Egyptian
Stained Glass Design
ca. 1870 (made)
ca. 1870 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
As carried out during the late 1860s and 1870s, the interior of the Lecture Theatre block of the Victoria and Albert Museum - containing the Lecture Theatre, Ceramic Gallery (now the Silver Gallery, Rooms 65-69) and refreshment rooms - was elaborately decorated. This pen and ink drawing comprises one of William Bell Scott’s designs for the fourteen stained-glass windows in the Ceramic Gallery. Henry Cole, the first director of the Museum, was responsible for the theme. Mirroring the arrangement of ceramic items within the gallery, the stained-glass windows depicted historical periods of ceramic manufacture: seen here is the production of ceramics in ancient Egypt. Scott executed the designs by painting onto glass panes with a brush, keeping the windows virtually free of colour (yellow being the only stain used) so as not to darken the gallery. Scott also designed two stained-glass windows for the landings of the two staircases leading up from the Ceramic Gallery to the Lecture Theatre.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Egyptian |
| Materials and techniques | Pen and ink with watercolour on paper |
| Brief description | Design for Victoria and Albert Museum by William Bell Scott, Ceramic Gallery, stained glass window (Egyptian), about 1870 |
| Physical description | Small-scale pen and ink drawing with yellow watercolour on paper. Divided into four rectangular lights, with a semi-circular light outlined above, this design for a stained-glass window in the Ceramic Gallery (now the Silver Gallery, Rooms 65-69) depicts ancient Egyptian ceramic production. Formed of small scenes containing figures whose heads are seen in profile, the upper two lights show Egyptian slaves making bricks and the capture of vases by Assyrians. The lower two lights are decorated with stylised water, lotus and papyrus. Drawn to a larger scale, to the side is a detail of the pattern to be used as a border. Subject matter labelled on mount. |
| Dimensions |
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| Place depicted | |
| Summary | As carried out during the late 1860s and 1870s, the interior of the Lecture Theatre block of the Victoria and Albert Museum - containing the Lecture Theatre, Ceramic Gallery (now the Silver Gallery, Rooms 65-69) and refreshment rooms - was elaborately decorated. This pen and ink drawing comprises one of William Bell Scott’s designs for the fourteen stained-glass windows in the Ceramic Gallery. Henry Cole, the first director of the Museum, was responsible for the theme. Mirroring the arrangement of ceramic items within the gallery, the stained-glass windows depicted historical periods of ceramic manufacture: seen here is the production of ceramics in ancient Egypt. Scott executed the designs by painting onto glass panes with a brush, keeping the windows virtually free of colour (yellow being the only stain used) so as not to darken the gallery. Scott also designed two stained-glass windows for the landings of the two staircases leading up from the Ceramic Gallery to the Lecture Theatre. |
| Associated objects | |
| Bibliographic reference | Physick, John. The Victoria and Albert Museum: The History of Its Building. London: The Victoria & Albert Museum, 1982.
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 8099:6 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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