Owen Jones (1809-74)
Design for a garden pavilion in Cairo for the Governor of Egypt (section view)
1861
Pen and watercolour
Museum no. 8277D

Egypt was part of the vast Ottoman Empire. The ruler, Ismail Pasha was keen to modernise Egypt and build relations with the West. He oversaw the completion of the Suez Canal and commissioned Verdi's opera 'Aida', which was first performed in Cairo in 1871. He also asked Jones to decorate fifteen rooms in his palace at Gezirah. In designing these rooms, Jones worked for eighteen hours a day for three solid months. He provided designs for carpets, walls and ceilings, and described it as the greatest triumph of his life.