This stucco and glass window corresponds iconographically to one of the standard types of shamsiyyāt widespread in the Maghreb during the Ottoman period. Interlaced star ornaments are a recurring element in Islamic arts across time and media (see for instance Broug, 2013; Azzam, 2021, pp. 68–127). However, there are several formal characteristics, especially the purely geometric design and the complex interlace pattern, that allow us to narrow down the origin of the window to Tunisia. This geographical classification is supported by the description and illustration of a similarly designed window by the French architect Henri Saladin (1851–1923), who in his 1908 publication Tunis et Kairouan reports on a visit to a workshop in Tunis (Saladin, 1908, p. 75), where he commissioned several stucco and glass windows for the Tunisian pavilion at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris (IG_248, see also IG_92).
The window discussed here finds close parallels in two other stucco and glass windows of assumed Tunisian origin, one also held at the MAK – Museum für angewandte Kunst in Vienna (see IG_363, IG_364, IG_366) and the other at the Musée de Grenoble (IG_170). Also similar are the stucco and glass windows made for the Tunisian pavilion at the 1867 Exposition Universelle of Paris (see IG_270 and IG_271).
In several of these windows (IG_170, IG_363, IG_364), the star ornament is framed by an arch supported on pillars (or columns). The arch and columns are missing from this window. The motif is instead surrounded by a rectangular ornament, as is also the case with IG_366. In all windows the ornamental frame, whether rectangular or arched, is carved out in relief, but not perforated, and the area is therefore not backed with coloured glass.
Shamsiyyāt with geometric star ornamentation from the Maghreb are represented in Orientalist paintings by European artists, although much less frequently than stucco and glass windows with figurative motifs from Egypt or Turkey. Among the few examples are an undated oil painting by the Vienna-born Orientalist painter Rudolf Ernst (1854–1932) (see IG_137) and the oil painting Après le bain (1894) by the French Orientalist painter Paul-Louis Bouchard (1853–1937) (see IG_148).
The window discussed here was made according to the traditional technique used in the manufacture of shamsiyyāt in the Maghreb up to this day (see Technique). As with the stucco and glass window of assumed Tunisian origin held at the Musée de Grenoble (IG_170) and the other shamsiyya held at the MAK – Museum für angewandte Kunst in Vienna (IG_363, IG_364, IG_366), the wooden frame of this window was reinforced by wooden struts inserted into the frame’s corners. This type of reinforcement is not observed in the technically similar stucco and glass windows from Egypt; it could therefore be a Tunisian peculiarity.
Although the windows in the MAK’s collection are technically identical to the window at the Musée de Grenoble, they clearly differ in terms of the quality of their design and execution. The MAK windows’are rather well crafted, and their design is more sophisticated than the Grenoble window.
Windows of this type were traditionally installed in the upper parts of walls. To direct the light downwards into the room, the openings in the stucco lattice were cut out of the stucco panel at a downwards-pointing angle. The star ornamentation in the main field of this window is cut at a very sharp angle, which could indicate that the window was installed very high up in the walls of the building. However, there is no clear evidence of weathering on the back, i.e., the outside of the window. We would have expected to find signs of weathering if the window had been exposed to the elements for a longer period.
The results of the glass analyses carried out in the project point to a production date in the 19th century: the piece of colourless glass from this window is a pure soda-lime glass. Glass of this composition was only produced from the 19th century onwards and primarily in Europe.
Due to the lack of documentation, the exact origin of the window and the date from which it first entered a museum collection are unknown. So far, we only know that it formed part of the collection of the Orientalisches Museum in Vienna, founded in 1874 (from 1886 the k.k. Österreichisches Handels-Museum). In 1897, Arthur von Scala (1845–1909), the director of the Handels-Museum, left the museum to become the new director of the k.k. Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie (Wieninger, 2012). On his initiative, this and a few other stucco and glass windows were transferred to the k.k. Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie (today the MAK – Museum für angewandte Kunst) in 1907.
At an unknown date, a replica of this window was made. This copy is also part of the MAK’s collection (see IG_365).
