Beta table lamp designed by Jo Hammerborg for Fog & Mørup

Designed by Jo Hammerborg in the period between 1957 and 1962 at the start of his 23-year reign as head of design at Fog & Mørup, the Beta table lamp has a flexible brass stem with teak accent, copper and matte black shade and weighted black footplate. With a height of 44cm and a head diameter of 11cm, the Beta is a compact table lamp ideally suited for use as a desk lamp or on a bedside table. Rarely found on the marketplace today, this example is in working order and very good condition with general light wear, reflecting careful previous use over its 55 year life to date. It is fitted with a European-style two-pin plug.

Jo Hammerborg's early years at Fog & Mørup were the most creative of his entire career. In this period he completely redefined the F&M brand and put into production 24 of the approximately 60 lines comprising around 100 individual lamp designs he would eventually create for the company. Hammerborg's incumbency at Fog & Mørup was to prove the most successful period in the company’s 80-year history both artistically and commercially as he introduced a new modernist aesthetic, imposed a unified style of branding and introduced stringent new quality standards for the company’s output. From the smallest components making up the lamps to their labelling, packaging, advertising and showroom display, every facet of the business came under Hammerborg’s exacting eye for form and detail.