Two women carrying a tea service

Object Details

• Previous custodian or owner

  Charles Vignier (1863-1934)

  Mme. Blair

  Kirkor Minassian (1874-1944)

• Provenance

  By at least 1912-1913

  Charles Vignier (1863-1934), method of acquisition unknown [1]

  By 1913-?

  Mme. Blair, method of acquisition unknown [2]

  About 1913-1938?

  The object’s ownership and whereabouts are unknown

  ?-at least 1938

  Kirkor Minassian (1874-1944), method of acquisition unknown [3]

  From 1938

  The Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Kirkor Minassian, New York [4]

  Notes:

  [1] See F.R. Martin, “The Miniature Painting and Painters of Persia, India, and Turkey from the 8th to the 18th Century [book] (London: Bernard Quaritch, Sr., 1912), vol. 2, p. 2, pl. 33.

  [2] See G. Marteau and H. Vever, “Miniatures Persanes: tirées des collections de MM. Henry d’Allemagne, Claude Anet, Henri Aubry…et Exposées au Musée des Décoratifs, Juin-Octobre 1912” [book] (Paris: Bibliothèque d’art et d’archéologie, 1913), pl. L. The collector is identified as “Mme. Blair” only, with no other biographical information. It is possible Mme. Blair acquired the object directly from Charles Vignier, or through a sale at Hôtel Drouot.

  [3] See May 3, 1938 Freer Gallery of Art letter acknowledging loan of objects from Kirkor Minassian for examination, including F1938.14, in object file. . Kirkor Minassian was a collector and dealer in Islamic and Near Eastern antiquities, with galleries in New York and Paris.

  [4] See object file for copy of Kirkor Minassian invoice to Freer Gallery of Art, dated June 21, 1938, and marked approved on June 20, 1938.

  Research updated February 8, 2023

• Origin

  Historic Iran, present-day Afghanistan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1500s, 1400s

• Name

  Blair, Vignier, Charles, Minassian, Kirkor

• Place

  Afghanistan

• Topic

  Chinoiserie, Tea, Art, Timurid period (1378 - 1506), Arts of the Islamic World, Woman

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Object Type

  Paintings