Department of Oriental Art at the National Museum in Warsaw was created in 1971, with the purpose of assembling all Near and Far Eastern art objects scattered until then throughout other Museum Departments. The collection groups some 8,000 art objects, being one of the largest in Poland, second only to that of the National Museum in Krakow. Due the lack of permanent exhibition space the collection is placed in the Museum’s storerooms and presented only on temporary exhibitions.

Department of Oriental Art carries out research in the field of Asian art, organizes temporary exhibitions and popularizes knowledge of Asian art through lectures, meetings, other educational activities and publications. Researchers from other institutions are welcome to apply for permission to conduct research at the Department Study Room (please contact our staff for details).

Department of Oriental Art is further divided into the following sections:

Chinese Art Collection – the largest in Poland, with some 5,000 objects, mostly dating form the 17th to 19th c. Among them is a significant group of ceramics, also jade, stone and wood sculpture, textiles and lacquer ware. Metals include a large set of Qianlong period bronzes and cloisonné enamels, as well as painted enamels. Traditional painting is represented by over two hundred scrolls, album leaves and albums. Some 800 New Year and other folk woodblock prints from across China form an interesting and valuable group.

Japanese Art Collection – one of the largest collections in Poland,  containing more than 2000 objects. It includes paintings, sculptures, ukiyo-e and shin hanga prints, ceramics, cloisonné enamels, metal works, lacquer and ivory works from Edo, Meiji, Taisho and Showa periods. Of particular value are: tsuba sword guards, netsuke and okimono, lacquer ware, cloisonné enamels, imari porcelain and satsuma wares.

Islamic Art Collection – groups over 1000 objects: manuscripts and miniature paintings, carpets, textiles, pottery and glass, metal, wood, leather and stone objects. The extensive pottery collection comprises a representative selection of Arabic, Persian and Turkish wares (8th to 17th c.). A group of Persian and Turkish 16th-19th c. textiles from the Potocki and Radziwill family collections is of particular value.

Buddhist and Hindu Art Collection – comprises around 300 objects, of which the most important are: bronze figurines of gods and deities, 18th-20th c., religious scroll-paintings (thang-ka), stone and wood sculpture, sacred buddhist manuscripts.