Allison Symons
TLL Reporter
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has partnered with leading furniture company Eichholtz to launch The Met x Eichholtz home decor collection.
The collaboration will include featuring furniture, home decor and lighting that draw inspiration from over 5,000 years of history and culture from around the globe.
“Creating The Met x Eichholtz collection has been an exceptional experience for me and my team. A year of being allowed to roam through the museum when it was closed to the public and explore the archives has led us to design a collection that we are incredibly proud of,” said Eichholtz creative director Edwin van der Gun. “Our close engagement with the artifacts and artworks felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The result is a very special collection of handcrafted pieces we know work beautifully with the Eichholtz collections and will suit a wide variety of luxury interiors.”
Steeped in the discipline of design, architecture, and art, the collection features furniture and lighting that recall the architecture of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the iconic New York skyline, along with sculpture reproductions, rugs, wall art, and home accessories that take creative cues from just a few of the 1.5 million works of art in The Met collection.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 by a group of American citizens who wanted to create a museum to bring art and art education to the American people. Today, The Met is one of the world’s top museums, and displays tens of thousands of objects covering 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy.
That enjoyment is now being extended far beyond the museum’s walls with collections like the Eichholtz home collection.
The goal of the 90-piece co-branded collection is to bring historic works of art to the home in a new, immersive way, the partners say. Every piece in The Met x Eichholtz collection has been handcrafted by expert craftspeople using the finest materials and is now available for purchase internationally through Eichholtz retail and online stores, interior designer showrooms, premium department stores and specialty furniture retailers. Each product has been designed to complement a wide variety of interior aesthetics and is intended to coordinate with other designs offered by Eichholtz.
The collection debuted in New York City on October 11, followed by a further presentation at the Eichholtz showroom at High Point in North Carolina, Oct. 14–18.
“A shared commitment to design and creativity unite The Met and Eichholtz for this new collaboration, which brings 5,000 years of art home,” said Josh Romm, head of global licensing & partnerships at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “We are proud to engage with a globally recognized brand such as Eichholtz to introduce beautiful, quality furniture and home accessories that showcase centuries of design inspiration.”
The collection was partially inspired by Beanstalk, the licensing agency for The Met in U.S., Europe, Africa, Japan, the Middle East, and Latin America.
Beanstalk says it has been focused on developing the The Met’s licensing program with a strategic focus on home décor, as the collection serves as a natural source of inspiration for design and style that make an immediate and authentic connection to products that beautify consumers’ homes.
Eichholtz joins a select group of The Met’s best-in-class home décor licensees, which include:
- Ann Gish’s luxurious bedding collection and decorative pillows, which is proudly launching their fifth season of The Met designs as part of The Art of Home.
- Exquisite’s range of premium rugs, which draw inspiration from unexpected treasures in the museum’s collection, from antique pottery to European masterpiece paintings.
- Abner Henry’s heritage collection of stunning North American hardwood statement furniture, reflecting inspiration from seven iconic works of art.
- Caspari’s third season of exquisitely designed printed paper products, including a tablescape collection as well as stationery products.
- Pura’s exotic fragrances for the home, inspired by botanicals in ancient Greece, Rome, China, and Egypt.
- Legendary wallpaper manufacturer Scalamandre’s breathtaking range of vibrant and unique wall coverings and decorative fabrics that beautify the most sophisticated interiors.
- Wendover Art Group’s range of one-to-one reproductions of art classics as well as “inspired by” pieces that offer a fresh perspective on lesser known but no less important works in the museum’s collections.
“We are truly delighted to have developed these extraordinary home décor collections in collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art,” said Beanstalk president and CEO Allison Ames. “Eichholtz’s stunning Met furniture, lighting and home décor collection is the jewel in the crown of The Met’s home décor program, with all of the licensees having uniquely interpreted the museum’s cultural assets to create a beautiful and elevated licensing program.”