“It’s just amazing that they’re not gathering dust in some drawer, you know? They’re living again,” says Sarah Edmonds of Zardi & Zarditalking about the archival drawings at the Sir John Soane Museum that inspired the new Fiori e Leoni wallpaper collection. The famous house-turned-museum contacted the brand, which is known for its work with historic decorative textiles, in spring 2024, and a behind-the-scenes tour quickly followed. Inspired by what he saw, Zardi & Zardi founder PJ Keeling soon perfected the architectural sketches of Giuseppe Manocchi, master draftsman of the Adams brothers, and the botanical drawings of an unknown artist. The collection, whose Italian name pays homage to Mannochi, balances the geometry of his sketches with the softness of floral designs. “It felt like a really natural pairing,” Sarah says of the collaboration, which Zardi & Zardi feel is in line with their own ethos of taking old materials and reimagining them for contemporary interiors. “It definitely adds to the story and makes it even richer for this collaboration both countries.’
Storytelling is what elevates these partnerships beyond reproductions and logo stamping exercises. “Our aim is to bring the Soane to life beyond Lincoln’s Inn Fields through beautifully made products that help the public connect with the museum,” says Rebecca Hossein, Sales and Operations Director at the Sir John Soane Museum.
Maxine Lister, Head of Licensing at the Natural History Museum, agrees that storytelling is vital – it helps people engage with the exhibits that inspire them. “We think the story (behind each exhibit) is actually one of the real core areas (that allow us) to talk about the museum, our collection, but also reach people who might never visit the museum,” she says. This was certainly the case when it came to their collaborations with famous paint manufacturers Farrow and ball.
Maxine was in the museum library and found an original copy of Werner’s Nomenklatura, an 18th-century guide to colors in the natural world used by Charles Darwin. She thought it would be a brilliant starting point for a paint collection and decided to contact Farrow & Ball who wanted to collaborate.
Several journeys followed between the Farrow & Ball factory in Dorset and the Natural History Museum’s special collection, where the Farrow & Ball team took readings from the paint chips in the original book. ‘Color by Nature’ launched with great success in 2019with two of the colorsSapp Green“and”Broccoli Brown’ included in their iconic color card. The museum’s publishing department also issued a facsimile version of Werner’s nomenclature thanks to the interest the paint collection generated.
