Tehran (Iran): Royal Puppet Show

Object Details

Local Numbers: FSA A.04 2.12.GN.00.01
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 not included into any of the original boxes.

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

Scope and Contents: "The image is a close up of a puppet show's very crowded setting, with too many elements and characters to specify a scene. It seems that - more than depicting a specific instance of a puppet show - the photographer is interested in having a visual record of all the puppets: a group portrait for the puppets. The puppet show or Khaymah Shab Bazi was usually accompanied by a group of musicians, not seen in this image. Khayma shab-bazi was usually performed by the travelling puppeteer and his group. The stories usually centered around the adventures of the commoner hero and his endeavors. In this instance however, the presence of royally dressed puppets allows for the assumption that this was probably prepared for a courtly audience. The front of a small model car is visible in the lower left side of the image. The first cars arrived in Iran during Muzaffar al-Din Shah's time and around 1900s. it is therefore safe to assume that the arrival of the toy model - and thus the capturing of the particular photo - proceeds this date. Also, the elements of various story-lines are already present in the scene: the head of a 'Western' woman in the mid-left of the setting, a bear in chains in the far right side of the scene, etc. (Related to Negative 24.1)." [Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Curatorial Research Assistant]