Good Earth
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
First look: Good Earth to showcase at The Met
The leading Indian design house will present the Blooming Poppies collection as part of textile designer Madeline Weinrib’s ‘Heirloom Project’ which marks the 10th anniversary of the Islamic Wing's reopening at The Met
By Sadaf Shaikh
In 1975, over a century after first opening its doors to the public, The Metropolitan Museum of Art created the Department of Islamic Art to give viewers a well-rounded understanding of Muslim culture and history. In 2003, the gallery was temporarily shuttered, thanks to renovations in the Greek and Roman display rooms on the floor below, and when the extended Islamic wing reopened eight years later in 2011, visitors were treated to 15 galleries displaying historic art from across the Islamic world including, but not restricted to, Turkey, Iran, Morocco, Central Asia and South Asia. Comprising both sacred and secular objects, the new collection revealed a splendid panoply of artefacts such as Islamic manuscripts, glass objects, rare carpets and intricate miniatures, hoping to convey a different side of Muslims to combat the militant perspective associated with Islam in a post 9/11 America.
Celebrating 10 years of the reimagined Islamic Wing this year, The Met has announced The Heirloom Project to foster relationships between global artisans who abide by Islamic historic techniques and design philosophies through a special curation of products. Spearheaded by renowned textile designer Madeline Weinrib, the collection will span home decor products, accessories, scarves, ornaments and frames by a diverse range of brands from Indonesia, Japan, Britain, Russia and more. Also part of this glittering ensemble is Good Earth, one of India's leading design houses, which happens to have its own reason for ongoing festivities—2021 marks the luxury home decor and apparel brand's silver jubilee. Over the years, Good Earth has become the go-to destination for interior enthusiasts looking to enliven their homes, and with the launch of its apparel brands, Sustain (2009) and Flow (2021), it has cemented its position as a label that celebrates Indian textiles and crafts through timeless design.
Fragment of a Floorspread, The Alice and Nasli Heeramaneck Collection, Gift of Alice Heeramaneck, 1982The Met Museum
For this capsule, Weinrib and Good Earth's Anita Lal reconciled their creative visions to design an exquisite set of fine bone china dinnerware and home textiles inspired by a late 17th-century Indian floor-spread fragment from The Met's archive that features a Mughal poppy butah motif. Disclosing that the poppy design, emblazoned on various artworks in The Met’s Islamic Wing for many years, has always been one of her favourite historical motifs, Weinrib—who also admits to owning Good Earth's dishes, mugs and bedcovers—says, “Besides being so beautiful, the poppy is also a happy and soothing design, and adds a sense of calm to an interior space. I cannot put my finger on it exactly. It’s too poetic for that.”
Tableware from The MET x Good Earth's The Blooming Poppies collection
Lal, on the other hand, was drawn to the Mughals' innate understanding of colour and design reflected in the arts, crafts and architecture of that period while conceptualising the initial designs for the Blooming Poppies collection. “Plant motifs were the most frequently used patterns in arts of the Islamic world. The blooming poppy is an iconic butah from Mughal India and I love it for its pure symmetry and quiet, intrinsic beauty. It livens up any product it is placed on,” says the founder and creative director of Good Earth.
Cushion from The MET x Good Earth's The Blooming Poppies collection
While it's not surprising for an illustrious brand like Good Earth to represent India at The Met Store—where a catalogue of products from The Heirloom Project will soon be up for sale—Lal makes it clear that the brand has earned its place at the table. “At Good Earth, we celebrate every cultural aspect of the subcontinent,” she emphatically states. “That encompasses inspirations from Vedic, Buddhist, Persian and Mughal designs, along with influences from lands across the famed Silk Road.” The founder also makes special efforts to nurture India's rich trove of Islamic culture by preserving its design legacy and employing artisans who have mastered its myriad crafts. “Over the years, we have created numerous design collections based on some aspect of Islamic design. One of my favourite collections was ‘Farah Baksh’ (2012-13), named after the Persian/Urdu term that translates into ‘Bestower of Delight’. Farah Baksh was originally the name of the pleasure garden that the Mughal emperor Jehangir created for his empress Nur Jehan in the Persian Charbagh style, and the journals and velvet cushion covers that were a part of this collection perfectly illustrated Kashmir's breathtaking natural beauty,” she fondly reminisces, before signing off to prepare for the upcoming global e-preview of her Met collection.