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Frieze

1872-1879 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Plaster cast of geometrical frieze, now in three fragments, from the portal of the Mosque-Madrasa complex of Sultan Hasan, Cairo, built 1356-63.

Plaster casts from a variety of historic monuments across Cairo were made to decorate the ‘maison arabe’ of the French aristocrat, the Comte Gaston de St Maurice (1831-1905), which was built for him between 1872 and 1879. The most popular ornament seems to have come from the buildings constructed during the reign of Sultan Qa’itbay (r.1468-96), however the impressive Mosque-Madrasa complex of Sultan Hasan was the next most represented building among St Maurice's cast collection.

St Maurice lived in Cairo for twenty years, serving as equerry to the Khedive (Ottoman governor) of Egypt. During that period, he accumulated a large collection of historic objects from Islamic Egypt, dating especially from the 14th-16th centuries but also including some 19th-century objects. The V&A acquired about 200 objects from St Maurice collection in 1884.


Object details

Category
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 3 parts.

  • Fragment of Geometrical Border, Plaster Cast
  • Fragment of Geometrical Border, Plaster Cast
  • Fragment of Geometrical Border, Plaster Cast
Materials and techniques
Plaster cast with patina
Brief description
Three fragments of a plaster cast of a geometrical frieze from the portal of the Mosque-Madrasa complex of Sultan Hasan, Cairo, built 1356-63.
Physical description
Plaster cast made from locally available Egyptian building plaster, which has a pinkish tone. The surface has been patinated with a grey pigment and where this is flaking the pink colour of the material is showing through.
Dimensions
  • Part a weight: 13.30kg
Style
Object history
Bought from the collection of Gaston de Saint-Maurice (1831-1905) in 1884. Saint-Maurice displayed his extensive art collection at the 1878 Paris exhibition, in a gallery entitled L'Egypte des Khalifes. This was part of an official sequence of displays celebrating the history of Egypt, presented by the Egyptian state at this international event. Saint-Maurice held a position at the Khedival court, and had lived in Cairo in 1868-1878. Following the exhibition, Saint-Maurice offered his collection for sale to the South Kensington Museum (today the V&A).
Historical context
This object was copied in the Museum and given the number Repro.1884-822 to G. This reproduction was recorded as being on loan to the Royal Scottish Museum according to nominal file (12/12/21).
Associations
Summary
Plaster cast of geometrical frieze, now in three fragments, from the portal of the Mosque-Madrasa complex of Sultan Hasan, Cairo, built 1356-63.

Plaster casts from a variety of historic monuments across Cairo were made to decorate the ‘maison arabe’ of the French aristocrat, the Comte Gaston de St Maurice (1831-1905), which was built for him between 1872 and 1879. The most popular ornament seems to have come from the buildings constructed during the reign of Sultan Qa’itbay (r.1468-96), however the impressive Mosque-Madrasa complex of Sultan Hasan was the next most represented building among St Maurice's cast collection.

St Maurice lived in Cairo for twenty years, serving as equerry to the Khedive (Ottoman governor) of Egypt. During that period, he accumulated a large collection of historic objects from Islamic Egypt, dating especially from the 14th-16th centuries but also including some 19th-century objects. The V&A acquired about 200 objects from St Maurice collection in 1884.
Associated object
Bibliographic references
  • List of Objects in the Art Division, South Kensington Museum acquired during the Year 1884. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1885. p. 98
  • Mercedes Volait, Maisons de France au Caire: le remploi de grans décors mamelouks et ottomans dans une architecture modernes (Cairo: Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 2012)
Collection
Accession number
1035-1884

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Record createdJuly 30, 2008
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