This Polish Museum Received a Mysterious Package in the Mail—With Missing 17th-Century Tiles Inside

During the late 17th century, Polish nobleman and writer Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski commissioned the construction of a Baroque bathing pavilion in Warsaw. Poland’s king, Stanisław August, purchased and expanded the property in 1764, and it became known as the Palace on the Isle. Inside, the walls of the baths were covered with decorative 17th-century Dutch ceramic tiles in a blue and white pattern depicting trees and shepherds.

During World War II, however, Nazi forces to the Palace on the Isle—and some of the tiles went missing. The Palace on the Isle is now home to Warsaw’s Royal Łazienki Museum. Last month, just before opening a new exhibition about Lubomirski, the museum received a mysterious package in the mail from Canada.



It contained 12 of the original tiles that once adorned the baths. Some were cracked or missing pieces, but museum staffers were elated to have them returned nonetheless. They’re now on display as part of an exhibition, “ ,” which runs through September 1.

“This story is a ready-made scenario for a movie,” writes Poland’s culture ministry in a translated Facebook . The anonymous sender “had asked for their return just before his death,” according to the post. How or when they ended up in Canada is unclear.

The culture ministry is now looking into the incident, a museum spokesperson tells the ’s Sophia Kishkovsky. The tiles were likely made in Utrecht between 1690 and 1700, per the . “According to art historians, such .