Poised and gleaming, luxurious yet restrained silver service makes it easy to fathom Georg Jensen's profound impact on American silversmiths of the 20th century. The set is an important addition to the BMA's In A New Light campaign. Jensen's silver studio had been open only one year when, in 1905, he introduced his "Blossom" pattern. Linked to natural forms, the powerfully sculptural design has remianed popular to the present day. Our imposing tea and coffee service bears the initials of Bess Rosenbaum Wertheimer; mother-in-law of the donor. Born in Californiam, Bess was an accomplished musician who annually sent her Steinway piano east to the family's 1911 Adirondacks camp where musical gatherings were a regular event. After her first husband's death, Bess married a Wisconsin paper mill baron and traveled with him to Denmark in 1935. There, she visited the JKensen studio and acquired most of the set. Her daughter-in-law recalled, "Bess lover the theatre and visitng and entertaining friends so the silver service must have been a delight to her." Two pieces purchased by the family in the 1970s attest to the firm's ongoing insistence on the highest artistic standards established by their founder. The BMA has supplemented the Frank gift with a "Blossom" pattern tea strainer acquired in 1975.