Mashrabiyyah, turned wood screen, Egypt, Ottoman period, 1670-1700

Screen created from individual hand turned wood elements. The screen has been placed within a modern frame.

The Reverend Greville John Chester (1830-1892), born in Denton, Norfolk, studied at Oxford and became an ordained clergyman before sickness forced him to retire in 1865. For his ailing health, he was encouraged to travel to Egypt, making his first visit that year; he subsequently travelled there almost every year until his death, alongside journeys elsewhere across the Mediterranean and Near East. Each year, Chester bought items en masse, to sell or donate to British institutions upon returning. His acquisitions form a considerable backbone of the early holdings at the V&A, British Museum, Ashmolean and Fitzwilliam. His contributions to the Victoria and Albert Museum incorporate both ancient and Islamic artefacts, predominantly but not exclusively purchased in Egypt; the most significant acquisitions include several hundred fragments of Late Antique textiles from Akhmim, given to the museum between 1887 and 1892. Chester was widely regarded as having a keen eye for acquisitions, and cultivated close friendships with several prominent Egyptologists. He was also notable for recording the provenance of many ancient items he purchased, an unusual practice for the time.

The panel has been constructed from individual hand turned elements known as mashrabyah. Mashrabyah (or wood turning) is a craft used in Egypt to make projecting windows and items such as screens. This wooden panel is from Cairo in Egypt and was probably made in the 18th century, when Egypt was under Ottoman rule. It would have been used within a domestic space as a built in cupboard door. This wooden panel is part of a highly comprehensive collection of Islamic woodwork from Egypt, collected by the South Kensington Museum (later the Victoria and Albert Museum) between 1869 and 1884.

1476-1871