Oriental wall hanging the 'Quilt of Queen Marysieńka'

The history of this fabric is connected with the legend of John III Sobieski, king-victor, cultivated in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During the nineteenth century, upholding the memory and national legend of John Sobieski as the most outstanding Polish ruler was connected with a search for souvenirs of the royal family. Romantic spirituality and fascination with history and everything connected to the past were the reasons why numerous monuments and items were rendered part of legends related to, for instance, John III Sobieski. The embroidered wall hanging from the Wilanów collection is linked with Maria Casimire (1641-1716) only due to the time of its origin and an oral account inspired by nineteenth-century legends. This magnificent fabric, with a motif of fantastic phoenixes and blossoming branches embroidered with silk thread, originated in the seventeenth century in the Far East. At the time of John III, the interiors of the Wilanów Palace were decorated with similar Oriental fabrics, and an inventory written down in 1696 describes on the walls of the Chinese Cabinet of His Royal Majesty: 'Chinese wall hanging, white atlas silk, with embroidered colourful flowers, birds and Chinese figures'.