The Royal Łazienki Museum in Warsaw, renowned for its historic park and palace complex, recently received an extraordinary anonymous package from Canada. Inside were 12 Dutch tiles from the late 17th century, which once adorned the museum’s bathing pavilion before they disappeared during World War II.
These tiles were part of the intricate decorations of the bathing pavilion at the Royal Łazienki Museum, a site that holds significant cultural and historical value in Poland's capital. They vanished during the Second World War when Nazi forces looted the country.
This event highlights the often lengthy journey home for art stolen during wartime. Poland’s ministry of culture shared the news on Facebook on April 26, stating, "A mysterious package, missing tiles and a happy ending. This story is a ready-made script for a movie! After many years, the original Dutch ceramic tiles that decorated the interior of today's Palace on the Isle are returning to the Royal Łazienki Museum. Some of them survived the fire of the Palace in 1944, some were scattered, and the missing ones were reconstructed after the war. Unexpectedly, after many years, the museum received a shipment of original tiles from a mysterious sender from Canada who, just before his death, asked for their return."
These returned tiles, although cracked or missing pieces, are currently on display until September 1 as part of a temporary exhibition titled "The Art of Thinking Well. The Legacy of Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski." This exhibition honors the Polish nobleman and intellectual who established the estate. The bathing pavilion, originally built in the 17th century, gained fame when King Stanisław August expanded it, transforming it into the baroque Baths Palace or Palace on the Isle.
A museum spokesperson shared that the tiles, dating from around 1690-1700 and likely made in Utrecht, "were sent to us just before the exhibition" and "are very important to us, because those are the original tiles that decorated the walls in one of the rooms in the Palace on the Isle."
Unlike many structures in Warsaw that were devastated during the war, "the palace was partially burned during the end of the Second World War but was never completely destroyed," explained the spokesperson. Further details on the return of the tiles remain sparse as the case is currently being managed by the ministry.
The museum has also seen the return of other significant items in recent years. In 2015, they recovered the sculpture of Diana by Jean-Antoine Houdon, and in 2011, an applique candelabra featuring the head of Medusa from the Solomon Hall in the Palace on the Isle was returned.
Jean Dubreil