Three very rare albums of Qajar photographs, depicting events surrounding Iran's Constitutional...

Three very rare albums of Qajar photographs, depicting events surrounding Iran's Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1907, with military portraits, historical events, portraits of notable families including rulers, Russian leaders, many photographs of Bakhtiari and other nomadic peoples and their involvements in historical events, sites such as Bojnord, by important 19th century photographers such as Antoin Sevruguin (1851–1933), Abdullah Mirza Qajar 1850-1909), H. Hovsepiantz, Hairabedian and other Armenian photographers, each photograph inscribed in Persian with names, places and dates, circa 1880s-1920s

3 albums of photographs, containing 76 photographs:

Album, 4to (317 x 240mm.), 31 photographs (23: average 220 x 180mm; and 8 approximately 105 x 150mm), including 4 with the stamp of H. Hovsepiantz of Tauris, 2 with the stamp of Abdallah Mirza Qajar and one of Mohammad Nasser Khan-e Zahir os-Soltan by Antoin Sevruguin with his blindstamp in the image, various processes, including collodion, albumen, and matt silver prints, all mounted on card, one side only, most captioned in ink on the mount or image, brown half sheep, pebble grain cloth boards

Album, oblong 4to (234 X 320mm), 30 photographs (each approximately 170 x 230mm, or the reverse), including 2 with the stamp of Abdallah Mirza Qajar, 2 by H. Hovsepiantz of Tauris, and 2 by A. Hayrabetian, various processes, including collodion, albumen, and matt silver prints, all mounted on card all mounted on card, one side only, brown half sheep, pebble grain cloth boards

Album, oblong 4to (230 by 280mm), 15 photographs (average 150 by 200mm, or the reverse), including 2 with the stamp of H. Hovsepiantz of Tauris, various processes, including collodion, albumen, and matt silver prints, all mounted on card, one loose the others all mounted on card, one side only, brown half sheep, marbled paper boards

List of photographers:

Hairabedian - According to the Lusadaran Armenian Photography Foundation, this photographer emigrated to Worcester, Massachusetts, US in the early 20th century presumably from Iran.  In Worcester he serviced the first waves of Armenian Genocide survivors and immigrants who settled there during that period. This means the photographs in our albums date to a time when he was photographing in Iran. As such, many of his photographs have great archival value. At a later date he shortened his studio name to Hairabed. He seems to have specialized only in studio portraiture in the US.

H. Hovsepiantz (F), Chief palace photographer in Tabriz, Iran. Sarkaye Yusuf

Abdullah Mirza Qajar (1850—1909) was the son of Jahangir Mirza Qajar, a member of the ruling family in Iran in the nineteenth century. He studied and later taught at Dar al-Funun, a polytechnic school in Tehran, during the reign of Nasir al-Din Shah (reigned 1848—96). Around 1878 he went to study in Paris, then in Vienna, followed by three years in Salzburg. In his writings Abdullah described the printing techniques he learned in Europe, such as the processes for producing zincographs, phototypes, photolithographs, and galvanoplastic (electrotype) prints. After he returned to Tehran, he worked on printing maps of Ahvaz and other towns, which he presented to the royal court. When his business in the printing field proved to be unsuccessful, Abdullah Mirza focused his efforts on photography. His first know works as a photographer in the Qajar court date to 1883. A few years later he traveled to Khurasan and then to Rey and Qom to photograph new buildings being constructed there. He also undertook assignments in Tabriz, Kermanshah, Mashhad, and Kashan. During his years as a court photographer, Abdullah also took pictures at Dar al-Funun of the students in uniform and of other subjects. Abdullah did not receive many orders after the death of Nasir al-Din Shah in 1896, and his photography business seems to have suffered. He continued to work under Muzaffar al-Din Shah (reigned 1896—1907), and he accompanied the new ruler to Europe in 1900 and again in 1903. During his lifetime Abdullah Mirza was regarded as a highly accomplished photographer.

Hussain Ali - working in Yazd, Iran in the 19th century

Antoin Sevruguin (1851–1933), known as Antoin Khan was an Iranian photographer of Armenian- Georgian descent, in Iran.

List of some of the notable figures photographed:

Ivan Alekseevich Zinoviev (1835-1917) was a Russian diplomat and orientalist. Honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1901) and Member of the State Council (1909). Served as the Director of the Asian Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Vladimir Andreyvich Kossogovsky (14 January 1857 – 12 September 1918) was a Russian Lieutenant-General, became the commander of the Persian Cossack Brigade in 1884, and a member of the General Staff of the Imperial Russian Army. In 1908, he retired to his estate, Pogostiha, in Novogrod Governate. Kossogovsky was shot by the Bolsheveiks there on 12 September 1918

Ardeshir Reporter or Sir Ardeshir Ji Reporter (1865–1932). He was a secret British Intelligence agent in Iran for many years from 1893. The forty years he spent in Iran was characterized by the major political transformations of the country, commencing before the assassination of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar and covering Reza Shah's rule following a coup. In 1906 he became an influential player at Reveil de l'Iran, the first formal known masonic French lodge in the country. His relations and bonds with high-profile Iranians and British politicians and influencers allowed him to play a remarkable role during the Constitutional Revolution His name has been recorded among the forty founders of Freedom Seekers of Iran Secret Association being established before the revolution in Tehran. The secret association was aimed at facilitating the network of constitutionalists through collective responses, introducing political and religious icons to the network and publishing anonymous papers promoting anti-monarchy ideas. Some historians argued that he was the one who sought the approval from British embassy for the mass sanctuary of constitutionalists at Britain's embassy compound in 1906 which followed by granting the constitution by Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar. According to his own memoir, Reporter strongly recommended Reza Shah to disempower Iran's diverse ethnic and nomadic groups in favour of a powerful independent centralized government. 

Other sitters: Yar Muhammad Khan Afshar, Aziz Allah Khan Shadlu, Khosrau Bakhtiari, Murtaza Qoli Bakhtiari, Agha Sayf Al-Saltaneh, Bahadur Homayun, Gholam Hussein, Amir Jang Bakhtiari, Abdullah Khan Bahadur Al-Dawla, Sardar Zaher Haji Khosrau Bakhtiari, Muzzafer al-Mulk Ghulam Reza Khan.