10.7 Cubic feet (consisting of 18 boxes and 9 oversized flat file folders.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Maps
Photographs
Notes
Place:
Detroit (Mich.)
Turkey
Istanbul (Turkey)
Berlin (Germany)
Michigan
Date:
1877-1947
bulk circa 1945
Summary:
The Mehmet Aga-Oglu Papers include writings and notes, photographs, and maps related to Dr. Aga-Oglu's work Corpus of Islamic Metalwork, which was never published due to Dr. Aga-Oglu's death in 1949.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Mehmet Aga-Oglu largely relate to Aga-Oglu's research and writings for his unpublished work Corpus of Islamic Metalwork. The papers include manuscript drafts, research files, printed material, maps, and photographs.
The manuscript drafts include handwritten drafts, citations attached or written onto drafts, and revision notes for his unpublished manuscript. Content includes material related to metalliferous mines, precious and base metals, and traffic of metals in Islamic and non-Islamic countries, as well as unlabeled writings related to astrolabes and synthetic protective coatings for metals.
Research material represents a majority of the records, and consists of accumulated research notes, citation lists, and object sketches. Subjects of the research material are related to metallurgy, iconography, metals commonly used in metalwork, geology and mining, and histories of metalwork in ranging locations or eras.
Printed material contains published articles from periodicals, a bulletin from the Detroit Institute of Arts, catalogues of scholarly publications available for purchase, and reviews of Aga-Oglu's published works.
Graphic materials present in the collection include maps depicting areas such as the Middle East, the northern Arabian Peninsula, and Northern India during different eras, and hand traced maps with marked metalliferous mine locations; and a substantial number of photographs of objects and artworks.
Arrangement:
The Mehmet Aga-Oglu papers are arranged in five series.
Series 1: Manuscript Drafts
Series 2: Research Files
Series 3: Printed Material
Series 4: Maps
Series 5: Photographs
Biographical Note:
Dr. Mehmet Aga-Oglu was an Islamic art historian and professor born on August 4, 1896 at Erivan in Russia Caucasia.
In 1916, Aga-Oglu was awarded a Doctor of Letters in the history, philosophy, and languages of Islamic countries from the University of Moscow. Following his graduation, Aga-Oglu traveled through Turkistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Asia Minor studying Islamic art. Aga-Oglu returned to academia in 1921 at the University of Istanbul where he studied the history of Islam and the Ottoman Empire.
During his time as a student at the University of Istanbul, he traveled extensively to European universities as a part of his program of study. This included studying Near Eastern art and architecture under Dr. Ernst Herzfeld in Berlin; classical and early Christian archaeology and Western art at the University of Jena; and completing his art history studies in Vienna. Aga-Oglu was awarded a Ph.D in philosophy in 1926.
Aga-Oglu was appointed curator by the Department of the National Museum in Istanbul in 1927. In 1929, the city of Detroit recruited Aga-Oglu to build the Department of Near Eastern Art at the Detroit Institute of Arts. In 1933, he was appointed as Chair of the History of Islamic Art at the University of Michigan. He joined the university first as a Freer Fellow and Lecturer and then later became a professor.
Aga-Oglu's accomplishments during his tenure included representing the University of Michigan and the Detroit Institute of Arts at the Millennium Celebration of Firdausi and the Congress of Orientalists in Tehran in 1934; organizing an exhibition of Islamic art at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco in 1937; founding and serving as editor of the periodical Ars Islamica; and serving as a Visiting Professor at the Summer Seminar of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Princeton University in 1935 and 1938.
Following his departure from the University of Michigan in 1938, Aga-Oglu primarily focused on research and writing. His publications include Persian Bookbindings of the Fifteenth Century, History of Islamic Art, and Safawid Rugs and Textiles. From 1948 to 1949, Aga-Oglu consulted for the Textile Museum in Washington D.C.
Beginning in 1940, Aga-Oglu planned, researched, and wrote drafts of his unpublished work Corpus of Islamic Metalwork. His project was intended to be a multi-volume work, but was not completed. Aga-Oglu died on July 4, 1949.
Related Materials:
Aga-Oglu, Mehmet. Mehmet Aga-Oglu collection. The Arthur D. Jenkins Library at The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, Washington, DC.
Provenance:
Donated by Dr. Kamer Aga-Oglu in 1959.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce and publish an item from the Archives is coordinated through the National Museum of Asian Art's Rights and Reproductions department. Please contact the Archives in order to initiate this process.
Mehmet Aga-Oglu Papers. FSA.A.10. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Dr. Kamer Aga-Oglu, 1959.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Sarre, Friedrich Paul Theodor, 1865-1945 Search this
Extent:
150 Linear feet (circa 30,000 items)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Blueprints
Journals (accounts)
Photographs
Clippings
Notebooks
Drawings
Sketchbooks
Articles
Paper squeezes
Correspondence
Diaries
Sketches
Rubbings
Place:
Turkey
Mesopotamia
Bakun, Tall-e (Iran)
Iran
Iraq
Lebanon
Persepolis (Iran)
Pasargadae (Extinct city)
Taq-e Bostan Site (Iran)
Sāmarrāʼ (Iraq)
Syria
Date:
1903-1947
Summary:
An outstanding scholar in the field of Iranian studies, Ernst Herzfeld (1879--1948) explored all phases of Near Eastern culture from the prehistoric period to Islamic times. This collection documents Herzfeld's excavations at Samarra, Persepolis, Pasargadae, and Aleppo and includes correspondence; field notebooks; drawings; sketchbooks; inventories of objects; "squeeze" copies of architectural details; and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
Papers (1899--1962) of German born archaeologist Ernst Emil Herzfeld (1879--1948), a preeminent scholar of Near Eastern and Iranian studies. The collection measures 150 linear feet (circa 30,000 items) and documents Herzfeld's work as a pioneer in the field and sheds light on his excavations at Samarra, Persepolis, Pasargadae, and Aleppo. Formats include correspondence; field notebooks; drawings; sketchbooks; inventories of objects; "squeeze" copies of architectural details; and photographs.
Arrangement:
This collection is organized into seven series.
Series 1: Travel journals
Series 2: Sketchbooks
Series 3: Notebooks
Series 4: Photographic files 1-42
Series 5: Drawings and maps
Series 6: Squeezes
Series 7: Samarra Expedition
Biographical / Historical:
The Ernst Herzfeld Papers document the career of Ernst Herzfeld (1879--1948), a German architect, archaeologist, and historian of Islamic and Pre-Islamic studies. After training as an architect he studied archaeology under Delitzch from 1903 to 1906 at the excavations at Assur in Mesopotamia. A student of Latin, Greek, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Hebrew, Herzfeld received a doctorate in Humanistic Studies at universities in Munich and Berlin in 1907. His work with Friedrich Sarre to survey the monuments of the Tigris-Euphrates valleys resulted in landmark studies in architectural history, published in 1911 and 1920.
In 1920 Herzfeld was appointed to the chair of Historical Geography in Berlin and began his excavation at Samarra. Herzfeld's work there led to a six-volume publication. He published widely throughout his life on the sources of Islamic architecture and ornament, including the Royal Palace at Persepolis.
From 1934 until the end of his life Herzfeld spent his time producing many books and articles, lecturing, and working at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton (1936--1945.) Many of his works continue to be published post-humously.
1879 July 23 -- Born in Celle, Germany.
1897 -- Received diploma from Joachimsthaler Gymnasium, Berlin.
1897-circa 1898 -- Fulfilled military service.
circa 1899 -- Studied architecture at the Technical University and Assyriology, art history, and philosophy at the Friedrich-Wilhems Universität in Berlin.
1903 -- Passed exam in structural engineering.
1903-1905 -- Assistant to Walter Andrae (1875-1956) in Assur.
1905-1906 -- Traveled throughout Iran and Iraq.
1907 -- Excavation in Cilicia. Passed oral exam in February. Awarded doctorate in Humanistic Studies by Friedrich-Wilhems Universtät zu Berlin. After receiving Ph.D. traveled extensively in Syria and Iraq with Friedrich Sarre, director of the Islamic Museum in Berlin.
1911-1913 -- Field Director under direction of Sarre during expedition to Samarra.
circa 1914 -- Drafted into service in France and Poland during World War I. Sent to Iraq where he functioned as a surveyor.
1916 -- Father died.
1917 -- Appointed associate professor for Historical Geography and Art History of the Ancient Orient at Berlin. Along with Friedrich Sarre and others, founded the German-Persian Society to increase cultural and economic exchange between Germany and Persia.
1920 -- Appointed world's first full professor of Near Eastern Archeology. Begins excavation at Samarra.
1922 -- Mother died.
1923-1934 -- In Persia, where he completed many excavations and studies.
1928 -- Excavation at Pasargadae.
1931-1934 -- Appointed director of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago and moved to Persepolis.
1934 -- As grandson of Jews, Nazi legislation expelling state employees of Jewish descent forced Herzfeld to retire as a professor employed by the state. Moved to London.
1936 -- Delivered Lowell Lectures. Moved to Boston. Lectured on Iranian history and appointed a member of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.
1944 -- Retired from Princeton University.
1948 January 20 -- Died.
Provenance:
Ernst Herzfeld donated his papers to the Freer Gallery of Art in 1946.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Original caption in French reads, "Alep, mashhad al-Husain, Iwān; Alep, Shādhbaktiyya, miḥrāb; Alep, Sulṭāniyya, miḥrāb; Alep, Gr. Mosquée, porte; Qonia, Citadelle; Qonia, Qaratal madrasa; Alep, Firdaus, miḥrāb; Damas, Djaqmaqiyya."
Arrangement:
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-13
FSA A.06 05.0013.2
General:
- Title is provided by Xavier Courouble, FSg Archives cataloger, based on Ernst Herzfeld original drawings'caption and Joseph Upton's Catalogue of the Herzfeld Archive.
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
The monuments and inscriptions of Northern Syria were surveyed and collected between 1908 and 1914 by Moritz Sobernheim and Ernst Herzfeld as part of a broader project, sponsored by the Institut de France, that of Max van Berchem's "Matériaux pour un Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum." The drawings are related to this survey as well as additional expeditions to Aleppo (Syria) carried out by Ernst Herzfeld in 1907, 1908, 1910, 1914, 1916, 1917, 1918, and 1930.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-240
FSA A.06 05.0240
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-240a
FSA A.06 05.0240a
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-792
FSA A.06 05.0792
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-1312
FSA A.06 05.1312
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Mardin (Turkey): Madrasa al-Kasimiya (Kasimiye): Ground Plan [drawing]
Arrangement:
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-159
FSA A.6 05.0159
General:
- Title is provided by Xavier Courouble, FSg Archives cataloger, based on Ernst Herzfeld original drawings'caption and Joseph Upton's Catalogue of the Herzfeld Archive.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Dara (Turkey): Great Mosque: Ground Plan [drawing]
Arrangement:
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-161
FSA A.06 05.0161
General:
- Title is provided by Xavier Courouble, FSg Archives cataloger, based on Ernst Herzfeld original drawings'caption and Joseph Upton's Catalogue of the Herzfeld Archive.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Urfa (Turkey): Ulu Mosque: Penciled Ground Plan, Drawn and Measured by S. Guyer [drawing]
Arrangement:
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-173
FSA A.6 05.0173
General:
- Title is provided by Xavier Courouble, FSg Archives cataloger, based on Ernst Herzfeld original drawings'caption and Joseph Upton's Catalogue of the Herzfeld Archive.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Original caption on verso reads, "Qaraman,Khātūnīya. Rukniyya."
Damascus (Syria) and Karaman (Turkey): Two Char Muhammad Ornaments: One from Rukniyya Madrasa; the Other from Khatuniyya Madrasa [drawing]
Arrangement:
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-201
FSA A.06 05.0201
General:
- Title is provided by Xavier Courouble, FSg Archives cataloger, based on Ernst Herzfeld original drawings'caption and Joseph Upton's Catalogue of the Herzfeld Archive.
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
The monuments and inscriptions of Northern Syria were surveyed and collected between 1908 and 1914 by Moritz Sobernheim and Ernst Herzfeld as part of a broader project, sponsored by the Institut de France, that of Max van Berchem's "Matériaux pour un Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum." The drawing may be related to this survey as well as to additional expeditions to Damascus (Syria) carried out by Ernst Herzfeld as early as 1903 and as later as 1930.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Original caption on verso reads, "Qaraman,Khātūnīya. Dam. Rukniyya."
Damascus (Syria) and Karaman (Turkey): Two Char Muhammad Ornaments: One from Rukniyya Madrasa; the Other from Khatuniyya Madrasa [drawing]
Arrangement:
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-201a
FSA A.06 05.0201a
General:
- Title is provided by Xavier Courouble, FSg Archives cataloger, based on Ernst Herzfeld original drawings'caption and Joseph Upton's Catalogue of the Herzfeld Archive.
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
The monuments and inscriptions of Northern Syria were surveyed and collected between 1908 and 1914 by Moritz Sobernheim and Ernst Herzfeld as part of a broader project, sponsored by the Institut de France, that of Max van Berchem's "Matériaux pour un Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum." The drawing may be related to this survey as well as to additional expeditions to Damascus (Syria) carried out by Ernst Herzfeld as early as 1903 and as later as 1930.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-207
FSA A.06 05.0207
General:
- Title is provided by Xavier Courouble, FSg Archives cataloger, based on Ernst Herzfeld original drawings'caption and Joseph Upton's Catalogue of the Herzfeld Archive.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-222
FSA A.06 05.0222
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Original caption on verso reads, "Mardin, Ulu Jami'."
Mardin (Turkey): Great Mosque: Ground Plan [drawing]
Arrangement:
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-223
FSA A.06 05.0223
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-230
FSA A.06 05.0230
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Original caption on verso reads, "Brussa, turba Yilderim Bayazid."
Brussa (Turkey): Turba Yilderim Bayazid: Truncated Cone Capital [drawing]
Arrangement:
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-230b
FSA A.06 05.0230b
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-334
FSA A.06 05.0334
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Korykos (Turkey): Roman Corinthian Temple: Detail of a Frieze [drawing]
Arrangement:
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-1147
FSA A.06 05.1147
General:
- Title is provided by Xavier Courouble, FSg Archives cataloger, based on Ernst Herzfeld original drawings'caption and Joseph Upton's Catalogue of the Herzfeld Archive.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Iskelib and Qaleqapu (Turkey): Northern Tombs: Column with a Pair of Protomes of Kneeling Rams and Lions [drawing]
Arrangement:
Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.
Local Numbers:
D-1161
FSA A.06 05.1161
General:
- Title is provided by Xavier Courouble, FSg Archives cataloger, based on Ernst Herzfeld original drawings'caption and Joseph Upton's Catalogue of the Herzfeld Archive.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
