Riz̤ā-ʼi ʻAbbāsī , approximately 1570-1635?, llumination of books and manuscripts, Safavid
Mo'en Mosavver was one of the most significant Persian miniaturist in 17th century Safavid Iran. He was a pupil of Reza Abbasi, considered to be... Show moreMo'en Mosavver was one of the most significant Persian miniaturist in 17th century Safavid Iran. He was a pupil of Reza Abbasi, considered to be the last great master of the Persian miniature and leading representative of the Isfahan School, active during the reign of Shah Abbas (r. 1588–1629). Title and date devised by Library staff. Main Heritage Compact General HC.GM.2018.0023 2-D Graphic Item-ID: i2532830x BIB-ID: 2696893 Show less
Title and date from item. The print is titled and has the blind stamp of the photographer "C. Vincenti Dar-es-Salam 1898". Handwritten title "Dar... Show moreTitle and date from item. The print is titled and has the blind stamp of the photographer "C. Vincenti Dar-es-Salam 1898". Handwritten title "Dar-es-Salam" and numbers (16.11) in ink on the mount and later manuscript note on the verso of the print "Smedslättsgården 1957 B. Lundberg". Main Heritage Compact General HC.HP.2013.0015-0010 2-D Graphic Item-ID: i26369667 BIB-ID: 2815298 Show less
The album collects the photographs taken by the Naval Officer A. Martiensen, who took part in Wilhelm II's trip to the Levant in 1898, as he was... Show moreThe album collects the photographs taken by the Naval Officer A. Martiensen, who took part in Wilhelm II's trip to the Levant in 1898, as he was serving on the Imperial liner "Hohenzollern" from September 1898 to March 1900. The visit was a key diplomatic move of the German Empire and the Protestant Church to strengthen the political ties with the Ottoman Empire and it was widely reported and commentated in all the media. The album was probably compiled at end of the 1920s, as indicated by the form and layout. Also, pictures are not arranged in chronological order, which would suggest that they may initially have been kept in different places and only later incorporated into the album. The last picture dates from 1929 and shows Martiensen and tourist group seated on camels in front of the Pyramid of Giza. Photographs show Wilhelm II close-ups and in an almost private setting when on board the Hohenzollern - such as for his birthday -, whereas other pictures were carefully staged and intended to serve propaganda purposes. Some of these photographs must have been taken by other people, such as the German photographer Ottomar Anschütz (1846-1907) and Empress Auguste Victoria (1858-1921) and by other professional photographers. The prints have numbers in the negative which could have been catalog numbers the passengers and crew could use to order souvenir pictures. Title devised by Library staff, date from item. The pictures are contact prints from glass negatives with a format of 12 x 18 cm. Most of them have numbers as would have been written on the glass negatives and are captioned in white ink on the mount. Main Heritage Display General HC.HP.2016.0053-0158 2-D Graphic Item-ID: i23299381 BIB-ID: 2496329 Show less
Sketchbooks illustrate travels and excursions done in Egypt and Sudan by the British lady Florence Attwood Mathews, the second daughter of British... Show moreSketchbooks illustrate travels and excursions done in Egypt and Sudan by the British lady Florence Attwood Mathews, the second daughter of British writer and doctor James John Garth Wilkinson (1812 – 1899). The contents of the sketchbooks stretch over the period 1898–1916, with particular emphasis on January–March 1898 and November 1913–July 1914. Volume I largely tracks Attwood-Mathews’s Nile cruise in early 1898, when she travelled on the post steamer Amenartas from Cairo to Khartoum. She was interested in the ongoing Mahdist War and the British involvement in it: one watercolor portrays six British military officers from various regiments travelling on board the Amenartas, while another shows a boat towed behind the post steamer with troops on board. Similarly, in Volume II, Attwood-Mathews chose to paint a couple of landscapes as much for their role in the conflict as any aesthetic appeal. A vista of two hilltops viewed from the Nile is described as follows: “Where the battle of Toski was fought, under these hills”. Meanwhile, the view from her hotel balcony in Khartoum is accompanied by the following caption: “Sand dunes where our troops lay the night before the battle of Omdurrman [sic]”. Atwood-Mathews’ interest in the Mahdist War continued after the end of the conflict in 1899, as evident from the many newspaper clippings pasted into Volume I, the latest dated 1916. Most of these are concerned with the events of the war and the people involved in it and include general reports (“The Soudan Crisis”, “Sirdar’s speech to the troops”), political coverage such as Sir Reginald Wingate’s succession as Governor-General of Sudan, as well as several “Romance of the Sudan” stories concerning Joseph Ohrwalder, a Roman Catholic priest held captive by Mahdists for ten years. Two of the three photographs pasted into the sketchbook show Mahdist leaders captured by British-Egyptian forces; Attwood-Mathews identifies them as Emir Abu Zeid, Emir Mahmoud, Emir Yunis al-Dikaym, and Osman, Khalifa Abdallahi’s son. The third photograph depicts a ‘plane above an Egyptian crowd. Interspersed with the watercolors, clippings, and photographs are numerous signatures, cartes-de-visite, and occasional inscriptions of British military and administrative figures based in the Nile region, including Sir Archibald Hunter, British Army General and Governor of Omdurman; Colonel E. S. Stanton, the Governor of Khartoum; the Governor-General of Sudan Sir Reginald Wingate; G. E. Matthews, Governor of the Upper Nile Province; Colonel Colin Scott-Moncrieff; and James Henry Butler Pasha, soldier and Governor of the White Nile Province. Clearly, Attwood-Mathews had both interest in and access to many of the key British colonial figures established in Egypt and Sudan in the early 20th century. However, she was undoubtedly also intrigued by the history and culture of the region in general, as evident in the collection of signatures by Egyptologists, including Howard Carter, E. A. Wallis Budge, Ernest A. T. Wallis, and A. H. Sayce. While many watercolors in Volume I depict landscapes painted from the deck of the Amenartas, there are also views of the pyramids of Giza, streets in Cairo, Nag Hammadi, and Khartoum, the Sidi Arif Mosque in Sohag, windmills and feluccas spotted along the river, as well as several studies of the everyday life of local Egyptians and Sudanese. The watercolors in Volume II, predominantly dated between late 1913 and early 1914, show a similar range in subject matter. Sunrise and sunset panoramas of the landscape near Abu Girgeh, Nag Hammadi, Denderch, and Khartoum dominate. However, there are street views of Cairo, Aswan, and Khartoum, two studies of the ancient Egyptian temples of Wadi es-Sebua and Amada in their original location prior to the relocation in 1964 due to the Aswan Dam project, as well as two pleasant portraits of local boys in Khartoum. Also included in Volume II is a loosely inserted watercolor (253 × 177 mm), dated December 1905, depicting locals at the waterfront in Beni Hasan. Title and date devised by Library staff. Sketchbooks with a contemporary beige cloth, beige closure strap, brush holder to top edge of rear boards. All watercolours with pencilled captions on the adjacent leaves. Ticket of London-based artist’s equipment shop L. Cornelissen & Son to rear pastedowns. Volume I has 4 hieroglyphs and a central design of a scarab with spread wings hand-painted to front board; it is housed in a dark blue flat back cloth box. It consists of 38 full-page watercolours, numerous autographs, mounted cartes-de-visite, letters, newspaper clippings, 3 photographs; also with 5 loosely inserted items: 2 sketches, 1 letter, 1 envelope, and 1 autographed paper slip. Volume II has 16 full-page watercolours, 2 portraits, and 1 sketch. Main Heritage Display General HC.GM.2017.0003.01 2-D Graphic Item-ID: i24384240 BIB-ID: 2555496 Show less