Isfahan (Iran): Masjid-i Shah (Royal Mosque)

Object Details

Local Numbers: FSA A.4 2.12.GN.12.02
General: Title and summary note are provided by Shabnam Rahimi-Golkhandan, FSg curatorial research specialist.

Creator: Sevruguin, Antoin, 1851-1933
Names: Islamic Archives; Sevruguin, Antoin, 1851-1933; Smith, Myron Bement, 1897-1970
Collection Creator: Smith, Myron Bement, 1897-1970

See more items in: Myron Bement Smith Collection; Myron Bement Smith Collection / Series 2: The Islamic Archives / 2.12: Antoin Sevruguin Photographs / 2.12.01: Glass Plate Negatives / Glass Plate Negatives: Sets 1-61

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, leaving behind only a fraction of his large collection of glass negatives, which is currently in the Archives of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.

Archival Repository: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

Collection Citation: The Myron Bement Smith Collection, FSA A.04. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Katherine Dennis Smith.

Arrangement: According to Myron B. Smith handwritten document (Myron Bement Smith Collection, Subseries 2.1: Islamic Archives History, Collection Information; Box 60; Folder 44: 47 P Antoine Sevruguin, glass negatives, Iran), Antoin Sevruguin's 696 glass negatives, at the time of their acquisition, were arranged into 61 boxes without any apparent organization. Today they are housed in archival document boxes, essentially duplicating the original arrangement, and stored on shelves. This glass negative was included into "Box 12."

Collection Rights: Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.

Scope and Contents: "The photo is from a lithograph depicting Masjid-i Shah (Shah Mosque) in Isfahan's Naqsh-i Jahan square. The view of the maydan and the mosque are reversed in the lithograph. The mosque should be flanked by the Ali Qapu entrance/palace to its left and Shaykh Lutf Allah mosque to its right. The lithograph was published in Flandin, Eugène, and Pascal Coste. Voyage en Perse de mm. Eugène Flandin, peintre, et Pascal Coste, architecte, entrepris par ordre de m. le ministre des affaires étrangères, d'après les instructions dressées par l'Institut. Publié sous les auspices de m. le ministre de l'intérieur. Paris: Gide et J. Baudry, 1840-41. The book was one of the comprehensive studies of the orient at the time." [Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Curatorial Research Assistant]; - Myron Bement Smith handwritten caption in English reads, "47.P; Box 12.2: Iran. Photograph of etching: Isfahan - maidan-i Shah and masjid-i Shah." [Myron Bement Smith Collection, Subseries 2.1: Islamic Archives History, Collection Information; Box 60; Folder 44: 47 P: Antoine Sevruguin, glass negatives, Iran]