver and designed by La Paglia.
But here’s the key difference:
Yours is marked: "INTERNATIONAL STERLING La Paglia Designed 110"
Mine is marked: "GEORG JENSEN, INC. U.S.A. HAND WROUGHT STERLING"—with no LP or design number.

This leads me to think both your brooch and my bracelet were originally designed during La Paglia’s time with Georg Jensen USA (likely between 1942 and 1948). Then, both designs were reissued by International Silver in the early 1950s, possibly just before or shortly after La Paglia’s death in 1953.

Since my bracelet has the Jensen hallmark but lacks both a design number and LP mark, I wonder if it might have been a prototype or limited-run piece made before hallmarking became standardized at Jensen USA. I haven’t found it in any Jensen catalogs; just in Jensen Silver, where it’s attributed to ISC.

Hope this is as fascinating to you as it is to me. I’d love to hear any other insights you have when you're back in full research mode.

--Mike

[Crochetcrone]

Hi Mike!

My name is really Lin Watterson and I moved to the Isle of Wight for my first teaching job in 1971 and later transferred to Further Eduacation . I got very absorbed in sorting out my little collection of LaPaglia and finding out dates, hallmarks , numbers after contacting you.

I think I was sucked into a few fairy stories about Georg Jenson in the flesh fleeing Nazi occupation with Alphonse . Terrible times but made put to be a bit like the Sound Music! No doubt with Alphonse playing a mandolin? Oh no that was Captain Corelli!

I started collecting La Paglia about 10 years ago when our bank accounts were losing money in real terms. I am an avid recycler and try to buy from charities so a few things have popped up on BHF eBay. Good too, as the money helps heart research..thinking about money is not for me, probably because I came from a family of blacksmiths who put their wages in a tin box in the bureau!
My Dad got his first bank account aged 66! He was as Austin Motor company technical trainee who went off for all of WW2 using his skills in running mobile workshops in the Deserts …but that’s another story!

Late in my 50s I went to Art College and retrained as an Illustrator. I have done a lot of work for Carisbrooke Castle Museum and local Conservation groups and seen some fabulous items in our museum , so a small amount yearly has bought me nine or ten items. Some have been converted eg a single earring into a pendant.

Here’s my list

Bracelet 143 arrived today 48 grams and early 40s hallmark on the catch then bet to make it fit c 1942
L wheatsheaf image P
GEORG JENSEN
USA
STERLING
143

Lily Brooch number 134 but made mid 1950s probably after Alphonse died and has sharp leaves. 17 g and factory made.
Hallmark INTERNATIONAL SILVER La Paglia Design c 1953-5

Pendant and earrings 133 from USA seller three petalled flower. International Sterling hallmark with LP designed 1952

Foliage brooch,122 you have photo, matches our bracelets 10 grams c 1942-5
Hallmark GEORGE JENSEN USA L.P. STERLING

Leaves bracelet 113 same hallmark as 122 33 grams 1942-5

Leaves brooch 109 very primitive basic version and same design as 113 which is more 3D 11g
I paid 50 dollars as the back shows a marriage or engagement JEAN PAT 4.13.52
Hallmark is La Paglia STERLING So maybe a prototype. 1942-5

So here’s what I think! La Paglia was part of an International jewellery firm of good reputation and a significant success, and would own all his own designs but the numbers refer to either the order of creating them, or the order he released them but he also controlled more when her moved to run his own studio. Apart from the initial buyer after Jensen died he seems to have run the show in terms of staff and products

Will stop and have a think!!! But this is so helpful so great! Keep in touch.,

How did you obtain the book? Was it second hand?

I will now try to get better images for you!

Cheers ,
Lin

The book illustrations look great.

[dognose]

Hi Lin and Mike,

Welcome to the Forum.

I'm sure we all hope these will be the first of many posts from you on the forum.

Trev.

[Crochetcrone]

Thanks Trev!
Enjoying finding like minds!
I am a family historian so used to chatting to strangers with similar interests bit this gets drained in a lot of inaccurate material so good to find some owners.
If you see this, Mike, it could be just a wonky hallmark stamp. One done not reversible.
Lin

[Crochetcrone]

Hi again Trev !
I cannot get my photos to upload. All my system is on Apple, phone. iPad. Desktop.
Am using iPad now.
Need to send mine to Mike
Regards
Lin

[Crochetcrone]

Hi Mike,
Photos ready but can’t see an attachment obvious way to upload. Using my iPad but do have a new iMac desktop.
Cheers
Lin

[dognose]

Hi Lin,

You need to use a photo-host.

https://postimages.org (choose 'Share', then copy the 'Hotlink for forums' code) is recommended and real simple to use.

Trev.

[mikeamills]

Hi Lin,

Thank you so much for your thoughtful and generous reply. It made my day. I really enjoyed learning more about your background and how your interests led you into La Paglia collecting. Your collection is impressive, and the detail you've gathered on each piece is a huge help in understanding how these designs developed over time.

Your breakdown of hallmarks and design numbers adds a lot of clarity to the timeline, especially as it relates to the transition from Georg Jensen USA to International Silver. It’s incredibly helpful to see how certain motifs appeared under both names, and how the marking conventions evolved along the way.

Your point about La Paglia likely controlling the release and production sequence, particularly once he set up his own studio, makes a lot of sense. The fact that the same design numbers appear across both Jensen and International Silver lines supports what I've read in Silver in American Life and Ginger Moro’s JCK article.

As for the book, yes, I found my copy of Jensen Silver, The American Designs (Schiffer & Drucker, 2008) secondhand online. I think you'd really enjoy it. It has quite a bit of information about La Paglia, along with lots of photos and catalog reprints that help place the designs in context. If you'd like, I can send over a few more sample pages so you can get a sense of what’s included.

One detail I’ve been wondering about: my bracelet is marked “GEORG JENSEN INC. U.S.A. HAND WROUGHT STERLING”, which is slightly different from the other La Paglia-era hallmarks I’ve seen (none of which mention “Hand Wrought”). Do you happen to have any thoughts on that? I'm curious whether it suggests a very early piece or perhaps a special run.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, this has been such an enjoyable exchange.

Cheers from the U.S.,
Mike

P.S. I fully support your theory of Alphonse fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe playing a mandolin.

[Crochetcrone]

Hi Mike!
Failing to update photos so far but I took some better ones and I think all that has happened is that yours was badly hallmark and once done , left like that. So the L.P. Was off the edge and then worn with use as it’s getting on for 80 years old.

I have been chatting with two dealers in the USA , one about import duties which Boris/Trump combo have pushed up from zero to a total of 60% in items, even gifts, over £130 when buying from eBay and Etsy etc.

The other has a piece of our bracelets made into a brooch , perhaps after some had a very small wrist and took a link out. I sent him photos of the reverse of the maidenhair fern type leaf reverse. Identical. Hoping to buy it as it’s very affordable.

eBay had a copy of the book you recommended unopened so it’s on its way!

All the best!
Lin

Will get back with the photos using my desktop.

[Crochetcrone]

Hi Mike,
Your PS made me laugh so much. We once spent a week at an international folk festival in Ostholstein! There was a Sicilian dance team and they only used one tune. Have a look on YouTube at “tarantella”. It’s inspired by the madness caused by being bitten by a spider ( obviously) and has been made into a song.

Lucky Lucky Lucky me! I’m a lucky son of a gun. I work eight hours, I sleep eight hours, that leaves eight hours for fun!

Honestly by the end of the week we needed ear plugs! I was playing the accordion and clog dancing I have to confess! Not sure what the Sicilians made of Morris Men and Cloggies.

As to hand made…. Some suggest it was used to underline the fact that it was not mass produced. After La Paglia died this was exactly what happened , it says that on another silver forum.

War would have been an uncertain time. My parents married after my father escaped from Dunkirk/ Dunkerque and grew up very quickly. I cannot imagine the trauma. He was almost last off the beach and could not swim.
I know that gold was controlled in the UK from 1940 onwards. Anyway his family found a loophole and Mum’s wedding ring came from the Birmingham England Jewellery Quarter
. I have it and it is hallmarked 1940 and it’s 22ct.

Birmingham did a lot of stamped sheet metal items which were hand finished so the 1950s Georg Jensen USA drifted in that direction. Have a look at the Lily design and others with very thin sheet silver. No lovely smooth contours and patina.

Great to swap ideas with you.!

Lin

[Aguest]

::::::::::::::: A question about these early numbers like 109 and 112 that are found on jewelry, do they have any relationship to the flatware patterns that are also numbered with early numbers like 109 and 112? Is it accurate to say that if a pattern number is found on both a piece of jewelry and a piece of flatware (like a spoon) then these objects belong to the "same pattern" ? ::::::::::::::

[Crochetcrone]

Hi Trev,

I have uploaded the photos and named the file La Paglia by crochetcrone but nothing there to help me with the next step. I am rusty thanks to covid but ran six relational databases for the NHS and was solely responsible for researching data and report writing. Used to zip files.

I dropped my photos onto the desktop and dragged and dropped them into a named gallery! Can you help. Using very new iMac. Have reduced the photos to website sizes.

Cheers
Lin
Aka Crochet Crone

[dognose]

Hi Lin,

1 Open the postimages site using the link in my previous post
2 Click the "Choose Images" option and select the pictures from your own computer's file system which you want to upload.
3 When you have uploaded your pictures you will have the option to choose from several methods of sharing your pictures.
4 Select the one which says "Hotlink for forums" (you don't need to know what it means) by clicking the symbol on the right which will copy the code to your clipboard.
5 Reply to this post and paste (Control-C) the code into the reply.
6 Add text if you want to and "Submit"

Thanks to silvermakersmarks for the above.

Remember to use the Preview feature - if you see the images, then so do we.

Trev.

[mikeamills]

Lin,

This image might help. Once you have image hosted just paste the url between [ img ][/ img ]

[mikeamills]

Hi Aguest,

Great question. I've been digging into this and can share what I’ve learned so far.

Even when you see the same design number on jewelry and flatware from Georg Jensen Inc. USA, it doesn’t seem that they were intended as part of a unified pattern.

La Paglia created both jewelry and flatware for Georg Jensen Inc. USA, and some design numbers (like 109, 112, 113, etc.) appear across different object types. But I haven't seen any clear evidence that these were meant to form matching sets in the traditional sense of a “pattern” like Acorn or Blossom from the Copenhagen smithy.

Instead, the numbering appears to have been internal and sequential, possibly reflecting the order in which La Paglia released designs through Jensen USA, and later through International Silver. You might see a brooch labeled 122, and a serving piece labeled 122, but they weren’t necessarily coordinated or even designed with each other in mind.

It’s also worth noting that unlike Copenhagen, Jensen USA did not use a tightly unified hallmark or numbering system. Hallmarking at Georg Jensen Inc. USA in the 1940s was often inconsistent, especially on jewelry. Some designs were initially made under Jensen USA, then reissued by International Silver starting in 1952. Not all early La Paglia designs bore “L.P.” marks or design numbers, especially those made before his formal association with International Silver.

So while there are occasional overlaps in numbers across categories, I don't believe they imply a cohesive pattern set, just shared cataloging under the same designer within the same shop.

—Mike

[Aguest]

:::::::: Have only seen hollowware and the occasional serving piece, but never a complete set of International Silver "Designed By Alphonse La Paglia" flatware in a chest. :::::::::::: I guess the book has the most information about the La Paglia workshop but if there are any children or grandchildren it would be interesting to hear stories or possibly read letters/correspondence associated with the workshop. :::::::;

[Crochetcrone]

Hi Mike ,

I was able to get a pristine copy of the Georg Jensen bible but up to my eyes in drawing tiny pages of a book for my Grandson’s fourth birthday.

I drew 22 1inch square images of things to do with a beach here yesterday! Then painted the colours so my eyes were well I tired by the end. It is where we have a good two dozen Iguanodon fossilised footprints. As the cliffs erode then the stone fossils fall onto the sand and limestone below so his little book is on its way tomorrow to Cambridge ( the original one ! ) where my number two twin son and his wife are law Professors.
Thomas, his brother is six and loves to be able to put his little foot on one off them and imagine how huge they must have been.

I will take a couple of days now to check the names and dates of my pieces so that they are accurate for sharing. Thank you so much for recommending the book.
I will get my husband to help me upload as I am used to zip files and dragging and dropping images etc. Your last message will help.

Cheers from the Dinosaur Isle !
Lin