Image Ordered

IG_425: Stucco and glass windows of the Oriental Courts
(GBR_London_VAM_IG_425)

Contact Details

Please specify your first name.
Please specify your name.
Please specify your e-mail address.
The e-mail address is invalid.

Please provide as much information as possible (publication title, database, publisher, edition, year of publication, etc.).

The Vitrocentre Romont can only provide you with its own photographs. We regret that we cannot supply images from third parties to you. If your order concerns photographs from third parties, we will send you the contact address from which the images can be obtained.

The personal data you provide in this form will be used by Vitrocentre Romont exclusively for the processing of your image order. Correspondence regarding the order will be archived for internal reference. The data will not be used for purposes other than those listed here, nor will it be passed on to third parties. By sending the order form, you agree to this use of your personal data.

Should you have any questions, please send us an e-mail: info@vitrosearch.ch.

Title

Stucco and glass windows of the Oriental Courts

Type of Object
Dimensions
26 x 36.5 cm
Artist / Producer
Dating
1866
Location
Inventory Number
8411
Research Project
Author and Date of Entry
Sarah Keller 2025

Iconography

Description

Drawings of a three-part stucco and glass window enclosed by a segmental arch above a mashrabīya screen. The two lateral parts show tendrils with flowers (carnations, tulips, lilies). The middle window shows a stylized vase of flowers (lillies, carnations, and a rose) within an almond-shaped frame. A lattice ornament fills the spaces between the inner almond-shaped frame and the outer frame of the window.

Iconclass Code
25G41(CARNATION) · flowers: carnation
25G41(LILY) · flowers: lily
25G41(ROSE) · flowers: rose
25G41(TULIP) · flowers: tulip
41A6711 · flowers in a vase
Iconclass Keywords
Inscription

Mr Wild’s Window

Signature

Col. Scott 1866

Materials, Technique and State of Preservation

Technique

Pen and ink and watercolour drawing on tracing paper.

History

Research

This drawing made by Henry Young Darracott Scott (1822–1883) and dated 1866 shows the stucco and glass window designed by the British architect James William Wild (1814–1892) for the Oriental Courts of the South Kensington Museum in London.
Colonel (and later Mayor-General) Scott was appointed Director of New Works of the South Kensington Museum in 1865 and therefore responsible for the further expansion of the museum. Wild was working as one of his architects, designing several parts of the new buildings (Bethnal Green Museum, Science Schools, Architectural Courts; Physick, 1982, pp. 145, 148, 157). The London-based firm James Powell & Sons executed the window after Wild’s draft (Physick, 1982, p. 82; Thomas, 2013, pp. 54–56; Giese, 2021, p. 97). While the only watercolour preserved by Wild himself shows the middle panel (IG_435), Scott’s drawing, annotated ‘Mr Wild’s Window’, shows the construction of the whole window, with the mashrabīya screen below.
The corresponding windows are preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum (MES.LOST.35, MES.LOST.21, MES.LOST.20).

Dating
1866
Place of Manufacture

Provenance

Owner
Victoria and Albert Museum, collection (access date: 23.5.2025)

Bibliography and Sources

Literature

Giese, F. (2021). Eastern Light: Western Fascination for Islamic Colored Glass Windows. Manazir Journal, 3, 93–109. https://doi.org/10.36950/manazir.2021.3.7.

Physick, J. F. (1982). The Victoria and Albert Museum, the history of its building. Oxford: Phaidon, Christie's.

Thomas, A. (2013). James Wild, Cairo and the South Kensington Museum. In M. Volait (ed.), Le Caire dessiné et photographié au XIXe* *siècle (pp. 41–68). Paris: Picard.

Image Information

Name of Image
GBR_London_VAM_IG_425
Credits
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Link to the original photo
Copyright
Public Domain

Citation suggestion

Keller, S. (2025). Stucco and glass windows of the Oriental Courts. In Vitrosearch. Retrieved December 5, 2025 from https://vitrosearch.ch/objects/2713269.

Record Information

Reference Number
IG_425