Antoin Sevruguin photographs of Persia, 1880s-1890s

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Summary

Creators:
Sevruguin, Antoin, 1851-1933
Abstract:
The 97 photographs in this collection are representative of Antoin Sevruguin's all-encompassing documentation of Persia, and comprise a mixture of studio portraits, outdoor vernacular scenes and landscapes.
Extent:
3.5 Linear Feet (97 photographs in 2 boxes)
Language:
French and Collection material is in French.
Preferred citation:

Antoin Sevruguin photographs of Persia, 1880s-1890s, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2017.R.25.

http://handle.net/10020/cifa2017r25

Background

Scope and content:

The 97 albumen photographs in this collection are representative of Antoin Sevruguin's all-encompassing documentation of Persia, and comprise a mixture of studio portraits, outdoor vernacular scenes and landscapes. Portraits of "types" include "Persan(es)" (Persians); professions such as tea seller, druggist, fig vendor and street banker; mendicants; dervishes; courtesans and prostitutes, shot in the studio or in their typical locales. All levels of society are present here from court treasurers, represented by the retinue of Ghavam-al-Dowleh, to unnamed opium smokers, and to a portrait of a Chaldean Christian woman.

There are numerous views of Tehran, including views of four of the city's six gates; the English legation; arsenal; gas factory; and the Place des Canons. A photograph captioned "Mosquée de Khoum" provides an intimate glimpse of two men sitting on an open balcony with the impressive mosque as their backdrop. Daily life is represented in views of Tehran's markets and street life.

Other locales represented include Anzalī Lagoon with views of its shores and the shah's palace, and the province of Gīlān, especially local industry and life in the town of Rasht. Trade routes in the environs of Gīlān and other areas to the north and west of Tehran are also pictured, with a focus on way stations; bridges leading to trade centers; and the movement of the goods themselves in covered wagons, on camels and in caravanserai. From further afield come images of the nomads of Taliche in Mazandaran province and from Lorestan in the west, as well as of the inhabitants of Imamzadeh, Kurdistan. Also included are a few views of bas-reliefs at Persepolis and other ancient sites.

Biographical / historical:

Antoin Sevruguin (1851-1933) was the first successful commercial photographer in Iran. Russian by birth (he was born in the Russian embassy in Tehran), Sevruguin nevertheless had a deep and passionate commitment to Persia and its culture. Sevruguin opened his first photography studio in Tbilisi in 1870 with Dmitri Ivanovitch Yermakov, and shortly thereafter undertook an expedition to Iran with his brothers, Kolia and Emmanuel, to document the ancient monuments, landscapes and peoples of Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Lorestan. The photographic images from this trip supplied the first stock for the studio the brothers subsequently established in Tehran in 1883. Sevruguin made over 7,000 glass plate negatives over the course of his career, most of which were destroyed in the early twentieth century. Fewer than 700 of his negatives are known to have survived.

Acquisition information:
Acquired in 2017.
Processing information:

Processed by Beth Ann Guynn and Linda Kleiger in 2017, who also wrote and encoded the finding aid.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in a single series: Series I, Photographs, 1880s-1890s.

Physical location:
Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the catalog record for this collection. Click here for the access policy.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers.

Terms of access:

Contact Library Reproductions and Permissions.

Preferred citation:

Antoin Sevruguin photographs of Persia, 1880s-1890s, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2017.R.25.

http://handle.net/10020/cifa2017r25

Location of this collection:
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688, US
Contact:
(310) 440-7390
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