Nasir Al-Din Shah Supervising a Banquet for Ashpazan

Object Details

Local Numbers: FSA A.4 2.12.GN.17.02
General: Title and summary note are provided by Shabnam Rahimi-Golkhandan, FSg curatorial research specialist.

Creator: Sevruguin, Antoin, 1851-1933
Names: Islamic Archives; Nāsir al-Dīn Shāh, Shah of Iran, 1831-1896; Sevruguin, Antoin, 1851-1933; Smith, Myron Bement, 1897-1970
Collection Creator: Smith, Myron Bement, 1897-1970

Topic: Clothing and dress; headgear; Rites and ceremonies; Qajar dynasty, -- Iran, -- 1794-1925; Royalty (Nobility)

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 17."

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

Scope and Contents: "Depicted most probably in one of his short trips outside the city of Tehran, Nasir al-Din Shah is sitting in the far end of the image, looking directly at the camera. Aziz al-Sultan is standing on the right side of the king and Aziz Khan-I Khaja is the taller figure at the edge of the tent on the left side of the king and the right side of the image. The courtiers and cooks of the palace, in the company of the king in such trips are shown preparing for a meal. In front of the row of kitchen staff, trays of ingrediates are laid out in two rows, with small cups into each, probably used for measuring the ingrediants before taking them to the cooking stations, outside the tent." [Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Curatorial Research Assistant]; - Myron Bement Smith handwritten caption in English reads, "47.P; Box 17.2: Shah in tent." [Myron Bement Smith Collection, Subseries 2.1: Islamic Archives History, Collection Information; Box 60; Folder 44: 47 P: Antoine Sevruguin, glass negatives, Iran]