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El Mahkemeh or Court of the Cadi Cairo

Watercolour
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
Titles
  • El Mahkemeh or Court of the Cadi Cairo (assigned by artist)
  • Bayt al Qadi: Maqad of Amir Mamay (generic title)
  • House of the Kadi (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Water and bodycolour over pencil, on thick paper
Brief description
Watercolour, El Mahkemeh or Court of the Cadi, Cairo, 1869, by Frank Dillon
Physical description
Watercolour drawing
Dimensions
  • Height: 29.7cm
  • Width: 52.7cm
Styles
Marks and inscriptions
Inscribed with title and dated Decr 5th 1869., and numbered 16
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 D. Angus from Christie's, 18.1.72 (195), £16.50.'
Historical context
Reproduced in G. Ebers, Egypt: Descriptive, Historical, and Picturesque, Vol.II, [1879], p.104, titled Court And House Of The Kadi. This shows the Maqad of Amir Mamay, in the area known as the Bayt al Qadi (House of the Judge). The maqad (loggia) is all that survives of the palace of Amir Mamay, built 1496.
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.
Subjects 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.
Collection
Accession number
SD.330

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Record createdJanuary 10, 2008
Record URL
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