Elongated, rectangular stucco and glass window with an Arabic inscription, representing the phrase Allāh alladhī lā [ilāha illā huwa]. The panel shows the main characteristics of Arabic inscriptions integrated into qamariyyāt: the use of yellow glass for the letters and the perforated background.
Allāh alladhī lā [ilāha illā huwa] (O God, who [is the only God])
Coarse-grained gypsum plaster; colourless glass (with a greyish or greenish tint); coloured glass (three shades of yellow including orange colour); wooden frame
The latticework was carved into a rectangular stucco panel with a porous surface and inlaid with colourless and coloured sheet glass. The pieces of glass are fixed onto the back of the lattice with a thin layer (c.1.5–2mm) of gypsum plaster.
The thickness of the stucco panel is c.15–19mm. The stucco panel was cast in a wooden frame. The dimensions of the frame are c.50 × 40–45 × 30mm.
The design of the latticework has two levels. The lettering (level 0) was carved out of the stucco panel with sharp, knife-like tools. The second level (level –1), which lies 5–7mm below level 0, shows regularly spaced perforations. The holes were pierced with a metal or wooden pin in the stucco before it was fully set. They vary between 11 and 12mm in diameter and are slightly tapered towards the back. The distance between the holes is 5–8mm. All holes are backed with colourless glass. The main design and the perforations have been worked in such a way that the incident light is directed downwards into the room.
The pieces of glass were cut according to the design of the latticework using a glass-cutter. The glass sheets from which the pieces were cut are mouth blown. A few pieces of glass show uneven surfaces. The features are, however, not specific enough to suggest the production technique. The coloured glass (1.5–2mm) is slightly thicker than the colourless (c.1mm).
The window shows fractures and losses in the latticework, particularly on the left side of the panel. The back of the panel is also damaged. In several places, the thin layer of stucco in which the pieces of glass are embedded has come away completely, and the pieces of glass are missing. There are signs of earlier restorations. These repairs involved refixing and supplementing the thin plaster layer in which the pieces of glass are embedded. Various materials (plaster, clay?) have been employed to fill in the losses.
There are traces of blue paint along the front edges of the latticework.
The stucco and glass panel shows all the characteristic features of Arabic inscriptions integrated into qamariyyāt: the cursive script, the use of yellow glass for the letters, and the perforated background.
In contrast to the inscriptions preserved today in museum collections as isolated panels, most of them were originally part of a larger stucco and glass window composed of several individual panels, as documented by 19th-century architects and archaeologists, among them Pascal Coste (IG_130, IG_294), James William Wild (IG_436), Jules Bourgoin (IG_461, IG_462), and Melchior de Vogüé (IG_71–73).
The formula Allāh alladhī lā [ilāha illā huwa] represented in this panel, appears verbatim in the Qurʾan (20:98, 59:22, 59:23). Though parts of the quotation are missing, the artisan certainly intended to refer to them. This religious formula is of great importance within the Islamic belief system, as it emphasizes the unity and oneness of God. In a slightly modified form, it forms the first part of the shahāda, the Islamic testimony of faith. Besides that, it is also featured in various religious practices. For example, it is pronounced repeatedly as part of dhikr, a practice performed by Muslims (particularly Sufis) to remember and worship God.
The panel is produced according to the traditional method used in the manufacture of qamariyyāt in Egypt during the Ottoman period (see Technique). Just as most of the Islamic stucco and glass windows made in Egypt and examined within this project, the pieces of glass were cut out of mouth-blown sheet glass in the shapes of the openings of the latticework and fixed to the back by a thin layer of plaster.
According to the museum records, the window dates to the 17th century. However, the good state of preservation of the stucco lattice raises doubts about this early dating. If the window had actually been installed in a building in the 17th century, we would expect to observe clearer traces of weathering.
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).
Herz, M. (1902). Le musée national du Caire. Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 3. Pér. 28, 45–59, 497–505.
Volait, M. (2021). Antique Dealing and Creative Reuse in Cairo and Damascus 1850–1890. Leiden: Brill.
Ware, W. R. (1893, May 22). [Letter to Luigi Palma di Cesnola]. MET Archives (W 229), New York City, NY, United States.