Object Details
- Local Numbers
- FSA A.4 2.12.GN.17.08
- General
- Title and summary note are provided by Shabnam Rahimi-Golkhandan, FSg curatorial research specialist.
- Creator
- Sevruguin, Antoin, 1851-1933
- Names
- Islamic Archives
- Kākh-i Gulistān (Tehran, Iran)
- Sevruguin, Antoin, 1851-1933
- Smith, Myron Bement, 1897-1970
- Collection Creator
- Smith, Myron Bement, 1897-1970
- Place
- Asia
- Iran
- Tehran (Iran)
- Topic
- Early Photography of Iran
- Topic
- Palaces
- Qajar dynasty, -- Iran, -- 1794-1925
- Royalty (Nobility)
- Creator
- Sevruguin, Antoin, 1851-1933
- 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.
- Extent
- 1 Glass negative (b&w, 17.8 cm. x 12.7 cm.)
- Date
- 1885-1905
- Archival Repository
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
- Identifier
- FSA.A.04, Item FSA A.4 2.12.GN.17.08
- Type
- Archival materials
- Glass negatives
- 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.
- Bibliography
- Yahya Zoka and Mohammad Hassan Semsar, Tehran Dar Tasvir, Tehran: Sazman-i Miras-i Farhangi-i Kishvar, 1997, Vol.2, p:165-199
- Genre/Form
- Glass negatives
- Scope and Contents
- "The structure seen in the image was an addition to the already existing Bagh-I Gulistan (Gulistan garden) the construction of which concluded in 1876. Since then the building was used both as the official reception room of the palace and as a museum of local and international artworks. Takht-i Tavoos was also located inside the main hallway of this building. The building, located on the northwest side of the garden, is currently a museum. The photograph depicts the front shallow pool and the entrance of the structure. The windows are shown covered with painted fabrics on both top and lower floors of the building. In order to achieve the specific framing of both the pool and the entrance gate, the photographer's tripod would have been located on a narrow bridge over the waterway in front of the gate, immediately beyond th elower edge of the image. Photos and paintings of the structure were frequently published in journals and books from 1885 onwards. a close comparison of the images from 1885 to 1890s with the ones publihsed after 1904 shows the addition of the lamp-posts in the shape of standing human figures, seen in this image." [Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Curatorial Research Assistant]
- - Faded handwritten number (inked, probably by Antoin Sevruguin) reads, "1230."
- - FSg curatorial research specialist remark on Antoin Sevruguin photo condition reads, "Lost emulsion on the sides."
- - Handwritten information on slip of paper (from a 1943-1944 cash book, produced by the Bathni Brothers, Tehran) reads, "488) Imperial Bank of Persia." [Myron Bement Smith Collection, Subseries 2.1: Islamic Archives History, Collection Information]
- - Myron Bement Smith handwritten caption in English reads, "47.P; Box 17.8: Tehran. Imperial Bank of Persia (?) (#488)." [Myron Bement Smith Collection, Subseries 2.1: Islamic Archives History, Collection Information; Box 60; Folder 44: 47 P: Antoine Sevruguin, glass negatives, Iran]
- Collection Restrictions
- Collection is open for research.
- Record ID
- ebl-1585218933221-1585218933878-2
