Tehran (Iran): Masjid-i Shah Abd al 'Azim (Shah Abd al 'Azim Mosque)

Object Details

Local Numbers: FSA A.4 2.12.GN.01.10
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 1."

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

Bibliography: Sayyid Mohammad Taqi Motafavi, Asar-I Tarikhi-I Tehran: Amakin-I Mutibarraka, Tehran: Anjuman-I Asar-I Milli, 1982, p:421-423

Scope and Contents: "The Seljuk Shrine/mosque has a lengthy list of restorations during the years, a few of the most significant of which is from Qajar period. From adding minarets and tile work to restoring the other structures and shrines around the main building, works were carried out in the span of about a hundred years during the reigns of Fath Ali Shah, Nasir al-Din Shah and Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar. Its golden dome was added during Nasir al-Din Shah's reign, who ordered the dome to be covered in Gold covered copper sheets around 1850s. The minarets were added around 1890s. Many of the images of the building in the 1900s publications are missing the most recent addition of the minarets. The image shows the cemetery behind the main courtyard of the mosque, with the dome and minarets of the shrine visible in the background. The shrine is also the burial place of Nasir al-Din Shah whose tombstone - in white marble - is a notable marker of the Shah's burial place." [Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Curatorial Research Assistant]; - Myron Bement Smith handwritten caption in English reads, "47.P; Box 1.4: Iran. Tehran - Shah Abdul Azim." [Myron Bement Smith Collection, Subseries 2.1: Islamic Archives History, Collection Information; Box 60; Folder 44: 47 P: Antoine Sevruguin, glass negatives, Iran]