Rectangular stucco and glass window showing flowers in a vase. The flowers are arranged symmetrically along the central axis. Despite their stylized depiction, the species of some of the flowers in the vase (roses and lilies) is recognizable. The area to the right and left of the vase is filled with six more flowers. The vase is flanked on either side by two flower stems that spring from the bottom of the panel and two five-petalled blossoms flanking the neck of the vase. The motif is set against a slightly recessed, perforated background, and framed by a semicircular arch. The spandrels above the arch are adorned by three-petalled floral ornament.

The stucco and glass window is preserved in its original wooden frame. The front of the stucco panel is slightly curved forwards, i.e. slightly convex.

Coarse-grained gypsum plaster; colourless glass (with a greyish or greenish tint); coloured glass (three shades of green, two shades of blue, two shades of yellow including orange colour, purple)

The stucco latticework shows a few small fissures (in three of the four the corners), but is intact. Several pieces of glass are missing. There are signs of earlier restorations. These repairs involved refixing loose pieces of glass with adhesive and supplementing the thin plaster layer in which the pieces of glass are embedded with various materials. Gaps or losses along the edges at the back were filled with plaster. Areas have been partially retouched with light brown paint. The corners of the wooden frame has been reinforced with metal brackets.

This stucco and glass window was produced according to the traditional method used in the manufacture of qamariyyāt in North Africa to this day (see Technique) and represents of motif that was widespread in Egypt during the Ottoman period. Similar windows have survived in several of the collections studied (see for instance IG_7, IG_166, IG_178, IG_255, IG_356).

The representation of flowers in a vase is a widespread motif in Islamic arts. It can be found across numerous media, such as ceramics, wood panelling, wall paintings, textiles or stucco and glass windows, over a long period in both sacred and profane contexts. Among the most sophisticated examples are the stucco and glass windows from the apartments of the Crown Prince at the Topkapı Serail (early 17th century CE, date of the windows uncertain) and the Sultan’s Lodge (Hünkâr Kasrı) of the Yeni Cami (1661–1663 CE, date of the windows uncertain), both in Istanbul.

In the 19th century, windows with this motif were very popular with Western architects and artists. The growing interest in such windows is evidenced by numerous 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_54–IG_59, IG_64, IG_91, IG_431).

The window discussed here shows a traditional composition arranged along a central axis. The design is of comparatively high quality, as individual flowers can be recognized.

According to the museum records, the window dates to the 17th century. If the window had actually been installed in a building in the 18th century, we would have expected to observe clearer traces of weathering.

A hand-written letter dated 22 May 1893 to Luigi Palma di Cesnola (1832–1904), the then director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York provides information on the provenance of the window. The author of this letter, the American architect William Robert Ware (1832–1915), writes that he had acquired this and various other windows in the spring of 1890 from several well-known art and antiquity dealers in Cairo. He mentions [Gaspare] Giuliana, [E. M.] Malluk, [Nicolas?] Tano, and [Panayotis] Kyticas (on their commercial activities see Volait, 2021, pp. 60–64). In his letter, Ware further states that he was told that the windows ‘had been taken from old houses’ and ‘from old mosques, that had been dismantled’, but that he was not able to get ‘any precise information as to their original places’ (Ware, 1893).

In 1893, Ware donated this window as part of a lot of 17 qamariyyāt (IG_169, IG_171–186) to The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Ware, 1893).