{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O370901"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O370901/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2019LV8250/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2019LV8250/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2019LV8250","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019LV8251","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KC2828","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KC2826","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O370901/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O370901","accessionNumber":"1479-1871","objectType":"Turned wood screen","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"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.","physicalDescription":"Screen created from individual hand turned wood elements. The screen has been placed within a modern frame, with a brass circular fitting attached to one side.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Carved and hand-turned wood","categories":[{"text":"Woodwork","id":"THES48877"},{"text":"Architecture","id":"THES48993"},{"text":"Africa","id":"THES49019"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MES","id":"THES48607"},"images":["2019LV8250","2019LV8251","2017KC2828","2017KC2826"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES341410"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Screen","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Egypt","id":"x29512"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1670-1700","earliest":"1670-01-01","latest":"1700-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"28.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"22.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Thickness","value":"1.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"LW 26.2.10","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"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.\r\n\r\n\r\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Mashrabiyyah, turned wood screen, Egypt, Ottoman period, 1670-1700 ","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Greville John Chester","id":"AUTH338393"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Mashrabiyyah screens\r\nThese fragments of decorative mashrabiyyah screens were salvaged when many historic buildings were demolished in Cairo. The destruction came as part of the Egyptian government’s ambitious plans to modernise the city from the 1860s. Each screen section is formed from numerous small, individually-turned pieces of wood, slotted together without nails. The surrounding frames were added later to stabilise the screen fragments and make them transportable. The samples shown here are difficult to date because their original context is unknown.\r\n\r\nFragments of mashrabiyyah screens\r\nMuseum nos. 1479-1871, 1480-1871, 1478-1871, 1072-1869 (with mother-of-pearl inlay), 1485-1871\r\n\r\nCentre of case:\r\nMashrabiyyah screen\r\nMuseum no. W.56-1916\r\n\r\nAll – Cairo, Egypt\r\n15th to 18th Centuries\r\nTurned wood\r\n","date":{"text":"2019-2020","earliest":"2019-01-01","latest":"2020-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["1479-1871"],"accessionNumberNum":"1479","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1871,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-05-01","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":false}}