Sa'id Pasha's Palace, Mex (Alexandria)

Mohamed Sa'id Pasha was Egypt's Viceroy from 1854 until his death in 1863. He was educated in Paris and he began the development of the Suez Canal. In addition to the Qasr al Nil, his grand palace in Cairo, Sa'id Pasha built a palace on the old (or west) Alexandria harbor at Mex  (or Meks, Maks, or Al-Maqs). Unlike Sa'id's other Alexandrian palace at Gabari, the one at Mex was never finished.

The floor and walls of the palace's saloon were decorated with Salviati mosaics, which were ordered in 1860 at the cost of about 250,000 francs. Unfortunately, by 1878 the palace was a "bulbous ruin".

The abandoned palace compound at Mex, 1870.

Illustration of the entry gate at Mex palace.

Map of Alexandria from 1908. Meks is on the lower left.

Sources:
Salviati, Antonio. On Mosaics (generally). Leeds, 1865. 42.
Barr, Sheldon. Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860-1917. London: Antique Collectors' Club, 2008. 132.
Salviati, Antonio. Les manufactures Salviati & Cie à Venise et Murano. Mosaïques, verres Paris, 1867. 15.
Rogers, Edward Thomas. "The Land of Egypt." The Art Journal. London: D. Appleton & Company. 5. 1879. 68-70. 
Lane-Poole, Stanley. Social Life in Egypt: A Description of a Country and Its People. 5. New York: P.F. Collier, 1884. 117-120.
Allatson, Wendy. Egypt.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995. 546.
Burton, Richard Francis. The gold-mines of Midian and the ruined Midianite cities. London: C. Kegan Paul & Co. 1878. 4.
Wikipedia 
usbpanasonic's flickr Photostream

St. Stephen's Crypt, Houses of Parliament

In 1834, a fire ravaged the Palace of Westminster, the home of the English Houses of Parliament.

Although the Chapel of St. Mary Undercroft in the crypt survived, it subsequently underwent extensive reconstruction by architect Edward Middleton (E.M.) Barry in order to bring it more in line with the Victorian Gothic style, as well as to return it to its former use as a chapel.

"The Crypt under old St. Stephen's Chapel, Westminster, now in course of restoration" (1859)

The mosaics by Salviati found on the vaulted ceiling displaying floral motifs and heraldry were added between 1860 and 1865.

Sources:
Wikipedia
UK Parliament's flickr Photostream
Antiqua Print Gallery
Lawrence OP's flickr Photostream
Art in Parliament
Guide to the Palace of Westminster. London: Warrington. 1911. 53-54.
Layard, A.H. "Introduction," Paper on Mosaic Decoration read at a meeting of the Royal Institute of British Architects, London: Metchim and Son, 1869. iii.

St. Thomas of Canterbury Elsfield

G.E. Street restored this late 12th century church in 1859.

A reredos from around 1860 of The Last Supper decorates the central panel of the sanctuary on the east wall. It was paid for by the vicar's wife, Louisa Parsons.

Detail of the multi-colored tesserae.

A mosaic frieze of angels also lines the walls of the same area.

The mosaics were restored in 2011 and the work won the 2012 Oxford Preservation Trust award.

Sources:
British Listed Buildings
The Salviati Mosaics in Elsfield Church
Elsfield Village - The Parsons Years
Oxfordshire Church's flickr Photostream
Norfolk12's Image Gallery at Waymarking
Elsfield Church Salviati Mosaics