Romanian artist (Bukovina), Woman’s Blouse, c. 1970, glass beads and thread on cotton; Collection of Maryhill Museum of Art, 2025.2.55
The Legacy of Romanian Textiles and Romanian Folk Pottery at Maryhill Museum of Art
As it marks its 100th anniversary, Maryhill Museum of Art is the Pacific Northwest’s most unexpected museum. It is a place where diverse cultures, contemporary Indigenous voices, fashion, astronomy, architecture, and eccentric American history converge on a dramatic bluff above the Columbia River Gorge.
In 1926, the museum was formally dedicated with the support of Queen Marie of Romania, a figure of international stature. Marie was a mutual friend of Samuel Hill and Loïe Fuller, whose shared vision for a museum of fine art repurposed the Beaux-Arts building that Hill originally intended to be a private residence. Marie’s involvement added both credibility and global attention to the vision, cementing Maryhill as an institution born from international relationships and bold ambition.
When Queen Marie of Romania dedicated the yet unfinished Maryhill Museum of Art building, she gave one of the initial gifts to the museum’s fledgling collection, a donation that included personal items, Romanian folk pottery, Russian icons, and diverse textiles—objects she described as “simple gifts, made by simple hands; embroideries and handiwork in wood and metals.”
Queen Marie’s interest in traditional Romanian garments was kindled in 1893, soon after with her marriage to Prince Ferdinand (later King Ferdinand I) of Romania. It was then that she began wearing peasant-inspired clothing from Romania’s southern provinces. This fashion choice was the continuation of a trend that began with her predecessor, Elisabeth, Queen of Romania. During her reign as queen, Elisabeth founded a school dedicated to the production of rural Romanian crafts. She also began wearing ethnic attire from some of Romania’s more affluent southern villages. Woman at court eventually adopted similar garb, as did Crown Princess Marie and many in her circle. The finely embroidered garments worn at court and by upper-class Romanians were influenced by vernacular aesthetics and earlier Byzantine textiles. As the style evolved, Romanian folk garments became visible symbols of national identity and important economic exports—especially after World War I.
See Romanian Embroidery and Romanian Folk Pottery at Maryhill Museum of Art
Romanian Embroidery, on view from March 15–November 15, 2026, includes embroidered Romanian blouses, chemises, and other items. Romanian Folk Pottery, on view from March 15, 2025–November 15, 2026, draws on a dozen ceramics donated by Queen Marie in 1926 and 20 ceramics from the town of Horezu in Vâlcea County (central Romania). The craftmanship of Horezu ceramics was inscribed on the 2012 UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Unidentified Romanian artists, Folk Pottery, c. 1925, glazed ceramic, vase: 10¾” tall; Gift of Marie, Queen of Romania, Collection of Maryhill Museum of Art.