When Duncan Campbell and Charlotte Rey visited Copenhagen’s Thorvaldsen Museum a few years ago, they were blown away. Named for the Danish sculptor Berthel Thorvaldsen who displayed his life’s work there, the museum gracefully blends Greek and Roman architecture with Egyptian and Pompeiian motifs, with each room boasting one-of-a-kind ceiling grotesques. “We loved it so much that we’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to incorporate it into our work,” Rey tells Surface. That should be no surprise to followers of the London-based design atelier, whose interiors and furniture thrive on a compelling mélange of historical architecture, traditional decorative techniques, jewel tones, and the whimsical dialogues that arise from it all.
Not long after, Nordic Knots was itching to refresh three successful hand-knotted Campbell-Rey rugs from its range, including the Gustavian-inspired Climbing Vine that was reinterpreted for the rooms of Porto Ercole’s Hotel Il Pellicano. With a renewed appreciation for Thorvaldsen’s gesamtkunstwerk—and an abiding curiosity about Italian classical design as well as Charlotte’s Swedish and Duncan’s Scottish heritage—the duo got to work devising new colorways using the museum’s jewel-toned interiors as a starting point. They sought to create a welcome contrast to the core collection’s lighter, springier colors with a deeper, richer palette that creates depth and mystery. “We’re always drawn to great colors,” Campbell says, “delicious colorways that evoke emotion and that draw you in to touch.”
