Rayy. Cheshmeh 'Ali. Fath 'Ali Shah hunting

Object Details

Local Numbers: Box 12, File 24, Folder 11, Image 17 FSA A.6 04.PF.24.017
General: Title and summary note are provided by Shabnam Rahimi-Golkhandan, FSg curatorial research specialist.

Topic: Ancient Near Eastern Art; headgear; Relief (Sculpture); Royalty (Nobility); Sassanids

See more items in: Ernst Herzfeld Papers; Ernst Herzfeld Papers / Series 4: Photographic Files / 4.24: Photo File 24: Misc. Monuments in Iran, Afghanistan, Samarcand

Biographical / Historical: Antoin Sevruguin (1830s-1933) was an official photographer of the Imperial Court of Iran whose commercial photography studio was one of the most successful in Tehran from the late 1870s to about 1934. The astonishing range of Antoin Sevruguin's photographs, and the prolific output of the studio, provides today's viewer with an important resource for examining the cultural histories and hierarchical elements of Iranian society. They assist the scholar in studying architectural sites that may have been damaged or destroyed, or are unavailable for first-hand investigation. Increasingly, the prints are valued for their artistic elements that may sometimes overshadow their documentary value. Most significantly, Sevruguin's images form part of an ongoing history that links a distant past and place to the present.

Archival Repository: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

Type: Archival materials; Photographs; Gelatin silver prints; Photographic prints

Collection Citation: Ernst Herzfeld Papers. FSA.A.06. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Ernst Herzfeld, 1946.

Arrangement: The Archive contains Herzfeld's glass negatives which he arranged by general categories into 16 separate Photo files, irrespective of the number on the negative. He also collected photographic prints from many sources for study purposes. So far as possible, Joseph Upton has identified and placed these prints in the appropriate Photo file.

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.56.07; available in Myron Bement Smith Collection, Subseries 2.12: Antoin Sevruguin Photographs.

Bibliography: J. P. Luft, The Qajar Rock Reliefs, Iranian Studies, Vol. 34, No. 1/4, p:33-34

Scope and Contents: "The Shah is surrounded by twenty-one of his sons and courtiers. In the case of the Qajar princes, the names of each is carved beside their head in the relief. The princes are carved in almost identical attires. The date of construction of the relief is estimated to be the twentieth year of Fath Ali Shah's reign in 1817-18. Fath Ali Shah Qajar was the second king of Qajar dynasty in Iran that rulled the country for around 37 years (1797-1834). He was born to Aqa Mohammad Khan Qajar's brother and since Aqa mohammad Khan did not have a child, Fath Ali shah assumed the position of the king upon his death." [Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Curatorial Research Assistant]; Additional information from Finding Aid reads, "Subseries 4.24: Photo File 24, Image No. 17: Rayy. Cheshmeh 'Ali. Fath 'Ali Shah hunting."; - On recto of the print, handwritten number (inked, probably by Antoin Sevruguin) reads, "1041."; Firuzkuh (Iran): Qajar Rock Relief Depicting Fath Ali Shah in Royal Hunt [graphic]