Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level D , Case SC, Shelf 11

The Bab el Nasr. Cairo

Watercolour
14/12/1869 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type: Paintings illustrating exotic architecture became more frequent in the 19th century. British architects studied outside Europe as they searched for ideas for a new building style. These traditional forms were also threatened with obliteration by `the march of progress' and drawings had to be made to record them before they were destroyed.
In his desire to preserve the exotic domestic architecture of Cairo, particularly the interiors, Dillon painted accurate pictures of them as a record and as a kind of advertisement for his campaign. He included their inhabitants in appropriate costume, to give scale and to make them more appealing.

People: Frank Dillon (1823-1909) was part of the circle that had surrounded Owen Jones. Like many of those design reformers he wished to encourage interest in the decorative art and architecture of other cultures. He was actively concerned with efforts to preserve Islamic monuments of Cairo. He also travelled in Portugal, Spain and Morocco, as well in Japan where he studied and painted traditional Japanese interiors.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Bab el Nasr. Cairo (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Water- and bodycolour, touched with white, on thick, textured paper
Brief description
Frank Dillon, 'The Bab el Nasr, Cairo', watercolour, Cairo, Egypt, dated 14 December 1869
Physical description
Watercolour drawing
Dimensions
  • Unframed height: 28.5cm
  • Unframed width: 41cm
Styles
Marks and inscriptions
Inscribed with title and dated Dec. 14. 1869
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Art Fund, Shell International and the Friends of the V&A
Object history
According to Rodney Searight: - 'Mary Elizabeth Burnett, the artist's grand daughter; acquired via Holder from Christie's, 18.1.72 (196), £22.50.'
Historical context
This or a version possibly The Babal el Nase, or Gate of Victory, Cairo, the Dudley Gallery, 1870 (494). An oil of the subject, exhibited at the Dudley Gallery, 1871 (321), was one of four painted for Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt: see C.E. Clement & L. Hutton, Artists of the Nineteenth Century and their Works, 1879, Vol.I, pp.208-9. A drawing of the same subject was in the artist's sale in 1911 (20).
Dillon exhibited several views of Cairo houses at the RA, RI and Dudley Gallery: see Searight Archive. SD329-333 derive from the third and fourth of Dillon's visits to Cairo, when he became especially interested in its Islamic architecture. He made a series of watercolours of three Mamluk style houses, the bayts of Radwan Bay (SD331), Shaykh al Sadat (SD332) and the Mufti, Shaykh al Mahdi, including eleven acquired by the South Kensington Museum from Bryan Donkin, the artist's son in law, in 1900 (VAM, DPD, 852 862 1900; see R.P's 84814). For further details of the houses, see B. Maury, A. Raymond, J. Revault & M. Zakariya, Palais et Maisons du Caire, Vol.I, Epoque Mamelouke, Vol.II, Epoque Ottomane, Paris, 1982 & 1983. See also B. Llewellyn, 'Frank Dillon and Victorian pictures of old Cairo houses', Ur, 3 1984, pp.3 10; Searight Archive.
Subject depicted
Places depicted
Summary
Object Type: Paintings illustrating exotic architecture became more frequent in the 19th century. British architects studied outside Europe as they searched for ideas for a new building style. These traditional forms were also threatened with obliteration by `the march of progress' and drawings had to be made to record them before they were destroyed.
In his desire to preserve the exotic domestic architecture of Cairo, particularly the interiors, Dillon painted accurate pictures of them as a record and as a kind of advertisement for his campaign. He included their inhabitants in appropriate costume, to give scale and to make them more appealing.

People: Frank Dillon (1823-1909) was part of the circle that had surrounded Owen Jones. Like many of those design reformers he wished to encourage interest in the decorative art and architecture of other cultures. He was actively concerned with efforts to preserve Islamic monuments of Cairo. He also travelled in Portugal, Spain and Morocco, as well in Japan where he studied and painted traditional Japanese interiors.
Bibliographic reference
The Inspiration of Egypt, Its Influence on British Artists, Travellers and Designers, 1700-1900, cat. no. 356.
Collection
Accession number
SD.329

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJanuary 10, 2008
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest