The interior of a Chinese house

Interior of a Chinese pavilion The painting is watercolours on paper, behind a glass, from the collection of the Lubomirscy family, the former owners of the castle; it depicts the interior of a pavilion in Chinese style. The images were commissioned by princess Lubomirska, wife to marshal Lubomirski. This series of similar depictions showed the way to decorate summer houses and pavilions in Chinese style, which was popular until the end of the 18th century. This is confirmed by descriptions of these depictions in the castle inventory list of 1802. The interior is rectangular, shown in a perspective, with movable walls (fusumi). The wall on the right has two openings leading to further rooms. There is a window in the wall on the left, through which one can see into the next room, and there, on an elevated platform, are two green and blue mats, a vase and a bonsai tree. Farther back there is a door leading to an open porch, through which one can see a park with rocks and trees. The veranda rests on green pillars, the fence is made of red slats. The main room of the pavilion is closed off with a grey wall with two door openings framed by simple wooden slats. One can also see an open portal framed by pillars, leading to a garden. The room has a floor of grey and green tiles. At the wall closing off the interior, there is a blue vase in the shape of a flattened sphere, on metal legs. On both sides, stools are arranged symmetrically. The ceiling above all this has the colour of wood in a slanted, darker check pattern. All pictures from the series are framed the same way – wooden, with overlaid braidwork and rosettes in the corners; most likely made in Vienna. The paintings stem from the end of the 18th/ beginning of the 19th century, and were most probably made in China as reference templates. They are displayed in the bedroom of the Chinese Apartment, in the first floor of the castle of Łańcut.