This stained-glass window consists of four panels. In the rectangular middle panel (1) an Arabic inscription interspersed with red flowers in two cartouches one above the other is flanked by two cypress trees, framed on each side by a border with tendrils of red and blue four-petalled flowers. Below, an oblong panel shows a flower tendril (2). On both sides, three identical compositions with flowers in a blue vase flank the two central panels (3a–b). The flowers are arranged symmetrically along the central axis. Tulips, carnations, roses, and lilies are easily reconginizable. The vase is flanked by two flower stems and framed by a segmental arch. Contrary to Islamic stucco and glass windows of the same type, the flowers are depicted in a naturalistic way. A border of red, yellow-green, and blue circles frames the individual motifs of the three main panels. A whitish background with regularly arranged dots forms the background of all four panels.

The present window is a replica of a type of stucco and glass windows widespread in Egypt during the Ottoman period. It combines three standard motifs of qamariyyāt, which are Arabic inscriptions in yellow (gold) within a cartouche, cypress trees, and flowers in a vase. Whereas the first two motifs are simplified versions of their Islamic counterparts, the depiction of flowers in a vase remains close to its prototypes (see for instance IG_7, IG_166, IG_178, IG_255, IG_356), although there are obvious differences to Islamic examples, especially regarding the naturalistic depiction of the flowers here.

By the early 20th century, motifs such as the cypress tree or the flowers in a vase were already well known in the West, as richly illustrated books with depictions of such windows were circulating in Europe from the second half of the 19th century. Among the most important publications is Émile Prisse d’Avennes’ L’Art arabe d’apreÌs les monuments du Kaire (IG_30), published in 1877 and presented to a large public at the 1878 Exposition Universelle in Paris (Prisse d’Avennes [son], 1896, p. 53; Volait, 2013, pp. 107–108). Prisse d’Avennes included no fewer than four colour plates illustrating traditional qamariyyāt, among them the cypress tree (IG_42) and the flowers in a vase (IG_43) that may have inspired the French architect Henri Saladin (1851–1923), who designed the stained-glass window on behalf of Moser (see below).

Both motifs are widespread in Islamic decorative arts. They can also be found in numerous other media, such as ceramics, wood panelling, wall paintings, and textiles, over a long period of time, and in both sacred and profane contexts. Among the most sophisticated examples of stucco and glass windows with the flowers in a vase motif are those in the Sultan’s Lodge (hünkâr kasrı) of the Yeni Cami in Istanbul (1661–1663, date of the windows uncertain). According to Sarah Keller (Keller 2020, p. 35), the latter windows are of particular importance with regard to the replica discussed here, as Saladin included a description of the above-mentioned stucco and glass windows of the Yeni Cami in his 1907 Manuel d’art musulman (IG_45), where he wrote: ‘Ces vitraux sont très fins de dessin, d’une harmonie générale ton jaune avec des fleurs blues, blanches, rouges et quelques notes turquoise se détachant sur le réseau de plâtre percé d’une quantité de petits trous ronds vitrés de verre blanc qui forment à la vue un pointillé blanc et brillant excessivement fin.’ (‘These windows are of very refined design, with a harmonious general palette of yellows, while blue, white, and red flowers, and some notes of turquoise stand out from the plaster matrix, which is pierced by a number of small round holes glazed with clear glass; these present to the view a stippling of brilliant white points that is extremely fine.’) (Saladin, 1907, vol. 1, p. 533, note 1). The perforated stucco surface of the Ottoman windows, which caught Saladin’s attention, also played a central role in Moser’s replica. In order to enhance the authentic appearance of the window, executed in Western technique using lead cames instead of a stucco grille and a thin layer of plaster to structure the design and hold the pieces of glass in place, Saladin gave clear instructions to the Parisian glass-painter August Bruin (active 1872–1908), who executed the windows in the spring of 1908. Two letters, written by Saladin one year after the completion of the window, tell us more about the inventive technique applied by the Parisian glass-painter. Thus for the background Bruin used white opalescent glass from which holes have been etched out at regular intervals to replicate the characteristics of Islamic windows.

Apparently, Saladin was not entirely convinced by the effect achieved, as in May 1909 he proposed to Moser that an additional layer of céruse épaisse (lead white) (BHM, Saladin, 12 May 1909) be applied to the window, in order to achieve the desired effect, which was shown in a watercolour drawing (IG_65) enclosed in Saladin’s letter written the following day (BHM, Saladin 13 May 1909). However, it seems that this working-over was not executed as described, as during the examination of the window, no paint could be observed on the opalescent glass. Instead, all the lead cames were been covered with white lead to enhance the effect of traditional stucco grilles.

Like other 19th-century amateurs (see IG_426–IG_431, IG_48–IG_59, IG_91, IG_322–IG_328, IG_484–IG_487), the eccentric Swiss collector and traveller to the East Henri Moser-Charlottenfels (1844–1923), who spent various years in Paris where he socialized with the city’s cultural elite, had a fumoir arabe installed in his home, Charlottenfels Castle in Neuhausen (Switzerland). This was done to present part of his growing collection of Islamic art (Giese, 2016; Giese, 2019a–c). Saladin, who took over the planning of the neo-Islamic interior in 1907, created an assemblage of original architectural pieces from Moser’s collection and contemporary replicas, among them the stained-glass window discussed here. The latter was sent to Neuhausen on 19 May 1908 (BHM, Bruin 19 May 1908), and Moser confirmed its delivery at Charlottenfels Castle in a letter to Bruin dated 3 June 1908 (BHM, Moser 3 June 1908).

Together with a wooden mashrabiyya of supposedly North African origin, Saladin’s replica contributed to the exotic atmosphere of the interior, which was donated to the Bernisches Historisches Museum together with Moser’s collection in 1914 and reinstalled in Bern as part of the museum's permanent exhibition (BHM, 109499). Located next to the newly built Moser Hall, a neo-Timurid exhibition room designed by Saladin (Kaufmann, 2019), where part of the Orientalische Sammlung Henri Moser-Charlottenfels was exhibited, the Fumoir is presented to the public in its new setting since 1922 (Zeller, 1915; Kläy, 1991).