Carl Poul Petersen’s Enduring Mark on Canadian Silver

December 4, 2025 By: Dara Vandor

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Lot 337 *– Canadian Silver Hudson’s Bay Company Armorial Circular Tray, Carl Poul Petersen, Montreal, Que., c.1953*

As we draw close to the holiday season, what better time to showcase the finest silverware? Our December 2025 auction of Decorative Arts & Design features several lots by Carl Poul Petersen. Petersen’s Scandinavian sensibilities left a lasting mark on Canadian silver design. An emphasis on pared-back simplicity, graceful lines and impeccable craftsmanship has made his work among the most sought-after silver of the 20th century.

AN IMPORTANT APPRENTICESHIP

Born in Copenhagen in 1895, Petersen was sent to apprentice at the workshop of Georg Jensen. Jensen’s studio produced some of the most original jewellery, hollowware and flatware of the period, and his smithy was considered to be among the most important in the world. Many of Jensen’s disciples achieved international reputations – some at home in Denmark, others abroad. Petersen would fall under the latter category – after becoming a master goldsmith, he married Inger Jensen (1900-1976), Georg’s daughter, in 1922. Seven years later, the couple relocated to Montreal.

ESTABLISHING A BUSINESS

Their timing was not ideal – the two arrived at the start of the Great Depression, with the silver market in freefall. Petersen found work at Henry Birks & Sons, then Canada’s most prominent jeweller, as their master goldsmith. He opened his own studio from 1937-39, before returning to work at Birks. Major events would again get in Petersen’s way, as the eruption of the Second World War made silver hard to come by. He would spend the war working in a factory to manufacture filters for Canada’s Mosquito fighter planes.

In 1944, Petersen bought a house at 1221 MacKay Street in downtown Montreal, which served as both family home and workshop. C.P. Petersen & Sons was run by Petersen as well as his sons John, Paul, and Ole, who had learned their father’s trade as teenagers.

*Lot 326 – Canadian Silver Two-Light Candelabrum, Carl Poul Petersen, Montreal, Que., mid-20th century*

Patronage played a key role in Petersen’s business. Saidye Bronfman (1897-1995), wife of the famous distiller and businessman, took a deep interest in Petersen’s work. She commissioned the company to make all manner of items, which in turn sparked great interest from the wider Montreal community. C.P. Petersen & Sons made flatware, hollowware, jewellery, and religious pieces. Like Jensen, Petersen also took great interest in infusing design and artistry into everyday objects. For many families, Petersen silver was an important inclusion in a woman’s trousseau, or as a gift for a milestone birthday or a bar/bat mitzvah.

THE PETERSEN STYLE

Inspired by Denmark’s silver tradition and by his father-in-law’s conservatively modernist style, art historian Gloria Lesser describes his spare style as follows: “Petersen designs for hand wrought flatware, hollowware, tableware and jewellery, like Georg Jensen’s, employed simple, stumpy forms embellished with concentrated passages of ornament, usually fruit, floral or vegetal. Never organic, abstract or conceptual, Petersen designs are typified by the ornamental items of Georg Jensen himself, in the period 1912-23 […] His concession to ornament manifested itself in beautifully-sculpted silver handles or finials for vessels and serving pieces.” Jewellery motifs included Danish or Canadian plant species, as well as forms drawn from nature such as shells, birds, waves and pinwheels.

Petersen’s designs attracted both American and Canadian audiences, and business thrived. Canadian buyers were particularly enthralled, seeing in Petersen’s work a Canadian spirit as seen through the lens of European craftsmanship. By 1947, the company was importing four tons of silver yearly and employed around 30 silversmiths, as well as a rotating cast of apprentices.

IDENTIFYING PETERSEN SILVER

When identifying Petersen’s work, collectors should look for specific marks. Pieces were typically stamped PP STERLING, PETERSEN HANDMADE STERLING, or PETERSEN, the latter that characterized work from the final twenty years of the studio. Petersen’s trademark was a Lion’s Head hallmark, stamped to the right of the company’s name, alongside the Canadian national silver registration mark.

*Lot 325 – Canadian Silver Comport, Carl Poul Petersen, Montreal, Que., mid-20th century*

Though Petersen’s output has a signature style, the company also accepted custom commissions. At times, they would replicate the designs of others – perhaps to add a piece to a set that was no longer in production, or had been lost – which is why uncharacteristic Petersen creations sometimes hit the market. Rare pieces made in gold or copper are also extant.

THE STANLEY CUP

Canadians outside of the wonderful world of silver collecting might know Petersen’s name from his connection with our national pastime. The original cup was made by the Trophy and Jewellery Company in Montreal, but after the surface of the cup became too crowded to engrave winners’ names on, bands were added onto its base by various silversmiths. In the late 1940s, Petersen’s firm won the contract for the repair and engraving of the Cup. In 1962, Petersen was tasked with redesigning the Stanley Cup, replacing the former “stovepipe” design that kept getting taller and more unwieldy with the design now recognized by hockey fans around the world.

AN ENDURING LEGACY

Another dip in the precious metals market would lead to the shuttering of the Petersen workshop. Carl Poul Petersen died in 1977, and by 1979, gold and silver prices had soared. Many sold their pieces for the price of the raw materials, and in the studio, Petersen’s sons could no longer afford to continue operations. C.P. Petersen & Sons was closed by the end of 1979.

These circumstances have contributed to the relative scarcity of Petersen’s creations, a scarcity which has fired up his secondary market. The National Gallery of Canada, the McCord Museum, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts all hold examples of Petersen’s work, underscoring the quality of his output and his contribution to Canadian design.

ABOUT THE AUCTION

Our December 2025 auction of Decorative Arts & Design features English art pottery by Martin Brothers, George Tinworth, De Morgan, Moorcroft, and Bernard Leach; interesting European ceramics by Jean-René Gauguin, Wiener Werkstätte, Fornasetti and others; antique silver by important makers including Paul de Lamerie; Russian plique-à-jour and cloisonné enamelled silver by Imperial makers; a collection of Petersen silver; selected glass by Gallé, Daum, and Amalric Walter; bronze and marble sculptures; clocks, decorations and works of art, totalling in all some 500 lots.