Still Prints of Asia

The collection is made up of 30 albumen photographic prints and one carbon print. The dates range from 1858 to approximately 1903, with the bulk of photographs taken between 1860-1880. The photographs are from several photographers, including Samuel Bourne, Felice Beato, Abdullah Freres, A.T.W. Penn, Ganaptrao Abajee Kale, and Francis Frith. Twenty-six of the photographs are of locations around India, one was taken in Japan, and four are portraits of women in unidentified locations. The portraits are instead identified by ethnicity: one of a Chinese woman, one of a Persian-Armenian woman, and two of Turkish women. The two Turkish women are wearing the same outfit.

A1999.1_23: "Darjeeling Tea Factory and Darjeeling Frost" shows a commercializing tea industry at the hands of a British foreman. The grisly A1999.1_27: "Inside the Secunderabagh, Lucknow" shows the outcome of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. A1999.1_30: "His Highness Maharao Raja Sir Raghubir Singhjt Sahib Bahadur" is a stately portrait of one of the last Rajput royals in Bundi. A1999.1_18 and A1999.1_20 show the view of Lake Nainital and the town of Nainital, which was built as a summer residence for British officials. Most directly, A1999.1_4: "The Delhi Durbar" shows the second British rulers of India, Edward VII and his wife Alexandra, gathering in Delhi in 1903.

The focus on India in this collection, the identity of the photographers, and the locations chosen to photograph shine a light on India during British occupation. The architecture of royally-funded 16th century Mughal structures builds a base against which the architecture (and ruins) of a contemporary 19th century town can be compared. Some speak more directly to the occupation than others.

India

Turkey

Japan

China

Armenia

Photography-India

Photography -- China

Photography -- Japan

Landscapes

Architecture

Architecture -- India

Portraits -- Women

Still Prints of Asia

Box 1

Box 2

Purchase, 1998-1999.

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Prints

Prints

Photographs

Portraits

Albumen prints

Still Prints of Asia, FSA.A1999.01. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Arranged by item number.

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

Photographs

Portraits

Albumen prints

Collection is open for research.