Research
Prisse d’Avennes states that the stucco and glass window illustrated comes from the Sayyida Zaynab Mosque in Cairo. The first notice of this mosque is its renovation in 951 AH / 1547 AD. There was a further restoration in 1171 AH / 1768 AD, and between 1297 AH / 1881 AD and 1304 AH / 1887 AD Julius Franz Pasha, as director of the Technical Waqf Department, rebuilt the mosque. Prisse d’Avennes himself speaks of a recent renovation, during which the window depicted was removed (Prisse d’Avennes, 1869–1877, vol. 1, p. 278). As a dated preliminary drawing for this print by his hand shows, he was there in 1858–59 (IG_132).
Prisse d’Avennes dates the window to the 14th AD century for stylistic reasons, but it may have been more recent. Cypresses entwined with a flower stem are a widespread motif. Comparable windows can be found in the Mamluk mosques of al-Muʾayyad (818–26 AH / 1415–22 AD) and of Qijmas al-Ishaqi (886 AH /1481 AD) in Cairo. These mosque windows may date from more recent times, but probably follow the design of the original windows (Flood, pp. 141–142, ills 93, 97). Stucco and glass windows with cypresses also are depicted in the Ottoman manuscript Surname-i Hümayun (990 AH / 1582 AD).
Dating
1877
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