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IG_424: Sketchbook page with stucco and glass windows
(GBR_London_VAM_IG_424)

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Title

Sketchbook page with stucco and glass windows

Type of Object
Dimensions
18.5 x 14 cm
Artist / Producer
Dating
c. 1845
Location
Inventory Number
E.3844:128-1938
Research Project
Author and Date of Entry
Sarah Keller 2025

Iconography

Description

Page 130 in James William Wild’s sketchbook, E.3844-1938. Five rectangular stucco and glass windows. 1) cypress above an elaborate oblong panel with half circles and two flowers; 2) a pattern with star ornamentation within a round arch; 3) five blue and yellow flowers in a vase, within a round arch; 4) flowers (carnations, lilies, and others) in a vase, within a round arch supported by columns; 5) four large roses within a round arch.
Measurements and annotations in pencil.

Iconclass Code
25G3(CYPRESS) · trees: cypress
25G41(CARNATION) · flowers: carnation
25G41(LILY) · flowers: lily
25G41(ROSE) · flowers: rose
41A6711 · flowers in a vase
48A9815 · ornament ~ starforms
Iconclass Keywords
bunch of flowers · carnation · cypress · lily · rose · star · vase
Inscription

Dimensions taken within the wood / frames i. e. the plaster dimensions
Nearly all broken to pieces / could not make out the / pattern(?)
All plaster within [...] wooden [...]

Materials, Technique and State of Preservation

Technique

Pencil, pen and ink and watercolour on a sketchbook page.

History

Research

Between 1844 and 1847, the British architect James William Wild (1814–1892) made several drawings annotated ‘Beyt Hassan Pasha’ and dedicated one of his sketchbooks (E.3844-1938) entirely to this private house in Cairo. Four drawings and three pages (pp. 130–132) in the sketchbook are dedicated to detailed studies of eleven different windows. Some sketches and drawings (E.3794-1938, E.3795-1938) also show the interior with rough sketches of the windows integrated into the walls. The windows depicted in the sketchbook are different from those in the drawings (IG_440–442, IG_448).
Two remarks in the sketchbook suggest that at least some of the windows had already been taken down when Wild was drawing them. On p. 4 is written ‘the windows [in the south opening] were removed’, on p. 6 ‘the frame of one [of the windows] taken out’. Probably this is also why Wild was able to draw the back of one of the windows (IG_441) and give precise dimensions. Here is written ‘nearly all broken to pieces / could not make out the / pattern(?)’, but it remains unclear to which window(s) these observations refer.
Two further pages in the same sketchbook (pp. 131–132) also show one isolated stucco and glass window each.

Dating
c. 1845
Period
1844 – 1847
Related Locations
Place of Manufacture

Provenance

Owner
Since 1938: Victoria and Albert Museum, collection (access date: 23.5.2025)

Image Information

Name of Image
GBR_London_VAM_IG_424
Credits
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Link to the original photo
Copyright
Public Domain

Citation suggestion

Keller, S. (2025). Sketchbook page with stucco and glass windows. In Vitrosearch. Retrieved December 5, 2025 from https://www.vitrosearch.ch/objects/2713268.

Record Information

Reference Number
IG_424