Jens Hoyer Hansen

Born in Gram, Denmark, in 1940, Hansen moved to New Zealand with his parents and siblings in 1952. After undertaking a traditional jewellery apprenticeship at Sweeney's Jewellers in Auckland, he held his first solo exhibition at New Vision Gallery in 1960. He also attended night courses at the School of Applied Arts & Industrial design, Copenhagen. He married Gurli Winter in 1965 and they travelled to New Zealand together, and opened their first jewellery business in Glen Eden, Auckland before moving to Nelson in 1968. During the 1980s, he served as an advisor on the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council of New Zealand, and was a founding member of Details, the Jewellers, Bone and Stone Carvers of New Zealand. In the early 1990s he served as the Artist in Residence at Otago Polytechnic in Dunedin. Across his lifetime he exhibited widely in over 30 solo exhibitions, and participated in a large number of group exhibitions in New Zealand, Australia, and Europe. In 2021 Polygon highlighted that, "While the One Ring may be Jens Hansen’s global legacy, evidence of his broader artistic impact on New Zealand art and culture appear throughout the island nation. 'He introduced emerging jewelers and silversmiths to workshop methods and forms of modernism through the Danish lens,' [Justine] Olsen told Polygon. In 2004, the national museum Te Papa added some of his early pieces to their permanent collection. Hansen also recruited and taught many next-generation jewelers and artists, through summer painting and sculpture classes at the local polytechnic, local workshop demonstrations, and offering bench space to any jeweler who asked". == Notable works ==

Jens was known for his creative and contemporary take on traditional Scandinavian jewellery design. Some of his notable works include: • "The One Ring", an 18kt gold ring prop for The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies. • Two silver jewellery pieces retained in permanent collection of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, New Zealand's National Museum. • The Golden Kiwi • Super Rugby Trophy == The One Ring ==

Peter Jackson's Art Direction team first approached Jens Hansen in March 1999, asking him for a design that would have the power and presence of the fabled ring in J. R. R. Tolkien's story. == The Jens Hansen workshop ==

The Jens Hansen Workshop in Nelson is located on the corner of Trafalgar Square and Selwyn Place. Jens' eldest son Halfdan Hansen runs the Jens Hansen workshop, Today, two qualified in-house jewellers Zane Colegate == The Legacy Collection ==

The Jens Hansen Legacy Collection marks four decades of timeless design. The Legacy Collection is a selection of authentic designs recreated by hand from Jens' original production notes and includes classic experimental Jens pieces. Jens' work always had a constant undercurrent of Danish architectural simplicity, but he liked to continually push the design boundaries. To mark the 40th Anniversary of Jens Hansen in Nelson in 2008, specific designs were selected, whose form had endured and defied fashion, but that had not been made for decades. These were recreated as the Legacy Collection. Every year around the time of Jens' birthday, the collection expands. == References ==