How do I create a pixmap without having my window being realized/shown?

Functions such as gdk_pixmap_create_from_xpm() require a valid window as a parameter. During the initialisation phase of an application, a valid window may not be available without showing a window, which may be inappropriate. In order to avoid this, a function such as gdk_pixmap_colormap_create_from_xpm can be used, as in:

  char *pixfile = "foo.xpm";
  GtkWidget *top, *box, *pixw;
  GdkPixmap *pixmap, *pixmap_mask;

  top = gtk_window_new (GKT_WINDOW_TOPLEVEL);
  box = gtk_hbox_new (FALSE, 4);
  gtk_conainer_add (GTK_CONTAINER(top), box);
 
  pixmap = gdk_pixmap_colormap_create_from_xpm (
               NULL, gtk_widget_get_colormap(top),
               &pixmap_mask, NULL, pixfile);
  pixw = gtk_pixmap_new (pixmap, pixmap_mask);
  gdk_pixmap_unref (pixmap);
  gdk_pixmap_unref (pixmap_mask);