Mirror Mirror Brings Reflections on Design to the English Countryside at Chatsworth House

A Collaborative Exhibition by Chatsworth House and Friedman Benda

“Mirror Mirror: Reflections on Design at Chatsworth” is currently on view through October 1 at Chatsworth House. For the exhibition, the historic home and estate and Friedman Benda—with support from Salon 94 Design and Adrian Sassoon galleries—have joined forces to present the work of 16 contemporary artists and designers on an idyllic patch of green in the countryside of Derbyshire, England.

Installed within Chatsworth’s stately rooms and halls, are the home’s renowned Devonshire Collections—an eclectic collection containing 4,000 years of art, design, and artifacts—joined by new and commissioned works. Gazing amid ancient Roman sculptures, picturesque gardens, gilded furniture, Rembrandt masterpieces, and even art by modern names like Felicity Aylieff and Lucian Freud, visitors to the house can now explore a unique dialogue between generations of artists and materials old and new. The show features pieces by names like Wendell Castle, Chris Schanck, Faye Toogood, Najla El Zein, Michael Anastassiades, Ini Archibong, Andile Dyalvane, and Jay Sae Jung Oh, which bring to the space a feeling of revitalizing energy that upholds the beauty and integrity of its collections and historic design facets.

“This project is a fantastic opportunity to reflect on the design histories at Chatsworth and bring them to the fore with an exciting array of international artists and designers,” said the Senior Curator of Program at Chatsworth, Alex Hodby. “We’re fascinated with how the contemporary works in our exhibition have used materials in innovative ways to make functional and intriguing objects that are also deeply connected to the house, garden, and the collections here at Chatsworth–a place where design has been a key feature for 500 years.”

Juxtaposing the Contemporary and the Historic

Thoughtful curation by Hodby and the writer, historian, and curator Glenn Adamson focuses opposing elements of new and old paired together in a uniquely harmonious manner. While it is usually clear which objects and works have been installed specifically for the occasion of the exhibition, each pairing still exudes a certain sense of belonging, the newer selections carefully paired with work from the past that share parallels in material, form, or concept.

In one hall, a forest of totemic pedestals holding marble busts is accented by contemporary counterparts—three pieces of sculptural furniture in marble and powder-coated steel by Samuel Ross. In another room, hand-carved oak furniture by Toogoodsits centrally on parquet wooden floors, surrounded by walls and pillars of intricately-carved wood in similar hues. Meanwhile, Fernando Laposse’s White Agave Cabinet (picture a white, furry armoire) sits prettily against toile de juoy wallpaper, and gold-framed Renaissance scenes, while the expansive library is illuminated by slender bamboo fixtures by Anastassiades.

Other highlights include commissioned ceramics by Dyalvane in the chapel corridor, El Zein’s Seduction Pair 06 seating sculpture in the rose garden, the new “Charcoal” series by Formafantasma (on view in the Green Satin room), bronze seating near the Ring Pond by Castle, and Archibong’s chandelier Dark Vernus I, which hangs in a vestibule between the dining room and the sculpture gallery.