Ruins of Sassanid Bridge and Water Mills at Dizful (Iran)

Object Details

Local Numbers: FSA A.4 2.12.GN.30.06
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 30."

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

Existence and Location of Copies: Gelatin silver print numbered FSA A.4 2.12.Up.03; available in Myron Bement Smith Collection, Subseries 2.12: Antoin Sevruguin Photographs.

Scope and Contents: "The bridge was constructed at the time of Shapur I and around the year 260 A.D. over the Diz river, making it one of the oldest bridges in the world. It is also known as Pul-I Rumi. The current structure has remnants of Safavid and Pahlavi renovations and additions as well. The photograph depicts the bridge from the elevated grounds of the riverbank, showing multiple people on top of the structure along both of the two stretches of the bridge." [Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Curatorial Research Assistant]; - FSg curatorial research specialist remark on Antoin Sevruguin photo manipulation reads, "A thin piece of black paper is attached to the borders of the image. The exposed glass negative is glued to another empty piece of glass."; - Handwritten number (inked, probably by Antoin Sevruguin) reads, "234."; - Scratched handwritten number (inked, probably by Antoin Sevruguin) not readable.; - Myron Bement Smith handwritten caption in English reads, "47.P; Box 30.6: Bridge" [Myron Bement Smith Collection, Subseries 2.1: Islamic Archives History, Collection Information; Box 60; Folder 44: 47 P: Antoine Sevruguin, glass negatives, Iran]