Event Information
11 October 2025
From 11 October 2025 to 1 March 2026
Leighton House
Ghost Objects: Summoning Leighton's Lost Collection
11 October 2025 - 1 March 2026
Four missing objects from Leighton's original collection reappear as life-size paper sculptures, created by celebrated international artist, Annemarieke Kloosterhof. Reimagining the presence of these long-lost treasures, the works are intricately handcrafted in white paper, featuring hand-cut details and using techniques like layering, embossing and sculpting.
This exhibition is part of the celebratory programme of 100 Years of Leighton House, which marks the museum's anniversary as a public museum, under the governance of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Watch behind-the-scenes content and see the objects coming to life
The ghosts
A 15th-century carved and gilt Italian tabernacle shrine attributed to sculptor Domenico di Paris and acquired by Leighton in 1886 to go on display in his studio. Annemarieke has painstakingly recreated every detail of the shrine out of individual pieces of white paper, producing over 8,000 cut-out elements, intricate embellishments, and delicate folds, making this the largest and most detailed piece she has ever made.
An ebonised klismos chair and matching stool, seen in several of Leighton’s paintings, refers to his fascination for the classical world and displays many of the characteristics of the fashionable art-furniture of the 1880s. With no surviving photographs of the chair, Annemarieke worked backward by measuring the Silk Room and consulting historic paintings depicting the object in situ, in order to authentically recreate it.
A Northern Italian ebony cabinet, formerly in Leighton House’s drawing room. The piece sits at the heart of an ongoing mystery about the dating and attribution of Italian cabinets: is it a 17th-century treasure or a masterful 19th-century homage? The contemporary paper recreation includes openable doors and is made of varying thickness of paper, resulting in different shades of white that highlight the details in the intricately engraved ivory and equestrian figures.
A distinctive brass jardiniere, long believed to be Indian and now thought to be a hybrid Anglo-Indian object likely created for Western decorative tastes, remains an enigma as no comparable example has been identified. Annemarieke Kloosterhof’s paper recreation, on display near the striking historic staircase, reaches over three meters high and includes a palm tree rising from the jardinière and features a papier-mâché base made from recycled paper cutoffs from the other three artefacts.
Meet Annemarieke Kloosterhof
Annemarieke Kloosterhof is a paper-craft specialist who has created installations for the hit TV show Bridgerton and high end brands, including Viktor & Rolf, Hermès, and Bottega Veneta.
“The scale and complexity of this exhibition feels like I'm using a combination of all the skills, styles and techniques I've learned this past decade, gathered into one giant project. Working on something so deeply rooted in traditional craft with an all-female team has been incredibly rewarding, and a full-circle moment, especially as techniques like these are often considered 'lesser than' in the art world."
Plan your visit
Ghost Objects: Summoning Leighton's Lost Collection
A commission by Annemarieke Kloosterhof
From 11 October 2025 to 1 March 2026
Included within admission ticket
Leighton House | On display in the historic house: staircase hall, drawing room, silk room and Leighton's studio.
Open Wednesdays to Mondays, 10am- 5:30pm (last entry 4:30pm)
Acknowledgements
This exhibition has been supported by the DCH Foundation, the museum's Exhibition Circle and The Friends of Leighton House. The promotion and outreach for the programming of 100 Years of Leighton House has been supported by the CORA Foundation.
