Isfahan (Iran): Madrasa-i Madar-i Shah: View of Door with Geometrical Ornamentation and Arabic Inscriptions

Object Details

Local Numbers: FSA A.4 2.12.Sm.97
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 / 2.12.02: Sevruguin Smith Prints

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, although his family studio continued for some time as a commercial enterprise.

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: 16 unaccounted Gelatin silver prints in Myron Bement Smith Collection have been identified as Sevruguin's photographic prints. They will now be part of Myron Bement Smith Collection, Subseries 2.12: Antoin Sevruguin Photographs. Consequently, the physical items have been transferred to Box 5, folder 20 (subject category: unaccounted prints).

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

Existence and Location of Copies: Glass negative numbered FSA A.4 2.12.GN.50.02; available in Myron Bement Smith Collection, Subseries 2.12: Antoin Sevruguin Photographs.

Scope and Contents: - On verso of the print (lower left corner), original stamp, in French and Persian, reads, "Photographie Sevruguin."; - On verso of the print, Myron Bement Smith caption in English reads, "Isfahan; Isfahan; Madrasah-I Mādar-I Shāh."