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Brand: Fog & Mørup
In the mid-1970s Danish lighting company Fog & Mørup collaborated with Arabia of Finland to produce a range of high-quality enamelled steel kitchenware and pendant lights adapted from Arabia's Finel line. The lights were produced in two sizes, with form by Kaj Franck and decoration by Arabia's i..
£525.00
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Brand: Fog & Mørup
Askepot, which translates into English as Cinderella, is an unusual industrial-style Jo Hammerborg pendant light design dating from 1976–77 and an exercise in textural contrast, with its glassily glossy red cap sitting atop a shade that has a grainy texture resembling cast iron on the outside and a ..
£149.00
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Produced in Denmark by Jeka Metaltryk A/S, these multilayered pendant light fixtures are offered for sale as a pair, and the price displayed is for both lamps together. Made from ivory white powder-coated steel, the lamps' multiple layers and graduated design allow for a soft and glare-free illumina..
£699.00
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Brand: Fog & Mørup
With its futuristic rocket-shaped outline, Jo Hammerborg's Corona is a space-age classic and beautifully captures the optimistic mood and silvery aesthetic of the Apollo moon landing – so it's startling to realise that he actually created it sometime between 1957 and 1963, in the early period of his..
£195.00
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Brand: Lyfa
This rare and spectacular Danish art light in rich orange and battleship grey lacquered metal is entitled Octagon and was made by Lyfa in the late 1960s. A January 1968 advert for the Octagon identifies it as one of Lyfa's premium Lyfalux series, a branding reserved for their highest-quality and mos..
£495.00
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Brand: Lyfa
Designed by Danish architect-designer Bent Karlby and produced by Lyfa in the 1960s, the Trenta is a multi-layered pendant light with a perspex core that produces glare-free but effective illumination. Measuring 34.5 cm in diameter and with a height of 18 cm, the Trenta was originally produced in th..
£325.00
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Brand: Lyfa
Designed by Danish architect Louis Weisdorf and issued by Lyfa in 1970, the Facet-Pop is constructed from 18 castellated metal strips, identical in shape but in three different tones of colour, woven together to form a cylinder measuring 18 cm in diameter and 27 cm in height. Light emerges through s..
£385.00
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Brand: Lyfa
Designed by Danish architect Louis Weisdorf and issued by Lyfa in 1970, the Facet-Pop is constructed from 18 castellated metal strips, identical in shape but in three different tones of colour, woven together to form a cylinder measuring 18 cm in diameter and 27 cm in height. Light emerges through s..
£345.00
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Brand: Louis Poulsen
Offered as a spare part, this is the main section of an original 1960s production of Verner Panton's Flowerpot pendant lamp in glossy bright orange enamel. It is in excellent condition with two tiny areas of chipping to the rim (see photos)...
£50.00
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Brand: Fog & Mørup
As we wrote  back in 2011 in a blog post which you can read here, Fog & Mørup's Golden Line was a mid-1970s premium offering of a small number of the company's lines in 24-carat gold-plated editions. One of the selected lines was Jo Hammerborg's multi-layered Milieu, and this is a rare exam..
£395.00
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Brand: Fog & Mørup
With an emerald green outer band and a light grey inner cone section, this rarely seen pendant lamp was one of Jo Hammerborg's earliest designs for Fog & Mørup, dating to the early 1960s. Entitled Krinoline, the lamp was only produced in small numbers at the time, but nearly a decade later Hamme..
£245.00
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Brand: Fog & Mørup
Jo Hammerborg's Lento table/desk lamp series was launched by Fog & Mørup in the mid-1960s in three versions – aluminium, brass and copper. This example is the solid brass edition and is in excellent condition with no damage and with appropriate patination for its age. The 14cm diameter head can ..
£375.00
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Danish midcentury modern lighting

What's special about Danish midcentury modern lighting?

Lighting is an essential element of midcentury design, playing a key role in the aesthetics and functionality of modernist interiors. In Denmark, lighting design has been treated as an integral part of architecture ever since Danish modern design principles first emerged in the mid-20th century, and at the peak of the midcentury era architectural project briefs would invariably include a complete specification for lighting. This is the reason so many Danish architects, including Andreas HansenBent KarlbyJørn Utzon and Louis Weisdorf, were actively invoved in lamp design in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

During this era the production quality of household fittings such as lights was extremely high, especially in the affluent Scandinavian nations, and particularly at the luxury end of the market occupied by design-driven companies like Fog & Mørup, Lyfa, Louis Poulsen and Nordisk Solar Compagni. No expense was spared by these companies in the development and production of their light fittings, which were built to last a lifetime.

Inevitably this approach meant the lamps were often expensive, sometimes costing as much as a week's average wage at the time. But their high quality means that many of them are still in excellent condition today, half a century or more after they were produced, while their timeless modernist style remains fresh and relevant to both retro and contemporary modern homes.

How to use Danish midcentury modern lighting

The role of lighting in midcentury modern interior design is to help define different activity zones and to create appropriate lighting and atmosphere for each area. These functions originate in the open-plan architecture of midcentury interiors, but are also appropriate to non-open-plan layouts. In the Danish modern lighting style, instead of using just one or two centrally-positioned light fittings to illuminate an entire room, multiple lights are deployed across different areas to provide specific activity-appropriate illumination.

For example, a localised pool of light beside an armchair or over a coffee table will create a cosy area for reading or relaxing, while a pendant lamp hung just above head height over a dining table can provide a well-lit but glare-free and inviting environment for family meals and entertaining dinner guests. Indeed, one of the defining characteristics of the midcentury lighting style is that pendant lamps are often hung low or even very low when they're being used to provide localised ambient light in the Danish hygge mode. Pairs and multiples are also a common feature.

Check out our gallery of original Danish midcentury modern lighting styles below for ideas and inspiration.

Danish midcentury modern lighting styles

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