Hot water urn from the Cosmos coffee and tea service

Cosmos, a line of servingware designed around 1915, is widely recognized as an icon of 20th century Scandinavian design. Rohde, an artist and designer who worked in many media, designed the line for Georg Jensen, the famous Danish silversmith who had opened his own workshop in 1904. Rohde and Jensen's collaboration began in 1906 and continued until 1935, the year of their deaths. Rohde's design synthesizes classical motifs, like the fluting on the lower portion of the urn, with modern touches, like the stark ebony handle and spherical form, resulting in a piece that is both elegant and modern. In 1929, Minneapolitans Frederick Weyerhaeuser III and his bride Margaret Gertrude Ludwig received seven pieces from the Cosmos line of servingware as a wedding present. Twenty-five years later, their children presented them with this hot water kettle on stand from the original line, still in production, in celebration of their silver wedding anniversary.