1 Item (photographic print, b&w, 23 cm. x 16.8 cm.)
Type:
Archival materials
Gelatin silver prints
Photographic prints
Place:
Asia
Iran
Date:
1880s-1928
Scope and Contents:
Joseph Upton purchased 66 black-and-white gelatin silver photoprints in 1928 from Antoin Sevruguin in Tehran (Iran), and subsequently donated them to the Committee for Islamic Culture, as reported in their official minutes of October 24, 1953.
- On recto of the print, handwritten number (inked, probably by Antoin Sevruguin) reads, "428."
- On verso of the print, handwritten caption (penciled, probably by Antoin Sevruguin) in French reads, "Loutis et Lion."
Arrangement:
Gelatin silver prints arranged in sequential number following Joseph Upton's handwritten list of captions, and ultimately organized by Myron B. Smith into subject categories (royalty, people, executions, criminals, punishment, architecture). This print is in the following subject category: People.
Biographical / Historical:
Antoin Sevruguin is one of the early pioneers of commercial photography in Iran. He arrived in Iran from Tbilisi, Georgia in the mid 1870s to set up shop in Ala al-Dawla street in Tehran. From the early days, Sevruguin's studio was trusted both by the Qajar court and by foreign visitors to Iran. Highly regarded for their artistic ingenuity outside Iran, Sevruguin's photographs of 'ethnic types,' architecture and landscape, and depictions of daily life of Tehran found their way into foreign travelogues, magazines and books. As such, he stands alone in a relatively large group of early Iranian photographers for being recognized and celebrated outside the boundaries of the country. Antoin Sevruguin passed away in 1933, although his family studio continued for some time as a commercial enterprise.
Local Numbers:
58.G.11
[Myron Bement Smith collection. Freer/Sackler Archives, No. A.4.10]
[16(B9)]
FSA A.4 2.12.Up.11
General:
Title and summary note are provided by Shabnam Rahimi-Golkhandan, FSg curatorial research specialist.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
The Myron Bement Smith Collection, FSA A.04. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Katherine Dennis Smith.
"A lion in chain lays in front of the three men, one of whom holds the end of the chain. The group might be part of a street performance, since animal shows were a routine site in Iran of 1880s and 1890s. Such animal group performers were banned from public spaces at the time of the Riza Shah's ascendance to power." [Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Curatorial Research Assistant]
- FSg curatorial research specialist remark on Antoin Sevruguin photo condition reads, "Albumen print, faded on the outer boundaries."
Arrangement:
Page one of an album of 99 mounted albumen prints with attractive leather covers and embossed green star-and-crescent design.
Biographical / Historical:
Antoin Sevruguin is one of the early pioneers of commercial photography in Iran. He arrived in Iran from Tbilisi, Georgia in the mid 1870s to set up shop in Ala al-Dawla street in Tehran. From the early days, Sevruguin's studio was trusted both by the Qajar court and by foreign visitors to Iran. Highly regarded for their artistic ingenuity outside Iran, Sevruguin's photographs of 'ethnic types,' architecture and landscape, and depictions of daily life of Tehran found their way into foreign travelogues, magazines and books. As such, he stands alone in a relatively large group of early Iranian photographers for being recognized and celebrated outside the boundaries of the country. Antoin Sevruguin passed away in 1933, although his family studio continued for some time as a commercial enterprise.
Local Numbers:
FSA A2011.03 A.01a
General:
Title and Summary notes are provided by Shabnam Rahimi-Golkhandan, FSg research specialist.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Genre/Form:
Albumen prints
Photograph albums
Photographic prints
Studio portraits
Collection Citation:
Stephen Arpee Collection of Sevruguin Photographs. FSA.A2011.03. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.
