Vega Pendant Light by Jo Hammerborg for Fog & Mørup, Denmark, 1960s

Jo Hammerborg’s Vega pendant lamp, created for Fog & Mørup in 1968, evidences more clearly than any of Hammerborg’s other designs the eight years from 1949 to 1957 he spent as a silversmith at Georg Jensen. The fluid organic lines of objects and jewelry he worked on there by designers including Henning Koppel are a clear influence on the Vega’s elegant hourglass form, as are the contrasting textures of its spun aluminium surface and its shiny chrome waist, while the lamp’s sparse beauty and functional effectiveness place it firmly in Hammerborg’s own arena of international modernism.

Measuring 40 cm in diameter and 55 cm in height, the Vega is a spectacular statement piece harmonious with both modernist and space-age interiors. It is simultaneously an uplighter and a downlighter, and takes two standard Edison screw E27 bulbs max 100w each.

Good vintage condition with some minor scratches as seen in the detailed images.

Johannes (Jo) Hammerborg grew up right outside of Randers, in a regular middle-class family. He trained as a silversmith, participated in Denmark’s resistance and struggle for freedom in 1940-45 as a saboteur, studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and worked as a silversmith at Georg Jensen. In 1957, he was hired as a chief designer at the lamp manufacturer Fog & Mørup, where he worked until 1980.

And now, decades later, his coveted lamps are in high demand, and they are being sold in antique shops.