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IG_361: Stucco glass window with flowers in a vase
(Oesterreich_Wien_MAK_IG_361)

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Title

Stucco and glass window with flowers in a vase

Type of Object
Artist / Producer
Place of Manufacture
Egypt · ?
Dating
13th century AH / Second half of 19th century AD
Dimensions
59 x 42.5 cm (with frame); 51.5 x 32.5 cm (without frame)

Iconography

Description

The design of this stucco and glass window consists of flowers in a vase. The flowers are arranged symmetrically along the central axis. Contrary to Islamic stucco and glass windows of the same type, the flowers are depicted in a naturalistic way. Nevertheless, it is not possible to determine the exact species. The vase is set on a low base (a small table or stool) and flanked by tulips and carnations. The motif is framed by an ogee arch. Stylizised six-petalled flowers are set in the spandrels above the arch. A rectangular double frame decorated with blue dots surrounds the composition.

The window is preserved in a wooden frame 53mm wide. The frame is painted brown.

Iconclass Code
25G41 · flowers
25G41(CARNATION) · flowers: carnation
25G41(TULIP) · flowers: tulip
41A6711 · flowers in a vase
Iconclass Keywords
Inscription

Label on front side (top left): Fenster 2

Technique / State

State of Conservation and Restorations

This stucco and glass window is well preserved. There are some losses in the latticework, and glass losses along the edges (frame, right spandrel), as well as in flower motif (the red carnation on the right). There are no traces of restoration.

Technique

Latticework inlaid with colourless and coloured glass. The pieces of glass are fixed on the back of the lattice in a 1–1.5mm-thick plaster layer. The stucco layer fixing the pieces of glass to the back of the panel has been dressed with a serrated tool, possibly to remove excess plaster.

The majority of the plaster panels of stucco and glass windows examined in the project were produced by pouring plaster into a wooden frame with a hollow profile. The c.30mm-thick panel of this window was most likely not produced in its present frame, but has been fitted into the frame with plaster and probably been fixed with nails. The stucco panel is however not firmly attached to the frame – there is some play between the frame and the stucco panel. The panel is set back about 9mm from the edge of the frame on the back and about 7mm on the front.

The design of the latticework of traditional stucco and glass windows of this type is usually carved out of the stucco panel with sharp, knife-like tools following a template incised in the surface of the panel. There are no traces on the latticework of this window that testify to this process. The surfaces are relatively smooth and even, suggesting that the latticework has been made by casting instead of having been carved out of a solid plaster panel.

The design has three levels: The first level (level 0) is composed of the arch and frame. The second level (level –1) is composed of the flowers in a vase motif; it lies 4mm below level 0. The third level (level –2) lies c.8mm below level 0; it consists of the background of irregularly formed openings, which are much unlike the perforated backgrounds common in Islamic stucco and glass windows. The design has been conceived in such a way that the incident light is directed slightly downwards into the room.

Some of the colourless and coloured pieces of glass show small, elongated bubbles suggesting that the sheet glass was mouth-blown. The colourless glass has an average thickness of c.2mm, the coloured glass of 1–3mm. The pieces of glass are cut according to the design of the latticework. Scratch marks along the edges of some of the pieces of glass suggest that a diamond cutter was used to cut the glass.

History

Research

This stucco and glass window corresponds iconographically and technically to one of the standard types of qamariyya widespread in Egypt during the Ottoman period. Windows with the flowers and vase motif have survived in several of the collections studied (see for instance IG_7, IG_166, IG_178, IG_255, IG_356). The motif recurs in Islamic decorative arts and appears in numerous media, such as ceramics, wood panelling, wall paintings, textiles, and stucco and glass windows, and over a long period of time, in both sacred and profane contexts. The motif aroused the interest of Western artists and architects in the 19th century, 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_48, IG_49, IG_57–IG_59, IG_64, IG_91, IG_431).

The window discussed here shows a traditional composition arranged along a central axis. However, the naturalistic, yet imprecise rendering of the flower species in the vase, as well as the unusual background decor, distinguish this example from Islamic stucco and glass windows with the same motif. As with the stylistically and technically related stucco and glass window MAK, 3606 (IG_360), we assume that the window was designed by a Western architect during the second half of the 19th century, when interest in Islamic ornament and stucco and glass windows was at its peak. However, the place of manufacture remains unclear. The production of the window is only partially in line with the traditional technology: While the glass pieces are fixed on the back in the traditional qamariyya style, the latticework seems to have been made using the casting technique and not cut out of a solid plaster plate. Despite these discrepancies, it cannot be ruled out that the window was produced in an Egyptian workshop according to the architect’s design. The sheet glass may have been imported from Europe, as mentioned by the Hungarian architect Max Herz (Herz, 1902, p. 53).

Owing to the lack of documentation, the original purpose of the window – be it for use in an Arab-style interior or for sale on the art market – and the date at which the window entered a museum collection are unknown. So far it can only be proven that the window formed part of the collection of the Orientalisches Museum in Vienna, founded in 1874 (from 1886 the k.k. Österreichisches Handelsmuseum). In 1907, it was transferred to the k.k. Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie (today the MAK – Museum für angewandte Kunst). The transfer was done on the initiative of Arthur von Scala (1845–1909), who left the k.k. Österreichisches Handelsmuseum in 1897 to become the new director of the k.k. Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie (Wieninger, 2012).

Like the stylistically and technically related stucco and glass window MAK, 3606 (IG_360), this window served as a direct model for the stucco and glass window (central panel 2) installed in the mashrabiyya of the Arab Room of the k.k. Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie (MAK, H 3358-4, IG_264). The mashrabiyya and the stucco and glass windows were designed by the Czech architects František Schmoranz (1845–1892) and Johann Machytka (1844–1887) between 1881 and 1883. The date of manufacture of the window discussed here can therefore be further narrowed down, as it must have been created before 1883.

Dating
13th century AH / Second half of 19th century AD
Period
1850 – 1883
Previous Location
Place of Manufacture
Egypt · ?
Owner

Since 1907, k.k. Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie (today MAK – Museum für angewandte Kunst), Vienna

Previous Owner

?–1907 k.k. Orientalisches Museum (since 1886 k.k. Handelsmuseum), Vienna

Inventory Number
OR 3607

Bibliography and Sources

Literature

Herz, M. (1902). Le musée national du Caire (premier article). Gazette des Beaux-Arts, *28*, 45–59.

Wieninger, J. (2012). Das Orientalische Museum in Wien: 1874–1906. Austriaca, *37*, 143–158.

Image Information

Name of Image
Oesterreich_Wien_MAK_IG_361
Credits
© MAK/Christian Mendez
Owner

Since 1907, k.k. Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie (today MAK – Museum für angewandte Kunst), Vienna

Inventory

Reference Number
IG_361
Author and Date of Entry
Francine Giese 2024; Sophie Wolf 2024