Square stucco and glass window with flowers-in-vase motif. The blossoming flowers are arranged symmetrically along a central axis. Despite the stylized depiction of the flowers, the types – roses, tulips, and lilies – are recognizable. Three flowers grow to the right and left of the vase. The motif is enclosed in a double frame, which consists of a rectangular outer frame and an inner frame with a lambrequin-like upper border. The spandrels above the inner frame are decorated with palmette-like ornaments. The main motif as well as the floral ornaments in the spandrels are set against a perforated, slightly recessed background.

Fine-grained gypsum plaster; colourless glass; coloured glass (green, blue, yellow); red flashed glass

The stucco latticework shows minor losses, but is generally intact. On the back of the window the damages are more extensive: on the right side (viewed from the back), the thin layer of plaster in which the pieces of glass are embedded is completely detached, except for an area at the upper edge; the pieces of glass are missing.

There are signs of earlier restorations at lower left and the upper right edge. The repairs involved refixing loose pieces of glass and supplementing the thin plaster layer in which the pieces of glass are embedded.

At an unknown date, the front of the stucco lattice was painted light brown; the reverse side looks as if it has been painted light grey.

This stucco and glass window was produced according to the traditional method used in the manufacture of qamariyyāt in North Africa to this day (see Technique) and represents a motif that was widespread in Egypt during the Ottoman period. Similar windows have survived in several of the collections studied (see for instance IG_7, IG_166, IG_178, IG_255, IG_356).

The representation of flowers in a vase is a widespread motif in Islamic arts that can be found across numerous media, such as ceramics, wood panelling, wall paintings, textiles or stucco and glass windows, over a long period in both sacred and profane contexts. Among the most sophisticated examples are the stucco and glass windows from the apartments of the Crown Prince at the Topkapı Serail (early 17th century CE, date of the windows uncertain) and the Sultan’s Lodge (Hünkâr Kasrı) of the Yeni Cami (1661–1663 CE, date of the windows uncertain), both in Istanbul.

Stucco and glass windows with flowers in a vase aroused the interest of Western artists and architects, as is attested by a significant number of book illustrations, sketches, and paintings (see for instance IG_43, IG_118, IG_149, IG_153, IG_437, IG_443, IG_461), as well as by the replicas of such windows installed in Arab-style interiors across Europe (IG_54–IG_59, IG_64, IG_91, IG_431).

The flowers-and-vase motif of the window discussed here stands out from other qamariyyāt of this type due to its lambrequin-like frame. Its design is of comparatively high quality, as individual flowers can be recognized. The Italian photographer Beniamino Facchinelli (1839–1895) documented an almost identical qamariyya at the Museum of Arab Art in Cairo (IG_206); it is possible that the window here is a copy of the example displayed in the museum.

According to the museum records, the window dates to the 18th century. There are, however, some indications that point to a later production date: firstly, the lambrequin-like frame already mentioned, which is reminiscent of the Ottoman Baroque style, and secondly, the good state of preservation of the window. The stucco latticework shows no signs of weathering, which we would have expected if the window had been installed and exposed to the elements prior to purchase.

A hand-written letter dated 22 May 1893 to Luigi Palma di Cesnola (1832–1904), the then director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York provides information on the provenance of the window. The author of this letter, the American architect William Robert Ware (1832–1915), writes that he had acquired this and various other windows in the spring of 1890 from several well-known art and antiquity dealers in Cairo. He mentions [Gaspare] Giuliana, [E. M.] Malluk, [Nicolas?] Tano, and [Panayotis] Kyticas (on their commercial activities see Volait, 2021, pp. 60–64). In his letter, Ware further states that he was told that the windows ‘had been taken from old houses’ and ‘from old mosques, that had been dismantled’, but that he was not able to get ‘any precise information as to their original places’ (Ware, 1893).

In 1893, Ware donated this window as part of a lot of 17 qamariyyāt (IG_169, IG_171–186) to The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Ware, 1893).