Photographs made by Désiré Charnay depicting the Grand Palace at Mitla, the Governor's Palace at Uxmal, a convent at Chichen Itza, and a large stone tablet at Palenque.
Biographical/Historical note:
Claude Joseph Désiré Charnay (1828-1915), a French archeologist and pioneer of expeditionary photography, explored and documented Mexico and Central America. He was commissioned by the French government in 1857 to collect artifacts and document archeological sites in Mexico. Charnay completed three tours between 1858-1860, 1880-1882, and 1886; the latter two trips were funded by New York resident Pierre Lorillard and were largely photographic expeditions. Charnay later went to Madagascar (1863), North America (1867-70), South America (1875), Australia and Oceania (1878), and Central America (1880-83). He was among the first to use photography to record Meso-American archaeological sites, as well as the Indigenous peoples of Mexico whom he encountered.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 4449
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Casts made by Charnay held in the anthropology collections of the National Museum of Natural History in accessions 042420 and 013211.
Contained in:
Numbered manuscripts 1850s-1980s (some earlier)
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo Lot 4449, Désiré Charnay photographs of Mitla, Uxmal, Chichen Itza, and Palenque, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution