Object Details
- Local Numbers
- FSA A.4 2.12.GN.48.08
- 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, 23.8 cm. x 17.8 cm.)
- Date
- 1880-1930
- Archival Repository
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
- Identifier
- FSA.A.04, Item FSA A.4 2.12.GN.48.08
- 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 48."
- Collection Rights
- Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
- Bibliography
- Badri Atabay, Fihrist-i Album-ha-i Kitabkhana'i Saltanati, Tehran, 1978
- Genre/Form
- Glass negatives
- Scope and Contents
- "Dar al-Funun Institute was the first of its modern kind - institution of higher education in technology - in Iran. It owes its establishment - to a large extent - to Nasir al-Din Shah's teacher and chief minister, Mirza Taqi Khan Amir Kabir (b.1807-d.1852). It opened its doors in 1851 to cater, primarily, to the technological and medical needs of the army in Iran. The first 30 students of Dar al-Funun were chosen from the sons and daughters of the aristocratic circle of Iran, sent to Europe for completion of their degrees and re-employed in the country upon the conclusion of their education. The education was offered free of charge to the students. The initial group of teachers were seven Austrian teachers, which were then expanded to include Italian, French and German teachers in later years. The main areas of study in the school were: military technicians, medicine, pharmacology, mining, natural sciences, history and geography, and painting, music and languages. The photograph shows the building and courtyard of Dar al-Funun school from the top of the main gateway to Canons' Square. The small minaret -head, visible in the foreground of the image is one of the old Dawlat gate's minarets, facing out of the Maydan or square. The building of Dar al-Funun, framed in between the brick column - called Mil Asia - and the minaret was constructed around 1860s in Tehran to house the first institution of higher education, primarily focused on medical, technical and military training." [Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Curatorial Research Assistant]
- - FSg curatorial research specialist remark on Antoin Sevruguin photo manipulation reads, "Black paper on the back and black ink on the front."
- - Handwritten number (inked, probably by Antoin Sevruguin) reads, "290."
- - Handwritten information on slip of paper (from a 1943-1944 cash book, produced by the Bathni Brothers, Tehran) reads, "70) Scene of Teheran." [Myron Bement Smith Collection, Subseries 2.1: Islamic Archives History, Collection Information]
- - Myron Bement Smith handwritten caption in English reads, "47.P; Box 48.8: Tehran, general view (#70)." [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-1585218933221-1585218933972-1
