From Macau to Goa and Mozambique: Oyster Windows in Indo-Portuguese Architecture

Substituting glass with small plaques [plaquettes] of mother-of-pearls, the carepa windows (oyster windows) – as they are called in Goa – constitute a very well-recognized signature of Goan architecture. The great variety of formal variations, the fine and delicate design, as well as their marked exoticism, make them a characteristic identitarian feature of Indo-Portuguese architecture. This essay seeks to explain the origins and the multiple manifestations of this manufacturing process and product: not only in Goa, but also in other territories of the Estado da India, as well as in faraway lands in southern China and the Philippine Islands. Through a wide range of examples and a broad perspective, we intend to reconstruct the circulation of this formal solution which, originated in Southern China and in the region of Guangdong, will transit through Macau and the Philippines, as much as multiple territories of the Luso-phone world,
such as Baçaim, Damão and Mozambique in Africa. By assembling a preliminary catalogue and data bank for the study of this architectural and decorative phenomenon, we will offer some answers on its formal evolution through time and typologies.