In this photograph taken by the Armenian Orientalist painter and photographer G. (probably Gabriel) Lekegian (active c.1880–1920), a stucco and glass window with the motif of a vase of flowers is depicted in isolation. The vase, within a pointed arch, holds four different kinds of stylized flowers. The cartouche above the arch bears an Islamic inscription.

This photograph by Lekegian is part of a collection of eighteen black and white photographs (albumen prints) by the artist held in the Universitätsbibliothek Basel (‘7 (1880–1920) Objekte islamischer Kunst im Musée Arabe in Kairo / Photog. Art G. Lekegian & C.’, Cairo, 1880–1920, c.28 × 22cm, Universitätsbibliothek Basel, Nachlass Wilhelm Sarasin-His (1882–1950), NL 232: U: 7). The window with the motif of a vase of flowers can be seen in photograph number 14 and bears the inscriptions ‘Musée Arabe. Salle No. 5’ and ‘Fenêtre en plâtre découpé et vitres en couleur portant la phrase (Il n’y a pas de divinité en dehors de Dieu)’.
By comparing the window in this photograph with the one flanked by wooden tables in another photograph taken by Lekegian (IG_481), it can be deduced that Lekegian may have captured the same window in the two photographs, which both bear a label with the number ‘42’.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the photograph by Lekegian described here served as ‘scientific documentation’, being illustrated in the second volume of the Manuel d’art musulman (1907) by Henri Saladin (1851–1923) and Gaston Migeon (1861–1930), on p. 369 (‘Fig. 319. – Kamariah. Vitrail de plâtre ajouré, art du Caire, XIVe–XVe siècle. – Cliché Lekegian.’, IG_45). This handbook contributed to the advancement of Islamic art as a scientific discipline and covered both architecture and craftsmanship. Text and image complement each other, as the text provides information on the colours of the glass, which are not identifiable in Lekegian’s black and white photograph.
Lekegian’s photograph was also reproduced in Max Herz, Catalogue sommaire des monuments exposés dans le Musée national de l’art arabe, Cairo: G. Lekegian & Cie, 1895 (IG_161).