The Chinese Rooms
These resemble the old, 19th-century cabinets of collectors, where exhibits were presented in a kind of jumble. The decorations inspired by oriental art date back to the 1880s. Currently, the rooms house Chinese-style furniture and a collection of Far Eastern art.
The Nanban Table
This is one of the most valuable works of artistic crafts in the Museum's collections. It was created in 1610 in Japan. The name of the Nanban style comes from the Japanese for "Southern Barbarians" and refers to decorative Japanese products of the 16th and 17th centuries which showed strong European influences. The ornamentation adorning the priceless piece of furniture is made of lacquer, powdered gold, silver, and mother-of-pearl.
The Hunting Rooms
These were arranged to emphasise the role of hunting in the functioning of the residence and lives of its inhabitants. The contemporary arrangement consists of works and objects on the theme of hunting from different eras, such as paintings, tables with hunting scenes, a set of furniture from the 18th century decorated with scenes from La Fontaine's fairy tales, and hunting accessories, including firearms from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, gunpowder flasks, canteens, and hunting horns.
The Ivory Ball
The ball is carved openwork and is decorated with a long fringe of silk. The outer layer encloses 13 smaller concentric spheres, each of which is decorated with a different ornament and moves independently. Such products of Chinese craftsmen were acquired by European collections as curiosities of Far Eastern art. They were collected because of their originality, exoticism, and the highly admired unusual craftsmanship.
The Lady's Desk and Cabinet
These pieces of high-quality furniture represent the widespread fashion for art inspired by works from the Far East prevalent in 18th-century Europe. Both are decorated with black lacquer adorned with painted landscapes. The furniture became lost during World War II. Thanks to a research project conducted at the State Art Collections in Dresden, it was possible to establish their origin and return them to the Wilanów collection.
