This autumn, H&M HOME presented a special collaboration with the British Museum, the first national public museum in the world. Featuring the works of Mary Delany, an 18th-century English artist known for her botanical depictions, the collection includes a range of decorative items printed with her beautiful flowers. Inspired by Romanticism and florals for the home, the collaboration is also a modern celebration of handicraft – Delany’s stunning artworks are carefully constructed paper.

In keeping with the spirit of Mary Delany’s paper “mosaics”, as she called them, each piece from the British Museum and H&M HOME collaboration features her flowers printed against a black background. To this day, the botanically accurate depictions of flowers are an impressive feat of skill and ingenuity, and we’re excited to bring such artistry to the 21st-century home. In the seven-piece collection, there is a large vase with a round foot and slightly tapered, a mug shaped like an oversized teacup with a gold-toned handle, a candle with a wraparound print and two different sizes of both cushion covers and ceramic plates. Located in London, the British Museum tells the stories of cultures across the world, from the dawn of human history, over two million years ago, right up to the present day. Mary Delany’s paper mosaics are housed in the Department of Prints and Drawings, where they are some of the most visited. Amazingly, Delany only began creating the mosaics at the age of 72, cutting minute pieces of paper and sticking them to a solid black background. She invented a form of paper-cutting or decoupage, which she called her “paper mosaiks” and created 985 of these. British Museum and H&M HOME collection will be in selected stores and online at hm.com.

www.hm.com