Object Details
- Local Numbers
- FSA A.4 2.12.GN.48.07
- 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
- Place
- Asia
- Iran
- Tehran (Iran)
- Topic
- Early Photography of Iran
- Topic
- Architecture
- 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, 23.9 cm. x 17.5 cm.)
- Date
- 1930-1940
- Archival Repository
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
- Identifier
- FSA.A.04, Item FSA A.4 2.12.GN.48.07
- 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 48."
- Collection Rights
- Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
- Genre/Form
- Glass negatives
- Scope and Contents
- "The photo is taken prior to the bombardment of parliament. The sign on the front gate reads: Dar al-Shawra-i Milli-i Iran ((Iran's National House of Council). The writing in the lower bank reads Adl-i Muzaffar (Muzaffar's Justice) and the top medallion on the gate has the date of 1298/1881. The date signifies the conclusion of the building's construction (1879) and its entrance gate(1881). From 1324/1906, the house was used as the gathering place of people's representatives but it was initially built by Mirza Mahdi Khan Shaqaqi (Mumtahin al-Dawla) for Mirza Hussayn Khan Mushir al-Dawla, Nasir Al-Din Shah's prime minister. For a brief period of time between Mushir al-Dawla's death in 1881 and 1906, the house was in possession of Ghulam Ali Khan (Malijak) and his wife, Akhtar al-Dawla who was also Nasir's daughter." [Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Curatorial Research Assistant]
- - FSg curatorial research specialist remark on Antoin Sevruguin photo manipulation reads, "Behind the blurry imprint of a figure in the right side of the mid ground the photographer has remade the brick work at the bottom of the blind arch."
- - Handwritten number (inked, probably by Antoin Sevruguin) reads, "323."
- - Faded handwritten number (inked, probably by Antoin Sevruguin) reads, "1294."
- - Handwritten information on slip of paper (from a 1943-1944 cash book, produced by the Bathni Brothers, Tehran) reads, "72) Entrance to Parliament." [Myron Bement Smith Collection, Subseries 2.1: Islamic Archives History, Collection Information]
- - Myron Bement Smith handwritten caption in English reads, "47.P; Box 48.7: Tehran, Parliament, entrance (72)." [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-1585218933221-1585218933972-0
