The main motif of this stucco and glass window is a tree with leaves, which are grouped into eight, symmetrically arranged, round clusters. The clusters on each side are framed by two intertwined semicircular arches. The trunk of the tree rests on a semicircular elevation with a geometric design. It is flanked by two cypress trees. The motif is framed by a dotted arch. Triangles are set in the spandrels above the arch. The main design is worked out in relief against a slightly recessed perforated background.

The window with its original wooden frame is mounted in another wide wooden frame with glass protection.

Gypsum plaster; colourless glass; coloured glass (three shades of green, turquoise, two shades of blue, two shades of orange colour, purple)

The front of the latticework shows cracks and losses. Some of the losses have been repaired with yellowish plaster. Several of the pieces of glass are missing, along with the plaster layer embedding them.

Residues of fibre and adhesive indicate that the back of the panel was once covered by a coarse fabric. It is not documented why and when the textile was attached. However, it can be assumed that it was glued to the rear of the panel to prevent further glass loss and to stabilize the latticework. It is possible that the measure dates from the late 19th century and was done to secure the window for transportation, better handling, and maybe display. Two other windows held at Glasgow Museums were treated the same way (IG_289, IG_290). In these windows, the textile is still attached to the back of the panel.

This stucco and glass window corresponds iconographically and technically to one of the standard types of qamariyya widespread in Egypt during the Ottoman period. In contrast to other windows with the representations of the Tree of Life, this example shows a much more abstract version of the motif. It is therefore not possible to say with certainty whether the attribution is correct.

The representation of the Tree of Life has a long tradition across time and cultures. It can also be found in the Islamic world, where the tree that flourishes in paradise, called ṣidrat al-muntahā or ṭūbā, alludes to the Tree of Immortality described in the Qurʾan (20:120). Representations in various media, including ceramics, textiles, mosaics, murals, and stone or wood carvings, highlight the widespread use of the motif in the Islamic realm.

Windows showing the same motif can be found in Delort de Gléon’s collection of Islamic art, bequeathed by the collector’s wife Marie Augustine Angélina Delort de Gléon to the Musée du Louvre in 1912 (Delort de Gléon, 1914); see for instance IG_6, IG_8, IG_16, IG_21, IG_24, IG_28. Due to the strong stylization of the motif, however, this window clearly differs from the examples in the Louvre. The almost ornamental design of the leaf crown, for example, has no parallel in the Louvre windows.

According to the museum records, this window forms part of a lot of six qamariyyāt (IG_288–293) acquired by the Glasgow Museums in London in 1896 from the Pre-Raphaelite painter, writer, and collector Henry Wallis (1830–1916). Wallis was an expert in Islamic art and especially ceramics, as several of his publications attest (see for instance Wallis 1885, Wallis 1893, Wallis 1894, Wallis 1899). Due to the lack of documentation, we do not know where Wallis acquired the windows. The manufacturing technique, however, suggest that the window was made in an Egyptian workshop. The composition of the glass provides evidence that indirectly supports this hypothesis. Six pieces of glass (of amber and green colour) were chemically examined and found to be plant-ash glass. At least two of the pieces of glass (both of turquoise colour) were cut from discs of crown glass. The production of sheet glass using the crown-glass process and using plant ash as a flux was widespread in the Islamic world.

According to the Hungarian architect Max Herz (1856–1819), however, the production of flat glass in Egypt had come to a standstill in the 19th century, and flat glass was imported from Europe (Herz, 1902, p. 53). If this is correct, then the window must have been made before the 19th century. One argument in favour of a pre-19th-century date is the poor state of preservation of the window, which suggests that the window was once installed in a building and was not produced directly for the art market, as other windows (e.g. IG_254–257, IG_170). The stylized representation of the motif, however, contradicts a dating before the 19th century. As far as the glass is concerned, it is possible that older glass was reused in the manufacture of this window.