The design of this stucco and glass window consists of a green cypress tree flanked by two red carnations. The tree and the flowers are framed by a semicircular arch. The spandrels above the arch are deorated with three petals. The motif is worked out in relief against a perforated background that lies c.10–14mm below the surface.
Gypsum plaster, colourless glass with yellowish and greenish tint; coloured glass (green, turquoise green, blue, two shades of yellow), red flashed glass
Latticework carved into a rectangular stucco panel and inlaid with pieces of colourless and coloured sheet glass.
To create the stucco panel, gypsum plaster was poured into a wooden frame. The openings in the lattice were cut out of the stucco panel, when it was not yet completely set, using sharp tools. Once the latticework was finished, the coloured glass pieces, cut to the size of the openings using a glass cutter, were embedded in a thin layer of gypsum plaster and fixed to the back. This layer is on average 2.3–2.5mm thick. The thickness of the stucco panel is c.22–25mm.
The design of the latticework is laid out on two levels: the main design (level 0) was carved out of the stucco panel using sharp, knife-like tools and following the lines of a preliminary drawing incised in the surface of the panel. Traces of the incisions are still visible in some places on the front. The second level (level –1), which lies c.10–14mm below level 0, shows irregularly spaced, conical perforations with diameters of c.10–14mm. The holes were pierced with a metal or wooden pin in the stucco before it was fully set. The main design and the perforations have been worked in such a way that the incident light is directed slightly downwards into the room.
The holes are backed with colourless glass. Green, turquoise, blue, purple, yellow, and red flashed glass was used in the floral and geometric motifs. Small, elongated bubbles as well as uneven surfaces indicate that the glass sheets are mouth-blown. The bubbles run in parallel, suggesting the use of the broad-sheet method. The glass pieces have a thickness of c.1.5mm.
This stucco and glass window is preserved in its original wooden frame. Probably around 50% of the glass is original.
The window was restored as part of a master’s thesis project (Rautenberg, 2003). During the restoration, the object was carefully cleaned, minor defects in the stucco lattice were repaired, and missing pieces of glass were replaced (Rautenberg, 2003, pp. 66–74). In accordance with current conservation standards, the additions are distinguishable from the original materials.
There is evidence of an earlier restoration involving the replacement of glass pieces and the use of shellac as an adhesive to consolidate fissures in the stucco lattice (see Rautenberg, 2003, pp. 14, 21–24).
From a technical and iconographic point of view, this stucco and glass window corresponds to one of the standard types of qamariyya widespread in Egypt during the Ottoman period. Similar windows can be found in several of the collections studied (see for instance IG_18, IG_173, IG_355). In contrast to these windows, the cypress tree in this example is flanked by two carnations rather than entwined with flower tendrils.
The cypress trees is a widespread motif in Islamic arts. It can be found in numerous other media, such as ceramics, wood panelling, wall paintings, and textiles, over a long period of time, and in both sacred and profane contexts. Stucco and glass windows representing this motif are illustrated in 19th- and early 20th-century publications (see for instance IG_42, IG_47). The large number of paintings and drawings of stucco and glass windows with this motif demonstrate the great fascination of Western artists and architects for such windows (e.g., IG_118, IG_136, IG_150, IG_153, IG_438, IG_439, IG_468). The growing interest is also evidenced by the existence of several replicas of such windows installed in Arab-style interiors across Europe (IG_50, IG_59, IG_64, IG_427–430).
The window belongs to the old holdings of the Grassi Museum, which were inventoried in 2022 (Rautenberg, 2023, p. 3). There is no information on the provenance or the date of acquisition of the window. The construction of the old Grassi Museum in 1892–1895, which originally housed the Museum für Völkerkunde and the Kunstgewerbemuseum Leipzig, provides a terminus post quem for the window’s entry into the collection. The technological and material characteristics of the window, however, provide clues as to the possible origin and approximate age of the window. The design and the manufacturing technique of the window suggest that the window was made in an Egyptian workshop, possibly in the 19th century (see Technique).
Glass analyses carried out as part of a master’s thesis show that the pieces of glass may have been recycled of different origins (Rautenberg, 2003, p. 30). Some of the glass may have been imported from Europe: its characteristics indicate that the glass sheets were produced using the broad-sheet method. The technique was not widespread in the Islamic world and more commonly used in Europe. Interestingly, the Hungarian architect Max Herz (1856–1819) states in 1902 that sheet glass was imported to Egypt from Europe from the 19th century, because local sheet-glass production had come to a standstill (Herz, 1902, p. 53).
Herz, M. (1902). Le musée national du Caire. Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 3. Pér. 28, 45–59, 497–505.
Rautenber, Anika (2023). Ein islamisches Stuck-Glas-Fenster aus dem GRASSI Museum Leipzig – Untersuchungen zum Objekt, Konzeption zur Konservierung und Restaurierung sowie die Durchführung der Restaurierung. Unpublished Master thesis, Fachhochschule Erfurt.
