The Chinese Pavilion

The Chinese Pavilion, or Kina slott, is a summer palace in Drottningholm Palace Park. King Adolf Fredrik commissioned it as a surprise birthday present for Queen Lovisa Ulrika in July 1753. The pavilion reflects an 18th-century European fashion for Chinese-style design. Visit Stockholm describes its rococo furnishings with chinoiserie as a picture of relations between Asia and Europe 300 years ago.

Visitors can see Swedish Rococo furniture inspired by Chinese design alongside imported Chinese objects. Several rooms retain their original Chinese silk and paper wall coverings. The interiors also include lacquered screens, stained glass and porcelain. The palace says many of these objects were probably imported by the Swedish East India Company. Some porcelain pieces date from the times of Queens Hedvig Eleonora and Kristina.

The palace website describes how East India trading companies brought tea, spices, silk, porcelain and art to Europe in the 18th century, when China was seen there as an exotic, mythical country. The Chinese Pavilion, Drottningholm Palace and its grounds are on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Visit Stockholm lists the pavilion’s opening season as May to September. That season has ended for now.