À l’orientale: Collecting, Displaying and Appropriating Islamic Art and Architecture in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries [Bilingual ed.] 9004410856, 9789004410855

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À l’orientale

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Arts and Archaeology of the Islamic World Edited by Marcus Milwright (University of Victoria) Mariam Rosser-Owen (Victoria and Albert Museum)

volume 14

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/aaiw Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait and Ariane Varela Braga - 978-90-04-41264-4 Downloaded from Brill.com04/22/2020 08:55:17AM via McGill University

À l’orientale Collecting, Displaying and Appropriating Islamic Art and Architecture in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

Edited by

Francine Giese Mercedes Volait Ariane Varela Braga

leiden | boston Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait and Ariane Varela Braga - 978-90-04-41264-4 Downloaded from Brill.com04/22/2020 08:55:17AM via McGill University

Cover illustration: Henri Moser in his armory at Charlottenfels Castle, reproduction of a gouache by George Scott, 1912, in: Collection Henri-Moser-Charlottenfels. Armes et armures orientales, Leipzig: K.W. Hiersemann, 1912, pl. ii. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Giese, Francine, editor. | Volait, Mercedes, editor. | Varela Braga, Ariane, 1978- editor. Title: À l’orientale : collecting, displaying and appropriating Islamic art and architecture in the 19th and early 20th centuries / edited by Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait, Ariane Varela Braga. Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2020] | Series: Arts and archaeology of the Islamic world, 2213-3844 ; volume 14 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019042133 (print) | LCCN 2019042134 (ebook) | ISBN 9789004410855 (hardback) | ISBN 9789004412644 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Islamic art--Appreciation--Western countries. | Islamic art--Private collections--Western countries. | Art--Collectors and collecting--Western countries--History--19th century. | Art--Collectors and collecting--Western countries--History--20th century. Classification: LCC N6260 .A12 2020 (print) | LCC N6260 (ebook) | DDC 707.509767--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019042133 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019042134 Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 2213-3844 ISBN 978-90-04-41085-5 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-41264-4 (e-book) Copyright 2020 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

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Contents Foreword  vii Albert Lutz Acknowledgements  viii List of Illustrations  ix Notes on Contributors  xiv

Honoring Henri Moser Charlottenfels  1 Roger Nicholas Balsiger



Introduction: Islamic Art and Architecture Exposed  8 Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait, and Ariane Varela Braga

Part 1 Islamic Taste in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries 1

Safavid Revival in Persian Miniature Painting: Renewal, Imitation and Source of Inspiration  15 Axel Langer

2

« De véritables merveilles d’exécution » : Les vitraux du fumoir arabe d’Henri Moser  28 Sarah Keller

3

L’art islamique et la fabrique de l’Histoire des musulmans de Sicile de Michele Amari  39 Hélène Guérin

4

Orientalisme versus orientalité : La nouvelle appréciation des arts de l’Islam en Pologne au début du xxe siècle  48 Agnieszka Kluczewska-Wójcik

Part 2 Appropriation, Reuse and Eclecticism 5

Appropriating Damascus Rooms: Vincent Robinson, Caspar Purdon Clarke and Commercial Strategy in Victorian London  65 Moya Carey

6

Le remploi de grands décors mamelouks et ottomans dans l’œuvre construit d’Ambroise Baudry en Égypte et en France  82 Mercedes Volait

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vi 7

Contents

International Fashion and Personal Taste: Neo-Islamic Style Rooms and Orientalizing Scenographies in Private Museums  92 Francine Giese

Part 3 Museums and International Exhibitions 8

Carpets and Empire: The 1891 Exhibition at the Handelsmuseum in Vienna  111 Barbara Karl

9

Henri Moser as Commissioner General of the Pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 1900 Universal Exposition in Paris  124 Ágnes Sebestyén

10

Samarcande au nord et à l’ouest : Appropriation(s) de l’architecture timouride à Saint-Pétersbourg et à Berne  137 Katrin Kaufmann

11

Tashkent in St. Petersburg: The Constructed Image of Central Asia in Russia’s Nineteenth-Century Ethnographic Exhibitions  151 Inessa Kouteinikova

Part 4 Collectors and Networks 12

“Troppo amanti degli oggetti orientali”? : Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, a Collector of Islamic Art in Nineteenth-Century Florence  165 Ariane Varela Braga

13

The Arab Room of Achille Vertunni: Islamic Art in the Streets of Rome  177 Valentina Colonna

14

“Our aim is to perform something that remains after we are gone”: The Oriental Collection Henri Moser Charlottenfels at Bernisches Historisches Museum  189 Alban von Stockhausen

15

Yakov Smirnov’s Photo Collection: The Orient in Nineteenth-Century Photography  201 Maria Medvedeva



Who’s Who  213 Index of Persons   219 Index of Places   222

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Foreword

Recognizing the Arts of Islam in Switzerland and Beyond

I am very pleased to introduce this publication, which presents fascinating case studies and recent research results on collecting, displaying and appropriating Islamic art and architecture during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. All contributions of this volume were originally presented at the international conference A l’Orientale in May 2017, organized within the framework of the SNSF project “Mudejarismo and Moorish Revival in Europe” directed by Francine Giese at the University of Zurich. It has been an honor to host a part of the conference at the Rietberg Museum. Our institution is owned by the City of Zurich and Switzerland’s only museum for non-Western art. It houses an internationally renowned collection of Asian, African and South American artefacts, including some excellent miniature paintings from the Persian Safavid and Indian Mughal periods, as well as several Qajar textiles and costumes. For the first time ever, the conference’s round table, organized by Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait and Ariane Varela Braga, brought together the directors of four of the most important museums and museum departments for Islamic art in Europe—Stefan Weber from the Museum für Islamische Kunst in Berlin, Kjeld von Folsach from the David Collection in Copenhagen, Yannick Lintz

from the Louvre in Paris, and Tim Stanley from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London—and it certainly comes without saying that this meeting in Zurich therefore was of major significance for the Rietberg Museum as well. Represented by our curator of Islamic art, Axel Langer, we participated and contributed to the fruitful discussions that came up during the round table on the first day and continued during the following two days of the conference. It has been a true pleasure to realize that Zurich has become a significant center for Islamic Art History capable of attracting experts from all over the world. Our collaborations with the Department of Art History at the University of Zurich, and especially with Francine Giese’s team, allowed us to support and promote this hitherto underrepresented field of study here in Zurich. I hope that in the future the city and its university will stay important references for studies in Islamic art history, and that all the efforts made in the past years will eventually contribute to a better understanding and recognition of Islamic arts in Switzerland. Zurich, June 2019 Albert Lutz, Director of the Rietberg Museum

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Acknowledgements The international conference and proceedings were conceived within the framework of the SNSFproject Mudejarismo and Moorish Revival in Europe, based at the Institute of Art History of the University of Zurich. The editors would like to thank Albert Lutz and Axel Langer from the Rietberg Museum in Zurich, Mandy Ranneberg from the Moser Familienmuseum in Schaffhausen, as well as Roger Nicholas Balsiger from the Heinrich and Henri Moser Foundation for their ­collaboration

with the conference. The event has been generously supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Swiss Asian Society, the University Research Priority Program Asia and Europe, the ZUNIV—the Zürcher Universitätsverein, the Heinrich and Henri Moser Foundation, H. Moser & Cie., the Museumsverein Schaffhausen and the Canton of Schaffhausen. The editors are grateful to Michael A. Conrad for his precious help in the final stages of the preparation of this volume.

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List of Illustrations 0.1

Louis-Aimé Grosclaude, Henri Moser with mother and sisters, oil painting on canvas, 1850, Museum zu Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen.  2 0.2 Anonymous, around 1867, Henri Moser, author’s private archives.  3 0.3 Anonymous, around 1867, Henri Moser, author’s private archives.  6 0.4 Anonymous, around 1900, Henri Moser, diplomat, Moser-Archives, Bernisches Historisches Museum (BHM).  7 1.1 Picnic Scene in a Garden, ʿAlī Muḥammad Isfahānī, Tehran, 1302 AH (1884/85 AD). Tile, fritware with underglaze painted in polychrome, 48 × 59 cm. Victoria and Albert Museum, acc. no. 512-1889. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.  18 1.2 Reciting Poetry in a Garden, Isfahan, 1620–60. Tile panel, fritware with polychrome glaze (cuerda seca). Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc. no. 03.9b. © Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.  19 1.3 The inside of a lid of a casket, Iran, 1860/70. Papier-mâché, painted, gilded and lacquered, 20.5 × 25 × 37.5 cm. Sold at Sotheby’s, London, on April 9, 2014, lot 89. © Sotheby’s.  20 1.4 Sitting Youth, Mehdī al-Imāmī, erroneously dated 1025 AH (1616/17 AD), Tehran/Isfahan, after 1912/13. Pigments, ink and gold on paper. Sold at Christie’s, South Kensington, April 24, 2015, lot 224. © Christie’s.  21 1.5 Lacquer-painted doors, Iran, after 1913. Wood, painted, gilded and lacquered, 189.9 × 91.5 × 9 cm. The Walters Art Museum, acc. no. 67.634. © The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.  23 1.6 Seated Princess, Uzbekistan, probably Bukhara, ca. 1600. Opaque watercolor and gold on paper. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, acc. no. S1986.304. © The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.  25

2.1

Musée d’Histoire de Berne, Fumoir arabe d’Henri Moser, 1907–9. © Musée d’Histoire de Berne, 1986.  29 2.2 Musée d’Histoire de Berne, Vitraux du fumoir arabe, 1908. © Musée d’Histoire de Berne, photographie Christine Moor, 2015.  30 2.3 Qamarīya, recto et verso, XVIIe–XIXe siècle. Caire, Musée islamique du Caire, photographie Katrin Kaufmann, 2018.  30 2.4 Émile Prisse d’Avennes, L’Art arabe d’après les monuments du Kaire depuis le VIIe siècle jusqu’à la fin du VIIIe. Paris : Morel, 1869–77, pl. CXLV.  32 2.5 London, Leighton House, Stained Glass windows for the studio, George Aitchison, 1869–70. Daniel Robbins, Leighton House Museum. Holland Park Road, Kensington. London : The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Culture Service, 2011, fig. 97.  33 2.6 Regello, Villa di Sammezzano, Sala dei Gigli, 1862. © Bildarchiv Foto Marburg, photographie Domingie & Rabatti, 2015.  34 2.7 Henri Saladin, Croquis pour le remaniement des vitraux du fumoir arabe, 1908. Encre et aquarelle sur papier. Berne, Musée d’Histoire de Berne, n° d’inventaire 1908.670.162. © Musée d’Histoire de Berne, photographie Christine Moor, 2015.  36 2.8 Musée d’Histoire de Berne, Détail d’un vitrail du fumoir arabe, 1908. © Musée d’Histoire de Berne, photographie Tino Zagermann, 2015.  37 3.1 F. Sabatier, Répertoire des formes grammaticales arabes, 1864, manuscrit 467 (7), M.E.Z.M. Photographie H. Guérin. Avec l’aimable autorisation de la médiathèque Émile Zola.  42 3.2 Vase Alhambra, dernier tiers du XIIIe siècle. Céramique à lustre métallique, h : 113 cm, Instituto de Valencia de Don Juan, Madrid, RM2-01/04. Photographie IVDJ. Avec l’aimable autorisation de l’Instituto de Valencia de Don Juan.  44

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x 3.3

3.4

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.4

4.5

4.6

4.7

5.1

List of Illustrations Vase Alhambra, XIII–XIVe siècle. Céramique à lustre métallique, h : 125 cm, Galleria Regionale del Palazzo Abatellis, Palermo, Inv. 5229. Photographie du musée. Avec l’aimable ­autorisation du musée.  44 Lettre de Sabatier du 13 mars 1860, Fondo Amari XXI/7002, BRCS. Photographie BRCS. Avec l’aimable autorisation de la Bibliothèque régionale de Sicile.  46 Leon Wyczółkowski, Portrait of Feliks Jasieński, 1908, huile sur toile, 133x60, Musée national de Cracovie (collection Jasieński), MNK II-b-919.  51 Zofia Stryjeńska, Souvenir de Manggha (La conférence de Feliks Jasieński), aquarelle, crayon, gouache sur papier, 1912, 33 × 38,5, Musée national de Cracovie (collection Jasieński) MNK III-ra-5767.  52 Ceinture polonaise, Słuck, période de Jan Madżarski (1767-80), soie à fil d’or et d’argent, taqueté façonné et crocheté, broché, 447,0 × 36,0 cm, Musée national de Cracovie (collection Jasieński), MNK XIX-2289.  53 Józef Pankiewicz, Vase persan, 1908, 90 × 64 cm, Musée national de Cracovie (collection Jasieński), MNK II-b-889.  54 Tapis de la collection Włodzimierz Kulczycki, exposé à l’Exposition des tapis mahométans, céramique orientale et européenne au Musée national de Cracovie, 1934, photographie, Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe.  56 Vue de l’Exposition des tapis mahométans, céramique orientale et européenne, Musée national de Cracovie, 1934, photographie, Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe.  57 Musée des Princes Czartoryski, salle de la bataille de Vienne, Cracovie [vers 1930], ­photographie, Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe.  58 James Wild, An Upper Room in the House of Mohamed Aga Chaweesh, Damascus, May 1847. Watercolor painting on sketchbook page, 41.5 × 29.8 cm. London, V&A E.3869-1938. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.  66

5.2

5.3

5.4

5.5

5.6

5.7

6.1

6.2

6.3

Frederic Leighton, Old Damascus—Jews’ Quarter, also titled Gathering Citrons, 1873–74. Oil painting on canvas. © Christie’s Images / Bridgeman Images.  68 Model of the Damascus Room sold by Vincent Robinson, 1880. Pencil and watercolor on card. London, V&A Archive, MA/1/R1314/1 (Vincent J. Robinson). © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.  72 Wall from a Damascus Room, Syria, 1170 AH/1756–77, as installed at South Kensington Museum. Museum Guardbook photograph. London, V&A 2676-1902, negative number 24334, photograph depicts V&A 411-1880. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.  73 Cupboard doors from a Damascus Room, Syria, 1204 AH/1789–90. London, V&A 504:1-1883 and 504:2-1883. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.  75 Wall from a Damascus Room, Syria, ca. 1081 AH/1670–71, digital reconstruction of extant components. Dublin, National Museum of Ireland, DF:1894.759. Photography by Valerie Dowling and Peter Moloney, digital reconstruction by Richard Weinacht, Photographic Department, National Museum of Ireland.  78 Caspar Purdon Clarke, interior elevation and ground plan of Damascus Room as remembered in situ, sketches made in London, October 17, 1894, and November 2, 1894. Dublin, National Museum of Ireland, Archives, Art & Industry Correspondence.  79 Le Caire, Villa Ambroise Baudry, élévation et coupe, Baudry, 1875, plume et lavis rose (collection particulière).  84 Le Caire, Villa Ambroise Baudry, céramiques en tour de porte, Baudry, 1875-76, photographe anonyme (collection particulière).  85 Le Caire, Hôtel particulier Saint-Maurice, élévation principale, Guimbard et Gouron Boisvert, arch., 1872-79 (Bibliothèque de l’INHA).  86

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List of Illustrations 6.4 Paris, Hôtel particulier Edmond de Rothschild, fumoir, Baudry architecte, 1889-93 (Archives Waddesdon Manor).  88 6.5 Hennebont, Château du Bot, salles de réception, Baudry architecte, 1880-82 (Musées du Mans).  88 6.6 Le Caire, Vaisselier présenté dans les salles mameloukes du Musée d’art islamique mais réalisé sur les plans d’Ambroise Baudry, vers 1875, Musée d’art islamique du Caire, inv. 23767. Photographie M. Volait, 2017.  90 7.1 Stuttgart, Palais Urach, Arab Rooms, interior of a neo-Moorish style room, Karl Mayer, begun in 1893. HStAS GU 99 Bü. 557b.  97 7.2 Stuttgart, Palais Urach, Arab Rooms, interior of a neo-Mamlūk style room, Karl Mayer, begun in 1907. HStAS GU 99 Bü. 557b.  97 7.3 Stuttgart, Palais Urach, Arab Rooms, floor plan of the first two building phases indicating the planned ceilings and domes, Karl Mayer, undated. HStAS GU 120 Bü. 316.  98 7.4 Croquis pour deux chambres en style arabe, Max Herz, March 1898. HStAS GU 120 Bü. 316.  101 7.5 Neuhausen, Charlottenfels Castle, Henri Moser’s fumoir arabe. Bernisches Historisches Museum, Bern, BHM Ethno Ph1.240.07566.  102 7.6 Mr. H. Moser à Charlottenfels, Fumoir arabe, coupé en long, Henri Saladin, Paris, 20 Décembre 1907. Bernisches Historisches Museum, BHM Ethno Inv. 1922.670.0260.55.  103 7.7 Stuttgart, Palais Urach, Arab Rooms, pencil drawing indicating the intended display in rooms 1a–b, Karl von Urach. HStAS GU 120 Bü. 316.  104 8.1 Pictorial Carpet with Landscape and Pairs of Birds, Mughal Empire, Lahore, c. 1600; Measurements: 233 × 158 cm; warp/weft: Cotton, Knots: wool; Or 292, MAK-Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna. © Georg Mayer, MAK-Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna.  115 8.2 Vienna Hunting Carpet, Central Iran, probably Kashan, first half of sixteenth century; Measurements: 687 × 331 cm; warp/weft/knots: silk and

xi silver; T 8336, MAK-Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna. © Georg Mayer, MAK-Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna.  117 8.3 Floor Plan of the 1891 Vienna Carpet Exhibition, supplement to the small exhibition catalog: Handelsmuseum, ed. Katalog der Ausstellung orientalischer Teppiche. Vienna: Verlag des k. k. österreichischen Handelsmuseums, 1891.  121 9.1 Paris, The Pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Exposition Universelle, 1900. Watercolor by Alfons Mucha, featured in Le Figaro Illustré (March 1, 1900). © Mucha Trust 2015.  125 9.2 Budapest, The industrial pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Millennium Exhibition, 1896. Fortepan and Budapest City Archives, HU.BFL.XV.19.d.1.09.049.  127 9.3 Vienna, Façade of the pavilion of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 1898 Kaiser Jubilee Exhibition. Stereo photograph by Karl Möhls, 1898. Austrian National Library, Picture Archives and Graphics Department, 135657-STE.  128 9.4 Paris, Pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 1900 Paris World Fair, photograph, 1900. Brown University Archives, 3A87095.  129 9.5 Budapest, The Bosnian house and coffee house, Millennium Exhibition, 1896. Fortepan and Budapest City Archive, HU.BFL.XV.19.d.1.09.063.  130 9.6 Paris, The interior of the pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Exposition Universelle, 1900, colored lanternslide, 3.25 x 4 in. Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection, no. 13. II.36.  133 10.1 Saint-Pétersbourg, Mosquée, Nikolaj Vasil’ev, 1909–21. Photographie de Katrin Kaufmann, 2017.  138 10.2 Saint-Pétersbourg, Mosquée, Portail principal, Nikolaj Vasil’ev, 1909-21. Photographie de Katrin Kaufmann, 2017.  140 10.3 La mosquée à Saint-Pétersbourg, Projets de concours, 1er prix, devise Timur, façade principale, arch-te N. Vasil’ev, Zodčij, 15, 1908, pl. 10.  141

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xii 10.4 La mosquée à Saint-Pétersbourg, Projets de concours, 2ème prix, devise Arabesques, arch-te N. Vasil’ev, Zodčij, 15, 1908, pl. 12.  142 10.5 Berne, Vue de la Salle d’armes de la collection Moser au BHM, vers 1925, Musée d’Histoire de Berne.  144 10.6 Henri Moser, Tour et dôme du Gour Emir, 1889/90. Photographie, 170 × 120 mm, Musée d’Histoire de Berne, Inv. PH1.240.06584.01.  145 10.7 Henri Saladin, Écoinçon de la grande niche de la salle d’armes, Musée Moser, 29.4.1918, crayon et aquarelle. Musée d’Histoire de Berne.  146 10.8 Commission Impériale Archéologique, Détails de la porte d’accès de la mosquée de Gour Emir, Les Mosquées de Samarcande : Fascicule I, GourEmir, 1905, pl. III, The Cleveland Museum of Art.  146 11.1 Map of the Khanates of Bukhara, Khiva and Kokand and part of Russian Turkestan for the year 1873. © Collection of the State Historical Museum, Cartographic Department, Moscow.  154 11.2 Paul Nadar at the Tashkent Exhibition, September 19, 1890.  155 11.3 W. Heizelman and A. Benois, Prince Romanov’s Tashkent Residency, 1891. © The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbeksitan.  157 11.4 Gate to the Khiva Pavilion, Tashkent Exhibition, 1890. Albumen print. Private collection.  158 11.5 View of the Bukhara Pavilion. Albumen print, 1890. Private collection.  158 11.6 View of the Central Asian Pavilion in Moorish Style, Aleksander N. Pomerantzev, Nizhniy Novgorod Ethnographic Exhibition, 1896, Kunavino district. RGALI, fond 60, file 680, Moscow.  160 12.1 Regello, Villa of Sammezzano, exterior view, Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, mid-1840s–early 1900s, © Bildarchiv Foto Marburg/Rabatti & Domingie Photography.  166 12.2 Regello, Villa of Sammezzano, Sala delle Stelle (Hall of Stars), Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, early 1860s, © Bildarchiv Foto Marburg/Rabatti & Domingie Photography.  167

List of Illustrations 13.1 A. Vertunni, Paesaggio orientale, 1870–75, oil painting on canvas (100 × 215 cm), Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Milan.  181 13.2 Catalogue de la collection Vertunni : objets d’art et de curiosité, étoffes, tableaux etc. dont la vente aux enchères publiques aura lieu dans les magnifiques salons de son atelier à Rome, le lundit 7 mars 1881 (Rome: Sales company Raffaele Dura, 1881), Library of Art History and Archaeology, Rome, Sala Crociera.  182 13.3 Salle arabe, first wall, from the 1881 sales catalog.  184 13.4 Salle arabe, second wall, from the 1881 sales catalog.  184 13.5 Door of a mosque, Egypt (?), fourteenth century, from the 1881 sales catalog  185 13.6 Salle arabe, third wall, from the 1881 sales catalog.  186 14.1 The 1886 exhibition of the Moser collection at the Botanical Garden in Geneva. Black and white photography, © Bernisches Historisches Museum, BHM E/PH1.240.07571/01.  190 14.2 Plate XXIV, “Indian Maharaja Daggers.” From the Oriental Arms and Armour catalog. Note: Moser, Oriental Arms and Armour, plate XXIV.  194 14.3 Plate XXV, various metal objects from Persia. From an unpublished volume on the arts and crafts section of the Moser collection, ca. 1914. © Bernisches Historisches Museum 2018, BHM E/PH1.240.15718/25.  195 14.4 The original setup of the arms collection in the ‘Great Moser,’ ca. 1925. Black and white photography, © Bernisches Historisches Museum.  196 14.5 The ‘Souvenir Books’ of the Moser archive. Photography: Christine Moor, © Bernisches Historisches Museum, 2018.  198 15.1 Vladimir Beklemishev, Sergej Zhebelev, Yakov Smirnov in Tivoli, Italy, 1896. SA IHMC RAS, Photo Department, neg. II 42959.  204 15.2 Constantinople, Selamlık, the departure of the Sultan to the mosque on Friday. Photography by G. Berggren, 1870–80s. SA IHMC RAS, Photo Department, imp. О.1020/13.  205 15.3 Egypt. Annual Flooding of the Nile. Photography by Abdullah Brothers, 1887. SA IHMC RAS, Photo Department, imp. Q 544/27.  206 Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait and Ariane Varela Braga - 978-90-04-41264-4 Downloaded from Brill.com04/22/2020 08:55:17AM via McGill University

List of Illustrations 15.4 Palestine. Guides, Dragomans and Bedouin horsemen. Photography by L. Fiorillo, ca. 1880. SA IHMC RAS, Photo Department, imp. Q 546/31.  207 15.5 Granada, Alhambra, interior of Mosque. Photography by Linares, late nineteenth century. SA IHMC RAS, Photo Department, imp. Q 537/16.  208

xiii 15.6 Thessaloniki, Church of St. Sophia. Photography by Yakov Smirnov, 1895. SA IHMC RAS, Photo Department, imp. Q 536/14.  209 15.7 Yakov Smirnov with three companions, Thessaloniki, 1895. SA IHMC RAS, Photo Department, imp. Q 536/11.  210

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Notes on Contributors Roger Nicholas Balsiger chairs the Heinrich and Henri Moser Foundation as great-grandson of Heinrich Moser, the watchmaking pioneer, and as great-nephew of Henri Moser, the donator of the Oriental Collection to the Historic Museum in Berne. He wrote various biographies about his ancestors, among which, together with Ernst J. Kläy, on Henri Moser: Bei Schah, Emir und Khan. Moya Carey is the Curator of Islamic Collections, at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, Ireland. Her research addresses the nineteenth-century history of collecting in the Middle East, with specific reference to the formation of the South Kensington Museum (today the V&A). She has recently published Persian Art. Collecting the Arts of Iran for the V&A (London: V&A, 2018). She is currently working on a long-term research project with Mercedes Volait, on architectural salvage in nineteenth-century Cairo. Valentina Colonna is a scholar of Islamic art history. She obtained her PhD in culture and territory with a thesis on the collection of Islamic art in Rome during the nineteenth century. She has published articles on the Islamic collection in Italy, Turkey and Syria. She participated in international conferences and in the organization of the exhibition “Il fascino dell’Oriente nelle collezioni e nei musei d’Italia” (Frascati, February, 2012) and received a master’s degree in museology in 2016. Francine Giese is director of the Vitrocentre and Vitromusée Romont. From 2014–19 she held a SNSF professorship at the Institute of Art History of the University of Zurich, where she led the research project Mudejarismo and Moorish Revival in Europe. Her PhD thesis, dealing with the Islamic ribbed vault, was published in 2007 (Gebr. Mann), and her ­habilitation

(second book) on building and restoration practices in the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba issued in 2016 (Peter Lang). Her research focuses on the artistic and cultural heritage of al-Andalus, crosscultural exchanges during the Middle Ages, architectural Orientalism and the arts of glass. Hélène Guérin docteur en histoire de l’art contemporain, chercheur au LIFAM. Maître de conférences associée à l’École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Montpellier. Travaille sur les rapports entre l’art et les (id)entités territoriales : plus précisément le rôle de l’histoire de l’art dans l’invention des territoires aux XIXe et XXe siècles. Ses travaux sont géographiquement situés en Europe et en Asie. Dernières parutions : « Les kote-e de la province d’Oita, objets de patrimonialisation », Revue de l’université de Beppu (en japonais), 2018; « Une métaphysique de l’art au service de la science sociale : François Sabatier lire et écrire avec ­Fourier », Cahiers Charles Fourier, n°28, 2017, 51–65. Barbara Karl studied art history and languages at the University of Vienna. Before becoming director of the Textile Museum St. Gallen, she was curator of Textiles and Carpets at the MAK—Museum für angewandte Kunst in Vienna. Since her PhD she has published books and articles on Indian textiles for the European market, merchants as agents of intercultural transfer, the influence of India on European material culture, collecting of Islamicate Art in Medici Florence and Habsburg Vienna and Ottoman textiles. Katrin Kaufmann a étudié l’histoire de l’art et les langues et littératures slaves, à Berne et à Berlin. Elle travaille au Service des monuments historiques du canton de Berne et est doctorante à l’Université de Zurich. Sa thèse sur l’architecture orientalisante à ­Saint-Pétersbourg fait partie du projet de ­recherche Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait and Ariane Varela Braga - 978-90-04-41264-4 Downloaded from Brill.com04/22/2020 08:55:17AM via McGill University

Notes on Contributors

Mudejarismo and Moorish Revival in Europe, sous la direction de Francine Giese. Sarah Keller est collaboratrice scientifique pour le Corpus Vi­ trearum au Vitrocentre Romont depuis 2013 et inventorie les vitraux suisses de la Renaissance et du baroque. Comme spécialiste du vitrail elle collabore au projet Mudejarismo and Moorish Revival in Europe de l’Université de Zurich. Son doctorat à l’Université de Berne était dédié à la réception des motifs islamiques en Espagne romane. Agnieszka Kluczewska Wójcik est vice-présidente du Polish Institute of World Art Studies (Polski Instytut Studiów nad Sztuką Świata, Varsovie), éditeur scientifique du Corpus de la collection Feliks Jasieński au Musée National de Cracovie. Elle est notamment l’auteur de Feliks « Manggha » Jasieński and his Colletion at the National Museum in Krakow (2014). Elle a édité plu­ sieurs volumes, dont: Modernity of Collection (2010), Art of Japan, Japanisms and Polish-Japanese Art Relations (2012), Korea. Art and Artistic Relations with Europe (2014), Kolekcjonerstwo polskie XX i XXI wieku (Collectionnisme polonais du XIXe et XXe siècles, 2015), Siemiradzki that we do not know (2018). Inessa Kouteinikova is a senior researcher and art historian, living in the Netherlands. Her interests include Russian and International Orientalism, and the development of the photographic industry in Central Asia, Caucasus and the Crimea from 1860 to 1917. She is currently writing a monograph on the emergence of albumania, reception, representation and display of Russia’s nineteenth-century colonies in the International exhibitions. Working closely with the Russian museums, she has curated and co-­ authored various exhibitions in Europe, America and Australia. Axel Langer studied art history at the University of Zurich. He has been working for the Museum Rietberg Zürich since 1999, where he is curator for ­Islamic

xv Middle-Eastern Art. Beside his various contributions to transcultural exhibitions, he also organized exhibitions himself, such as on blue-andwhite ceramics, Qajar textiles and the cultural exchange between Europe and Persia in the seventeenth century. He is currently working on a project on aniconism in Islamic and Christian art. Maria Medvedeva is an archaeologist. She graduated from Saint-­ Petersburg State University, and completed her PhD at the Institute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences, at whose archives she has been working as of 1999 and has become its head in the meantime. Her research interests are focusing on the history of archaeology and preservation of antiquities in Russia at the end of the nineteenth and in the beginning of the twentieth centuries. Ágnes Sebestyén obtained her MA degree in Art History in Budapest in 2006. She worked in the field of contemporary art in Budapest and Wiesbaden between 2002 and 2010, and at the Hungarian National Gallery (2010– 11). She completed her PhD between 2012 and 2016 at the Institute of Art History/Graduate School of the Humanities at the Walter Benjamin Kolleg at the University of Bern. She has been working as the Project Director of the European Foundation for Education in Stuttgart since 2017. Alban von Stockhausen is an anthropologist and curator based in Bern, Switzerland. His recent work focused on the Greater Himalayan region and historic photo collections. He is curator for the ethnographic collection at Bernisches Historisches Museum that also keeps objects, photographs and documentation materials donated by Henri Moser in 1914. Ariane Varela Braga is an art historian and lecturer at the University of Geneva. She studied at the universities of Geneva and Neuchâtel. Her PhD dissertation (2013), about Owen Jones’s Grammar of Ornament, was Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait and Ariane Varela Braga - 978-90-04-41264-4 Downloaded from Brill.com04/22/2020 08:55:17AM via McGill University

xvi published in 2017 (Campisano Ed.). From 2014 to 2019, she was research assistant in the SNSF project Mudejarismo and Moorish Revival, directed by Francine Giese at the University of Zurich. Her interests focus on the theory of ornamentation and decorative arts, the reception of non-Western art, colored marbles and artistic migrations. Mercedes Volait est directeur de recherche au CNRS (laboratoire InVisu, Paris) et chercheur associé au Victoria

Notes on Contributors

and Albert Museum depuis 2015. Elle est spécialiste de l’orientalisme architectural et antiquaire né au contact des monuments du Caire au XIXe siècle. Elle a notamment publié Fous du Caire : excentriques, architectes et amateurs d’art en Egypte (1867–1914) (2009) et Maisons de France au Caire : le remploi de grands décors mamelouks et ottomans dans une architecture moderne (2012). Elle étudie actuellement avec Moya Carey le remploi architectural dans Le Caire khédivial.

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Honoring Henri Moser Charlottenfels

From Silkworm Exporter to Explorer, Diplomat and Collector: The Illustrious Life of Henri Moser Roger Nicholas Balsiger, grandnephew of Henri Moser Charlottenfels Baron Benjamin von Kallay (1839–1903), at that time the mighty and famous Finance Minister of Austria-Hungary, engaged him; the Emir of Buchara and the Khan of Chiwa valued him; he traveled with Prince von Wittgenstein (1834–1904), Prince Hilkoff (1843–1942), as also with General Annenkoff (1835–99); he trained horses for Emperor Francis Joseph (1848–1916); by instruction of the Swiss Federal Council, he attended to Shah-inShah Nasr-Ed-Din (1848–96) during his three days’ visit to Switzerland in 1873 and was received in audience by the same in Tehran in 1884; he paid his respects to the President of Mexico; the King of Belgium and the French President visited his exhibitions; he received the President of the Swiss Confederation in his re-acquired Charlottenfels Castle. He was decorated with many medals and received numerous awards. He was made a Member of the French Legion d’Honneur, named Doctor honoris causa, an Honorary Guild Member and Honorary Citizen of the City of Berne. He climbed to the rank of Lieutenant of the Swiss Cavalry, was made a Russian Cossack Officer, and was promoted to Honorary General by the Shah-in-Shah. And he called himself an estate owner and agronomist, acted as merchant, trading agent and a breeder of silkworms; he counselled the Swiss Federal Council on matters concerning international trade ­diplomacy; he was exhibition manager and Commissioner General for Bosnia and Herzegovina in the services of Austria-Hungary; Henri Moser was a baker and a pool supervisor, geographer, explorer, author of books and brilliant orator, a conversationalist of charm, and, at the age of 71, a caring refugee commissioner. He chased women as much as he hunted bears. He was a pioneer, an adventurer, acquired a taste for weapons and was a collector. But yet the question: was there a true Henri Moser? Who was he really?

He was born in Saint Petersburg on May 13, 1844, as son of the industrialist tycoon Heinrich Moser (1805–74) and his wife Charlotte (1810?–50) (fig. 0.1). This fifth addition to the family finally was the long-expected son and heir apparent for the empire his father had created. Four years later, in 1848, the family returned to Schaffhausen. At age six, Henri’s mother died in an accident suffered from a coach ride. “The loss of his mother had a lasting effect on his life […],”1 his sister Emma later wrote in German, looking back. Henri was raised by governesses, but his schooling efforts left something to be desired, especially because he got distracted by many pastimes, including horse riding. Throughout his life the father seemed an overpowering figure, who would make Moser at times feel helpless and inferior. Whilst, later in the cavalry, he would enjoy military service, he seemed less talented for watchmaking, his father’s business. From letters and other familyrelated sources it can be gathered that the father had high expectations of his son, which seemingly was a source of constantly feeling inferior. Undertaking foreign business travels on behalf of his father, however, was an occupation for which he seemed better suited (fig. 0.2). Unfortunately, this would not keep him from pursuing various distractions, such as hunting, riding and amorous adventures. In the letters to his son, the father scolds his son for his extravagant lifestyle, which eventually led him to recall Henri from St. Petersburg to Le Locle, which would, however, not prevent him from causing scandals. As a result, he was demoted and posted to Russia again to avoid further ­reputational risks for the company. Henri had

1 Roger N. Balsiger and Ernst J. Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan (Schaffhausen: Meier Verlag, 1992), 12.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���� | doi 10.1163/9789004412644_002

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Figure 0.1 Louis-Aimé Grosclaude, Henri Moser with mother and sisters, oil painting on canvas, 1850, sMuseum zu Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen

d­ ifficulties coping with this personal and professional setback, and consequently continued his frivolous laissez-faire lifestyle in Saint Petersburg. However, the father’s loyal staff would inform him about his son’s misbehavior, who then decided to confront Henri in a long, emotional letter, wherein he analysed the business activities of his son as being inconsistent and disastrous, concluding: “[…] I shall neither disown nor curse you but as you present yourself today, you cannot remain in my

c­ ompany […]. You are herewith dismissed […]!”2 The letter, written in German, furthermore continued: “[…] Du wilst nicht Gutes bewürken, Du wilst nur glänzen, das Herz geht dabey leer aus.”3 This 2 Balsiger and Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan, 21. 3 “[…] you do not intend to engage in laudable activities […] you only wish to cause a stir […] nothing emanates from your heart […],” in Balsiger and Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan, 212 (author’s translation).

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Honoring Henri Moser Charlottenfels

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Figure 0.2 Anonymous, around 1867, Henri Moser, author’s private archives

dismissal not only marked the beginning of a lifelong estrangement between father and son, it also revealed to Heinrich the bitter truth that his son would not follow in his footsteps. Henri, on the other hand, seemed little affected and rather willing to enjoy this new freedom and liberation from family burdens: after the lifechanging event he began to collect watches and jewellery from the company’s treasury, quit and tried to follow the Russian General Skobeleff, who in 1866 invited young men from the upper class to join him exploring unknown territories in

­ entral Asia. This prospect was attractive for HenC ri, who, even though he had no formal invitation to join the General, left Moscow on October 1, 1868, with the objective to reach the expedition via different routes. While staying in Orenburg for some months, he made himself familiar with the language and culture of the Kirghiz. From there, he travelled through the nomad veld to Tashkent. However, after finally reaching the troops, he was informed that the battles had already been waged and that Samarkand had fallen six months ago.

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4 The result of this unforeseen end to his Central Asian adventure was a return to his carefree and extravagant lifestyle. Yet his shrinking assets soon made him take on odd jobs, including training horses, running a bakery, and even acting as a pool supervisor. Yet, unaffectedly, he wrote: “j’étais fier de dire que jamais je n’avais obéi à qui que ce fût.”4 In 1869/70, he undertook a second exploratory trip to Central Asia that again brought him to Turkestan, Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara. While en tour, he encountered a silkworm breeder called Adamoli, who offered him the exportation of silkworms to Italy for his company. Henri obtained the support from the General Governor of Turkestan, General Kaufmann, but competency disputes between the Province of Turkestan and the Asian Department in St. Petersburg complicated matters considerably. In spite of interventions by Prince Gortschakow (1798–1883) and Italian Prime Minister Riccasoli (1809–80), the venture failed and led to Moser’s bankruptcy. Financial demands were placed upon him, until a compromise settlement was arrived at through the intermediary of Prime Minister Riccasoli. This failure seemingly shattered Henri’s health and self-confidence, a condition even worsened by the fact that his father married the Baroness Fanny von Sulzer-Wart (1848–1925), who happened to be 43 years younger than her groom. He recovered as guest of his sister Sophie, who was married to a count—a proprietor of a vast territory in Transylvania, where Henri would go hunting bears and wild boar. In 1873, Shah Nasr Ed-Din paid Switzerland an official visit, for which the Swiss Federal Council invited Henri to accommodate him during his three days there. After that, Henri attempted, for the last time, to re-enter the company of his father. While their negotiations were advancing, the father fell ill and their talks were postponed. 4 “I was proud to say that I have never obeyed anyone, whoever this may have been,” Robert Pfaff, Henri Moser-Charlottenfels und seine Orientalische Sammlung, Beiträge zur Geschichte 62/1985 (Thayngen: Karl Augustin AG, 1985), 212 (author’s translation).

Balsiger

Henri then tried to visit Heinrich again on March 22, 1874, but his stepmother prevented him from doing so on the very doorsteps, using her husband’s ill health as a pretext. Heinrich Moser died seven months later, so that a long letter he had written to his father after his last attempt to see him would remain unanswered, which must have made clear to him that he would not be able to make up with his father anymore. Heinrich Moser’s demise certainly was a devastating experience, although it also meant that Henri would no longer feel the shadow of his father looming over him. After another retreat to his favourite sister in Transylvania, he organised his first exhibition of artefacts from Central Asia in Schaffhausen in 1876. Then, in January 1883, Henri emerged in St. Petersburg, with a plan to cross Asia from west to east, through Central Asia to the east coast of China, something that had never been done before by anyone. It was a fortunate coincidence that he could join Prince Wittgenstein on his official journey. Starting out in Orenburg, they headed for the Ural Mountains to Orsk and then continued on to the velds of the Kazakhs. After passing the Aral Sea, the desert of Kara-kum and the red desert Kysyl-kum, they finally reached Tashkent, where presents were handed to local dignitaries and in turn received. From there, they continued to Samarkand. In Bukhara, Emir Mozaffar-ed-Din gave a reception, and further gifts were exchanged. ­After that, Henri left the official delegation and followed the right bank of the Amu-Darja. After arriving in Chiva, he journeyed on to Kysyl-Arwat, via the mountainous ridges of the Kurdish KopetDagh to the plains of Chorasan. After another lap of seven days, he finally reached Tehran, albeit in an exhausted state of health, and was received in audience by the Shah-in-Shah, who recognized him from his trip to Switzerland eleven years back. After this adventure in Central Asia, Henri Moser started recording his adventures in letters which would then be printed in the Journal de Genève. In addition, he published his book À travers l’Asie centrale in 1885. In the meantime, he had become

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Honoring Henri Moser Charlottenfels

an internationally acclaimed expert on the life and culture of Central Asia, because of which he would hold lectures at the International Geographic Society and other prestigious institutions (fig. 0.3). Additionally, he continued to collect artefacts from the region. In 1886, he started a travelling exhibition in Schaffhausen, which would lead ­ him through seven cities in Switzerland; while in Berne, it was visited by the President of the Federal Council, accompanied by two Federal ­ Councillors. Elated by his success, he submitted proposals to the Federal Council one year later by way of a memorial called The Trade Relations of Switzerland with Foreign Countries. The idea was to improve the efficiency in exporting goods, yet this well-­ intended plan was to no avail. Instead, the Bernese newspaper Bund commented cynically, “[…] what usefulness Mr. Moser offers in his memorial is not new, and what new ideas he offers are not useful.”5 In the same year, he got married to his own niece Marguerite (1862–1929). This marriage to a relative of his, the reasons of which are unknown, resulted in a child—a boy called Benjamin Henri Schaffhouse—who died just after ten months, in 1898. Henri’s financial means too were in a regrettable state and forced him to sell Charlottenfels Castle, although he actually was not permitted to do so legally due to the last will dispositions of his mother. A telegram from General Annenkoff reached him in May 1888, stating that the General wanted to build the Caspian Railway which would lead from the Caspian Sea to Samarkand. He succeeded in winning Henri over to take care of the project to irrigate Zeravshan River dry by directing the water of the Amu-Darja through a large channel to the Province of Kara-kul. This project was the main reason for his fourth journey through Central Asia, during which he would also be accompanied by 5 “Was Hr. Moser Brauchbares in seinem Memorial bietet, ist nicht neu, und was er Neues bietet, ist nicht brauchbar,” in Balsiger and Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan; 49 (author’s translation).

5 his wife. His attempts to grow cotton there as well as the Bordeaux grape resulted in the publication of the book L’irrigation en Asie centrale. Étude géographique et économique, Paris, 1894, which turned out to be reviewed positively in the London Times. In July 1891, the French President MarieFrançois Sadi Carnot (1887–94) opened a travelling exhibition of Henri Moser’s collection which proved a resounding success. In the following year, the Finance Minister of Austria-Hungary, Baron Benjamin von Kallay, one of the most influential politicians of the era, offered Henri to be appointed Commissioner General for Bosnia and Herzegovina, which Moser accepted, thus making him one of the leading European diplomats of his time. But before assuming the position, he first travelled to the usa, where he held lectures, thereafter continuing to Mexico, where he was welcomed by President Porfirio Diaz (1876/77–80, 1884–1911). Yet in a telegram Kallay asked for Moser’s immediate return to prepare works for the pavilions for the 1897 World Exhibition in Brussels, where Henri Moser intended to place Bosnia and Herzegovina on the global map. This proved another success: after his visit of Moser’s pavilions, King Leopold ii of Belgium (r. 1865– 1909) was full of compliments. Three years later, at the World Exhibition in Paris, Moser reached the peak level of his diplomatic activity, through the uniqueness of the displayed constructions. Consequently, Henri Moser received numerous decorations and an invitation to enter the Légion d’Honneur. Yet after Baron von Kallay’s death three years later, Henri’s diplomatic career came to an abrupt end, even though Emperor Francis Joseph i (r. 1848–1916), who had received him in audience twice before, continued his invitations to go hunting with him. After his diplomatic career, Henri started speculating on Spassky copper mines, which made him a rich man and allowed him to buy back Charlottenfels Castle, where he would from now on host many dignitaries, such as the President of the Swiss Confederation, or the Persian Crown Prince, as well as many other high-ranking personalities.

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Figure 0.3 Anonymous, around 1867, Henri Moser, author’s private archives

On December 29, 1909, Henri set up a Foundation with the purpose of endowing Charlottenfels Castle, the estate and the Oriental Collection to Schaffhausen. Since, however, the city of Schaffhausen rejected his offer to become home to his now unique Oriental Collection, the Bernese Historic Museum proposed to build a special annex to permanently host it. Moser accepted. “Ein fürstliches Geschenk fürwahr […] die grösste orientalische Sammlung in Privatbesitz,” the newspaper Bund wrote on February 5, 1914.6 Berne subsequently conveyed upon him the Doctor honoris 6 “[…] a princely gift indeed […] the largest oriental collection in private hands[…],” Der Bund 65, Nr. 59, Abendblatt, February 5, 1914, 1 (author’s translation).

causa, an honorary guild membership and the honorary citizenship of the city of Berne. In 1915, he was appointed Refugee Commissioner during World War i, which led him to engage very actively in improving the lives of refugees and even house many of them at Charlottenfels Castle (fig. 0.4). Eventually, the inauguration of his Oriental Collection at the Bernese Historic Museum took place on May 21, 1922, with a public speech by Moser. “[...] un discours dans lequel il remerciait Dieu de lui avoir accordé la grâce de voir le rêve de sa vie réalisé […],”7 his wife Marguerite noted. Only 14 7 “[…] a speech in which he thanked God for having graciously accorded him the chance to see his dream come

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Honoring Henri Moser Charlottenfels

Figure 0.4 Anonymous, around 1900, Henri Moser, diplomat, Moser-Archives, Bernisches Historisches Museum (bhm)

months later, on July 15, 1923, Henri Moser died of pneumonia in Vevey, after a life during which he had pioneered in many faculties and which might be regarded as a posthumous proof to his father of his worthiness, thus echoing a verse by Persian poet Sheikh Sādi (1210?–92?), which had accompanied Moser his entire life: “Our aim is to accomplish something which will survive us.”8 true […]”, in M.M. (identified as Marguerite Moser by reliable sources), Une vie Henri Moser Charlottenfels (Lausanne: Payot & Cie., 1929), 124 (author’s translation). 8 Balsiger and Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan, 197.

Bibliography Balsiger, Roger N. and Kläy, Ernst J. Bei Schah, Emir und Khan. Schaffhausen : Meier Verlag, 1992. Moser, Marguerite. Une vie Henri Moser Charlottenfels. Lausanne : Payot & Cie., 1929. Pfaff, Robert. “Henri Moser-Charlottenfels und seine Orientalische Sammlung”, Beiträge zur Geschichte, 62, 1985: 117–56. Zeller, Rudolf. “Die orientalische Sammlung von Henri Moser auf Charlottenfels (Schaffhausen)”, Der Bund 65, no. 59, February 5, 1914, 1.

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Introduction: Islamic Art and Architecture Exposed Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait, and Ariane Varela Braga This collection of essays presents the outcome of the international conference “À l’orientale. Col­ lecting, Displaying and Appropriating Islamic Art and Architecture in the 19th and early 20th cen­ turies,” held at the University of Zurich, the Riet­ berg Museum and Charlottenfels Castle in May 2017. Conceived in the framework of the Swiss National Science Foundation (snsf) project “Mudejarismo and Moorish Revival in Europe,” the aim of the conference was to emphasize the significance of Islamic art and architecture for the artistic renewal in the West during the nine­ teenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as to trace back the beginnings of the collecting of Is­ lamic Arts and their private and public display. Contrary to most conferences on the topic, the focus was not only laid on major European collec­ tions and interiors but also on lesser known ex­ amples from Eastern Europe, Russia, Central Asia and the Islamic World. Divided in four sections, the present volume reflects this thematic spec­ trum, starting with contributions assessing the curiosity and taste for Islamic arts in the West, which later on lead to different modes of appro­ priation oscillating between reuse and eclectic recreations, with the latter ­being the topic of the second section. The same processes are also ob­ servable in the sphere of museums and interna­ tional exhibitions treated in the third section. Here, the suggestive pavilions and evocative mu­ seum displays helped create fictitious and global­ ly diffused notions of the East. ­Finally, the last section is dedicated to the importance of nine­ teenth-century collectors and their international networks, and it is in this context that it becomes the most apparent how much the relevant actors of this international phenomenon lived in an in­ terconnected world, wherein East and West met in cultural and artistic ways that often were not balanced equally.

Due to a growing Islamoscepticism, museum departments dedicated to Islamic arts are becom­ ing ever more important as mediators between the Islamic World and the West. The challenges these departments face today and their respective coun­ ter-strategies were further talking points. During a round-table that involved the participation of cu­ rators from the Louvre, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Berlin Museum für Islamische Kunst and the David Collection Copenhagen, we had the opportunity to discuss and learn about the differ­ ent devices and methods used by each museum for enhancing the awareness of the history of Is­ lam and the visibility of each collection. For in­ stance, the participants exchanged their views on the increasingly important role digital technolo­ gies and communication media play today, and how they have become an essential element in curatorial practices. Another related issue was ­ how to adapt display strategies to new audiences ­attracted by Islamic art collections because of their Muslim culture and identity. And finally, the complex issues of provenance and repatriation were discussed thoroughly, as well as the impor­ tance of transparency in respect of the history of collections. That such exceptional exchange would take place in Switzerland might surprise at first, given that the country is rarely associated with impor­ tant Islamic art collections. However, it actually is home to an outstanding private collection of Is­ lamic art, most of it assembled during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by the Swiss Henri Moser Charlottenfels (1844–1923), a famous traveler to the Orient. Born to a wealthy Swiss industrial in St Petersburg in May 1844, Hen­ ri Moser is considered one of the pioneering ama­ teurs of Islamic art in the nineteenth century, who during extensive journeys became well acquainted with the East. However, contrary to most of his

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Introduction: Islamic Art and Architecture Exposed

contemporaries, Moser was less interested in the highly frequented centers of Cairo, Damascus or Istanbul. Instead, he traveled to the more r­ emote parts of Central Asia, which was due to his person­ al and business-related engagements with Russia. In the course of four journeys between 1868 and 1890, he became familiar with local customs, as well as with regional forms of Islamic art and ar­ chitecture. This is attested to by both his travel­ ogue À travers l’Asie centrale, published in Paris in 1885, and his extensive photo collection, today kept at the Bern Historical Museum. Like other contemporaries, such as the influential Russian historian of Early Christian and Byzantine Art, Ya­ kov Smirnov (1869–1918), whose photo collection, discussed in this volume by Maria Medvedeva, is today preserved at the Russian Academy of Sci­ ences in St Petersburg, Henri Moser documented his travels meticulously. As Alban von Stockhausen informs us in his contribution, it was during these journeys that Moser laid the foundation to his vast collection. Whereas its core was formed by gifts from Russian military officers and local regents, such as the Emir of Bukhara, Moser extended his collection through acquisitions from international art dealers and private collectors in Paris, London, Berlin, Munich, and Geneva. The trade of Islamic artefacts aside, there was a growing market for salvages and origi­ nal architectural pieces, as Moya Carey demon­ strates with her reconstruction of the itinerary of a Damascus room that Caspar Purdon Clarke ex­ ported from Syria to Vincent Robinson in London and of which some fragments are preserved at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. London and Paris were not the only places were amateurs could find precious objects. Italy, too, played an important part in the diffusion of Islamic art; Ari­ ane Varela Braga’s study of the Florentine art col­ lector Marquis Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona illustrates this as much as Valentina Colonna’s examination of Achille Vertunni’s Arab Hall in Rome. Moreover, in her contribution on the significant role François Sabatier played in the development of Michele Amari’s Storia dei

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­ usulmani di Sicilia, Hélène Guérin’s contribution m proves how much Italy’s Islamic past, especially in Sicily, raised the attention of nineteenth-century historians. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the influence of art dealers, artists and private col­ lectors on the development and implementation of new display strategies had grown considerably. Accordingly, various members of the Parisian cul­ tural scene were known for their important art ­collections, their exemplary displays thereof, and their involvement in the groundbreaking exhibi­ tion of Islamic art that took place in the French capital in 1893. Among the most relevant pro­ tagonist we find Albert Goupil (1840–84) and his brother-in-law, the artist Jean-Léon Gérome ­ (1824–1904), Baron Edmond James de Rothschild (1845–1934), Baron Alphonse Delort de Gléon (1843–99), the architects Henri Saladin (1851–1923) and Ambroise Baudry (1838–1906), the Orientalist Charles Schefer (1820–98), and the art dealers Ja­ cob and Salomon Bacri. With its Orientalizing ­scenography, the Paris Exposition d’art musulman ­­became an important reference for later exhibi­ tions and displays in private museums.1 As for the special case of carpet displays, in her article Bar­ bara Karl stresses the importance of the 1891 exhi­ bition at the Viennese Handelsmuseum and its influence on the formation of the scholarly disci­ pline of Islamic art history. Agnieszka Kluczewska Wójcik’s contribution, which analyzes the forma­ tion of Polish Orientalism at the beginning of the

1 David J. Roxburgh, “Au Bonheur des Amateurs: Collecting and Exhibiting Islamic Art, ca. 1880–1910, Ars Orientalis 30 (2000): 9–38; Stephen Vernoit, ed., Discovering Islamic Art. Scholars, Collectors and Collections, 1850–1950 (London and New York: I. B. Tauris, 2000); Rémi Labrusse, ed., Purs décors, Arts de l’Islam, Regards du xixe siècle (Paris : Arts Décoratifs, 2007); Chris Dercon, Léon Krempel, and Avinoam Shalem, eds., The Future of Tradition—the Tradition of Future (Lon­ don and New York: Prestel, 2010); Solmaz Mohammadza­ deh Kive, “The Exhibitionary Construction of the ‘Islamic Interior,’” in Oriental Interiors: Design, Identity, Space, ed. J. Potvin (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015), 39–58.

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10 twentieth century, takes into account French and German circles of Islamophiles alike. Closely examining the cases of Feliks Jasieński and ­ Włodzimierz Kulczycki de Lwów, who belonged to such circles, she discusses how crucial the 1901 and 1934 exhibitions of the collections were for the de­ velopment of art history and museographic dis­ plays in Poland. It was to our own very surprise to realize that Henri Moser was a member of the aforemen­ tioned, exclusive circles of Paris; he had personally known Edmond de Rothschild and loaned numer­ ous objects to the 1893 Paris exhibition. Likewise, he was not only an ambitious art collector, but had also made a name of himself as a curator, especial­ ly for his Central Asian touring exhibition (1870s– 80s) and the internationally acclaimed exposition Les Russes en Asie at the Palais Marigny in Paris (1891), as well as in connection to the much praised pavilions for Bosnia-Herzegovina. The latter had been conceived under Moser’s auspices for the World Fairs in Brussels (1897) and Paris (1900) and are the subjects of Ágnes Sebestyén’s study in this volume. Apart from the World Fairs of the nine­ teenth century, exhibitions on national and re­ gional level also signified outstanding events for the promotion of economic relations, the repre­ sentation of national identities, technical innova­ tions and new trends in the arts. Focusing on ­exhibitions organized by the Russian authorities in Central Asia, Inessa Kouteinikova points out how such exhibitions enhanced the diffusion and col­ lection of non-Western, in particular, Islamic arts. Equally, the World Fairs were a meeting place for industrials, architects, artists and amateurs, for the purpose of extending their personal and profes­ sional networks, which also was the case for our Swiss collector. Accordingly, while attending the 1900 Paris World Fair, Henri Moser was in contact with the Parisian architect Henri Saladin (1851–1923), who, years later, would design a neo-Islamic style room for Moser’s private museum. Installed in Charlot­ tenfels Castle, the family’s residence near Schaff­ hausen, and executed between 1907 and 1909, the

Giese, Volait, and Varela Braga

interior, closely studied by ­Francine Giese, pres­ ents itself as an Orientalist pastiche, combining original pieces with contemporary replicas. It fol­ lows a display strategy introduced in Paris during the 1830s that in the m ­ eantime had been adopted and hence already been established in great parts of Europe and the Islamic World.2 Furthermore, Moser’s fumoir arabe testifies to the increasing fas­ cination of Western architects and patrons for Is­ lamic aesthetics, who subsequently appropriated them to be used for contemporary architecture and decorative arts, as Mercedes Volait exempli­ fies in her analysis of the designs by French archi­ tect Ambroise Baudry for buildings in Egypt and France. Sarah Keller, on the other hand, identifies similar appropriation patterns for the special case of stained glass. In addition, the so-called Safavid Revival, discussed by Axel Langer, refers to a his­ toricist movement within nineteenth-century Per­ sian painting that emerged in parallel to a growing local art market whose goal it was to satisfy an in­ creasingly demanding clientele. The specific historical circumstances aside, the Islamic style of architecture and craftsmanship analyzed in this volume shed new light on the is­ sue of Orientalism in architecture, a genre long as­ sociated with the politics of colonial design,3 and more recently with the emergence of new forms of amusement and bodily practices in the West, such

2 Sandra Costa, Dominique Poulot, and Mercedes Volait, eds., The Period rooms. Allestimenti storici tra arte, gusto e collezionismo (Bologna : bpu, 2016). 3 François Béguin, Arabisances. Décor architectural et tracé urbain en Afrique du nord, 1830–1950 (Paris : Dunod, 1983); ed., Forms of Dominance: On the Architecture and Urbanism of the Colonial Enterprise (Aldershot : Avebury, 1992); Mercedes Volait et al., eds., Figures de l’orientalisme en architecture, no spécial de la Revue du Monde musulman et de la Méditerranée, no 73/74 (Marseille: Edisud, 1996); Nabila Oulebsir, “Du politique à l’esthétique : l’architecture néomauresque à Alger,” in Urbanité arabe. Hommage à Bernard Lepetit, ed. Jocelyne Dakhlia (Paris-Arles : Actes Sud, 1998), 299–321.

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Introduction: Islamic Art and Architecture Exposed

as in terms of bathing4 or clothing.5 The exam­ ples discussed here suggest that orientalist de­ signs found themselves embedded in a specific collecting culture dominated by men, mostly ­ bachelors, who sought for artefacts to be enjoyed in atmospheric rooms and immersive displays. In many cases the wealthy amateurs discussed in the single contributions of this volume did not only establish exquisite and in some ways rivaling collections; they also looked for solutions as to 4 Nebahat Avcioğlu, “The hammam,” in Nebahat Avcioğlu, Turquerie and the Politics of representation, 1728–1876, (Farnham : Ashgate, 2011), 189–252. 5 Marie-Cécile Thoral, “Sartorial Orientalism: Cross-cultural Dressing in Colonial Algeria and Metropolitan France in the Nineteenth Century,” European History Quarterly, 45, no. 1 (2015): 57–82.

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how their collections could survive their own deaths.6 One of them was Henri Moser himself, who opted that his hitherto private collection would be put on public display. He therefore do­ nated it to the Bern Historical Museum in 1914, yet under the condition that it would be presented in a newly built exhibition space, the same space to which Katrin Kaufmann has dedicated her study. Today, this collection, one of the most important of its kind in Switzerland, remains an essential part of Moser’s legacy. It attests to the significance of the country as a center for the display and study of Islamic art. 6 Neil Harris, “Period Rooms and the American Art Muse­ um,” Winterthur Portfolio 46, no. 2/3 (Summer–Autumn 2012): 117–38.

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Part 1 Islamic Taste in The Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

∵

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Chapter 1

Safavid Revival in Persian Miniature Painting Renewal, Imitation and Source of Inspiration Axel Langer In their 1933 seminal publication on the 1931 exhibition at Burlington House in London, Laurence Binyon, J.V.S. Wilkinson and Basil Gray state that

These remarks express a certain frustration shared by many contemporary collectors and scholars interested in Persian miniature painting, a general attitude that can be traced back at least to the prosperous years before World War i, when the market for Persian miniatures flourished. Ironically enough, Binyon and his colleagues end their observations with an outlook to future trends, arguing that, “It would be rash to speculate along what lines the eventual revival, which it is safe to predict in a nation of artists, is likely to develop.”2 Both quotations clearly reflect the ambivalent attitude of the European public toward an ­archaizing movement today known as the Safavid

Revival that entered the art market around 1900, that is, at the very moment when the West discovered Persian paintings. In its search for the original or g­ enuine, this public either opposed or straightforwardly disdained eclectic imitations and certainly not valued them at all. A similar uneasiness dominated scholarly research for nearly half a century, until first steps toward a more positive appraisal were taken. One is marked by the year 1982, when Ernst J. Grube examined a series of lacquered doors and ascribed them to the late nineteenth century, thereby reevaluating them as creations of the Safavid Revival.3 A decade later, in 1995, Eva Baer followed suit by re-evaluating the famous chest at the Berlin Museum of Islamic Art (J 4655) in terms of not describing it as blunt forgery but as a genuine work from the late Qajar period.4 Ever since, many papers and articles on specific lacquer works as well as manuscripts have been published to improve the understanding and sharpen the perception of the Safavid Revival. By now, most experts seemingly agree that Persian drawings and paintings from the late nineteenth century with stylistic features from earlier periods, especially the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, should be taken more seriously and accepted as genuine artworks. As a result, Western and

1 Laurence Binyon, J.V.S. Wilkinson, and Basil Gray, Persian Miniature Painting. Including a Critical and Descriptive Catalogue of the Miniatures Exhibited at Burlington House, January–March, 1931 (London: Oxford University Press and Humphrey Milford), 1933, 163 (italics by the author). 2 Binyon and Wilkinson and Gray, Persian Miniature Painting, 163.

3 Ernst J. Grube, “Traditionalism or Forgery: Lacquered Painting in 19th-Century Iran,” in Lacquerwork in Asia and Beyond, ed. William Watson. Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia 11 (London: Percival David Foundation, 1982), 277–300. 4 Eva Baer, “Traditionalism or Forgery: A Note on Persian Lacquer Painting,” Artibus Asiae 55, no. 3/4 (1995): 343–79.

“[w]ith present-day painting, and the rival claims of the modernist and the archaizing movements, we are not concerned; nor with the activities of the professional ‘fakers,’ who, whether operating from Persia or Europe, have executed some close imitations of old work, which have deceived many collectors, and who have displayed a technical dexterity comparable occasionally with that of the old miniaturists, and worthy of better employment.”1

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi 10.1163/9789004412644_004

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Langer

I­ranian scholars alike created the labels “Safavid Revival”5 or “neo-Safavid”6 for these eclectic miniatures. However, there is still a lot of uncertainty as to the beginnings and historic development of the style. Whereas Layla S. Diba relates the revival to the first years of the Pahlavi era (1925–79) and thus qualifies the previous period as merely transitional, others like Adle Adamova7 date it back to the 1870s. In this article, I intend to take a closer look at the evolution of the Safavid Revival. In a first step, I will therefore examine its founding years and then, and in a second one, discuss two characteristic works that mark its apex. 1

The Beginnings: A Reflex of Nostalgia

The earliest examples of paintings deliberately emulating works of the Safavid period certainly are the lacquer panels and pen boxes with images that imitate four murals at the ­seventeenth-century Fourty Columns Palace (Chihil Sutūn) in Isfahan.

5 The term was first coined by Diba, see Layla S. Diba, “The Formation of Modern Iranian Art: From Kamal-al-Molk to Zenderoudi,” in Iran Modern, ed. Fereshteh Daftari and Layla S. Diba (New York and New Haven, CT: Asia Society and Yale University Press, 2013), 60, footnote 24. See also Maryam Ekhtiar and Marika Sardar, “Nineteenth-Century Iran: Continuity and Revivalism,” in Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004), ; Marianna Shreve Simpson, “Mostly Modern Miniatures: Classical Persian Painting in the Early Twentieth Century,” Muqarnas 25 (2008): 359–95. 6 Alice Bombardier, “Persian Art in France in the 1930s: The Iranian Society for National Heritage and its French Connections,” in The Shaping of Persian Art. Collections and Interpretations of the Art of Islamic Iran and Central Asia, ed. Yuka Kadoi and Iván Szántó (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013), 192–211. 7 Adle Adamova, Persian Manuscripts, Paintings and Drawings. From the 15th to the Early 20th Century in the Hermitage Collection (London: Azimuth, 2012), esp. 56–59.

We know several more or less complete sets of ­lacquer panels and qalamdāns with this icono­ graphy.8 Originally intended to demonstrate the political power and diplomatic skills of the Safavid dynasty,9 two centuries later, these murals now nourished nostalgic sentiments of an unblemished, self-confident past that, in the imagination of contemporary residents of Isfahan, completely differed from the realities of nineteenth-century Iran. However, at that time the country had long lost its formerly hegemonic position and found itself exposed to the interests of foreign powers, and thus struggling with modernity. Commemorating the glorious days of Persian past was a comforting practice that stirred emotions among the ruling class to regain the country’s lost sovereignty. This certainly was the motivation for one of the earliest drawings “by the most humble Allāh­ verdī,”10 executed for the crown prince ʿAbbās Mīrzā Qajar Nāyeb al-Saltāne (1797–1833) in 1241 ah (1825/26 ad). The painting is a mostly reliable copy of a depiction of the historic meeting between Shah ʿAbbās i (r. 1588–1629) and Valī Muḥammad Khān (r. 1605–11) found on Safavid murals. There also is a second painting by Allāhverdī that shows Shah Tahmāsp (r. 1524–76) receiving Humayūn (r. 1530–40), which makes it very likely that the original set consisted of four images.11 These first examples highlight a contemporary tendency to link the experience of the present to a certain interpretation of the past, as confirmed by

8

9

10

11

For instance, see the three lacquer panels in The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, VR-200, VR-204, VR-203, published in Adamova, Persian Manuscripts, Paintings and Drawings, cat. nos. 200–02, 364–65. Babaie, Sussan, “Shah ʿAbbas ii, the Conquest of Qandahar, the Chihil Sutun, and its Wall Paintings,” in Muqarnas 11 (1995), 125–42. Iván Szántó, “The Art Patronage of Abbas Mirza: New Material from Hungary,” in Qajar Studies xii–xiii (2013), 42. Szántó, “The Art Patronage of Abbas Mirza,” 40 (Ill.) and 41–2.

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Safavid Revival in Persian Miniature Painting

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other pen boxes. A particularly revelatory example comes from the middle of the nineteenth century and is attributed to the workshop of Sayyid Muḥammad Imāmī.12 In its center, the top lid shows Fath ʿAlī Shāh (r. 1797–1834) sitting on his throne and surrounded by four courtiers arranged in a circle around him. On each of its sides, the circle is flanked by two royal receptions resembling those of the Chihil Sutūn wall paintings. Judging from their headdresses and facial features, the person to Fath ʿAlī’s right can be identified as Shah Tahmāsp, whereas the one to his left must be ʿAbbās i. This indicates that in this artwork the Qajar dynasty (1785–1925), represented by its founder, expresses its self-understanding as the heir of the Safavid dynasty, embodied by its two most influential rulers. Other pen boxes and lacquer works attest to the growing popularity of the iconography of these royal receptions. Most interestingly, the paintings of these later creations became increasingly independent from their original models and ­ showed a trend to use other sources of inspiration. ­Examples are a mirror case now kept in St. Petersburg, which quotes another once popular royal gathering,13 or panels with the omnipresent image of equestrians in Safavid attire, often with falcons in their hands. These lacquer panels echoed the mass-produced, molded ceramic tiles of the time. Although they do not bear any signature or date of their production, we do know the earliest dates when such

tiles were purchased and added to ­private and museum ­collections, and on this basis can deduce that the first specimens must have been created in the 1860–1870s.14 Because of their popularity potters had extended their repertoire and added other neo-Safavid images to it, such as ­promenading couples or fighting soldiers on horseback.15 The last example consists of a famous and relatively large single tile depicting the picnic of a prince in a garden, commissioned by the French military musician and composer Alfred Lemaire (1842–1907), a professor at the Dār al-Fūnūn in Tehran, and executed by ʿAlī Muḥammad Isfahānī in 1884/85 (fig. 1.1). Originally intended as the centerpiece of a fireplace, the tile was surrounded by a dozen of others adorned with undulating vines. A comparison with a large panel acquired by the New York Metropolitan Museum in 1903 reveals that ʿAlī Muḥammad Isfahānī’s tile is a faithful but reduced copy of a seventeenth-century tale panel that had once decorated one of the Safavid palaces of Isfahan (fig. 1.2). Although the property of the crown, these palaces, especially the Forty Columns Palace, were not only neglected but also partly defaced during the rule of the notorious governor Zīll al-Sultān (1850–1918) over Isfahan from 1874 to 1907. Repeatedly, European travelers and residents alike ­lamented their decay. It seems that the threat ­motivated Lemaire to choose a Safavid model for

12

13

The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, VR135, published in Adamova, Persian Manuscripts, Paintings and Drawings, cat. 163, 349–50. The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, VR-59, published in Adamova, Persian Manuscripts, Paintings and Drawings, cat. 166, 351; this mirror case shutter resembles an illustration of the Meeting of Afrāsiyāb and Garsīvāz, signed “Yā Sāhib al-Zamān” in a Shāhnāma manuscript from 1663–69, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 13.228.17, fol. 110v. According to B.W. Robinson, the miniature is from 1107 ah (1695/96 ad).

14 See Friederike Voigt, Qadscharische Bildfliesen im Ethnologi­ schen Museum Berlin (Berlin: Staatliche ­Museen zu Berlin, Museen Dahlem, Ethnologisches Museum, 2002), p. 9 as well as Ina Reiche and Friederike Voigt, “Technology of Production: The Master Potter ʿAli Muḥammad Isfahani: Insights into the Production of Decorative Underglaze Painted Tiles in 19th Century Iran,” in Analytical Archaeometry. Selected Topics, eds. Howell G.M. Edwards and Peter Vandenabeele (Cambridge: The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2012), 503. 15 For instance, see Victoria and Albert Museum, 623– 1868, 624–1868, 14–1886, 16–1886 and 230–1887.

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Langer

Figure 1.1 Picnic Scene in a Garden, ʿAlī Muḥammad Isfahānī, Tehran, 1302 ah (1884/85 ad). Tile, fritware with underglaze painted in polychrome, 48 × 59 cm. Victoria and Albert Museum, acc. no. 512–1889 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

the design of ʿAlī Muḥammad Isfahānī’s tile, ­implying that it was not only intended as a decoration for Lemaire’s later European home but that its iconography should also commemorate and celebrate Iran’s glorious artistic heritage. The aforementioned tiles with Safavid figures and ­ the lacquer panels with images from the Chihil Sutūn murals had similar functions. 2

A Revival Style in Full Bloom

The lacquer workshops of Isfahan and Tehran remained the thriving force behind the Safavid Revival. An excellent example is a lacquered casket

sold at Sotheby’s London in 2014.16 The oblong top lid consists of a gold sprinkled field filled with floral vines, framed by polylobed corner pieces. Its center is decorated with a medallion that shows the ­half-length portrait of a Madonna with her child. Four cartouches of different sizes flank them, with two of them portraying a girl and a boy, whereas the other two are filled with a flower. Fields of roses, garden flowers and nightingales, which were separated from the rest distinctly,

16 See , last accessed May 18, 2018, for all images.

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Safavid Revival in Persian Miniature Painting

Figure 1.2 Reciting Poetry in a Garden, Isfahan, 1620–60. Tile panel, fritware with polychrome glaze (cuerda seca). Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc. no. 03.9b © Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

dominate the four concave borders of the lid, twice interrupted by medallions with portraits of a beautiful Qajar woman and a young Indian man. Except for minor variations, the four side panels of the casket repeat the composition of the top lid. Its backside and the inner surface of the case’s bottom come quite as a surprise (fig. 1.3), as their painted decorations show courting couples, elegantly set into lush gardens. Although these scenes resemble Safavid tile panels, the dark backgrounds and golden outlines actually originated from ­traditional sixteenth and seventeenth-century lacquer artworks. It is fitting that the lid’s borders are covered with wild animals in a forest with designs similar to Iranian illuminated manuscripts or album pages from the same period. However, there are stylistic inconsistencies that reveal the scope of artistic freedom in the imitation of Safavid designs. There are many unusual costume details, such as the young man’s turban, the girl’s knee-long veil (as seen inside the casket’s bottom) or the textile patterns. Equally

­nusual is the depicted phoenix or sīmurgh, u which is merely decorative and carries no deeper meaning—something unthinkable in classical Safavid painting. Another similarly free appropriation by the artist is the blooming tree that winds itself around three cypresses—the painting of a single conifer had been the convention. Although the casket carries no signature nor date, it is very likely that it was produced by the Imāmī workshop that had been famous for its ­lacquered works. What backs this assumption is that the reclining girl on the lid’s backside bears similarities to a female figure on the upper left corner of the margins of a single-page painting signed by Mahdī al-Imāmī, auctioned in London in 2015 (fig. 1.4). Both figures show the same postures and headdresses, and the upper parts of their garments have identical shapes as well. Even the textile patterns, a combination of sāz leafs, palmettes and rosettes, are alike. What furthermore corroborates the ascription to the Imāmī workshop are

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Langer

Figure 1.3 The inside of a lid of a casket, Iran, 1860/70. Papier-mâché, painted, gilded and lacquered, 20.5 × 25 × 37.5 cm. Sold at Sotheby’s, London, on April 9, 2014, lot 89 © Sotheby’s

s­imilarities between the floral garlands on the ­casket and decorations on a mirror case Rizā Imāmī had made for the Persian pavilion at the Paris World Fair of 1867, later purchased by the Victoria and Albert Museum.17 Taken together, all these clues suggest that the casket was created in the 1860s. It is therefore justified to assert that even though the Safavid Revival originally took its inspiration from the iconography of Chihil Sutūn, it later adopted other models, and was in full bloom by the end of the 1860s. What was typical for this appropriation, however, was the free interpretation of Safavid motifs, an interpretation that, in an analogy to European art history, could be characterized as “Romantic.” 17

Victoria and Albert Museum, 922:1, 2–1869.

3

Iranian Artisans and European Collectors

Let us now turn to a group of lacquer objects that distinguish themselves from the aforementioned through their stylistic accuracy and quality of artisanship. Two door leaves now in the possession of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore are particularly interesting here (fig. 1.5). They have been the subject of Géza Fehérvári’s 1969 article18 and Grube’s aforementioned re-evaluation, and are instructive

18

Geza Fehérvári, “A Seventeenth-Century Persian Lacquer Door and Some Problems of Safavid LacquerPainted Doors,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 32, no. 2 (1969): 268–80.

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Safavid Revival in Persian Miniature Painting

Figure 1.4 Sitting Youth, Mehdī al-Imāmī, erroneously dated 1025 ah (1616/17 ad), Tehran/Isfahan, after 1912/13. Pigments, ink and gold on paper. Sold at Christie’s, South Kensington, April 24, 2015, lot 224 © Christie’s

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22 examples for understanding the later developments of the Safavid Revival. The door leaves each consist of a central, oblong panel surrounded by two smaller, square panels on their top and bottom sides. Two pegs had once fixed the leaves to the doorframe. The rails and panels are fully decorated with figurative, floral and astrological motifs. This rich ornamentation might seem idiosyncratic at first, yet its composition derived from a special type of decorated album pages—a matter to be discussed further below. The depictions of amorous couples, elegant youths, wistful maidens and young courtiers imitate the figurative repertoire of the first half of the seventeenth century. A closer analysis, however, reveals that some of the figures are exact copies of well-known originals. The princely couple in the upper left corner of the left door-leaf was modeled after a seventeenth-century tile panel now at the Victoria and Albert Museum (139:1 to 4–1891), albeit in a mirror-reversed fashion. It is likely that said panel once decorated one of the Safavid palaces in Isfahan before it entered the museum’s collections in 1891 (fig. 1.5.a). The kneeling young man offering a cup of wine to his beloved (fig. 1.5.b), and the sitting young beauty reading a letter in the presence of a young man (fig. 1.5.c) both have their counterparts in the richly decorated margins of the first double page of the so-called Vignier Album (Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S1986.278 and 277). The young woman on the left-hand medallion of the left door-leaf, depicted in the moment of adjusting her aigrette (fig. 1.5.d), was designed after a colored drawing attributed to Muḥammad Sādiqī (Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S1986.298). A standing dervish, wearing a long-sleeved overcoat and a sheepskin around his shoulders, adorns the lock stile of the right-hand door-leaf (fig. 1.5.e)— an imitation of a late sixteenth-century miniature today kept at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris (Od. 41, res. 22). These findings beg the question of how the artists had gained access to this handful of dispersed models. Thanks to the available information on the provenance of these works we know that ­Henri

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Vever had bought said double leaves with figurative margins from Charles Vignier in April 1908.19 The Woman Adjusting Her Aigrette, on the other hand, had been sold from Arthur Sambon to Léonce Rosenberg, who then traded the painting to the same Henri Vever in May 1913.20 Although it has been hitherto impossible to identify the vendors from whom Vignier and Sambon had purchased their works, it is well known that art trade prospered in Paris during the two decades before World War i. As the demand for Persian miniatures grew, a huge quantity of manuscripts and paintings taken from them were collected in Iran and sold to ­Europe during a relatively short period. Only a very small group of dealers was involved in this trade. Brokers supported the imports, who acted as intermediaries between sellers and buyers in Europe and Iran, but also stood in direct contact with artisans.21 It is possible that one of those brokers had shown some of his wares to the creators of the lacquer door at the Walters Museum. However, such an encounter would have required a highly organized network of dealers, brokers and artisans. What seems more likely, though, is that there was another source, and it will certainly come as no surprise that all relevant images had appeared either in Fredrik Robert Martin’s extensive The Miniature Painting of Persia, India and Turkey (1912) or Henri Vever and Georges Marteau’s twovolume catalog Miniatures persanes (1913) for the 1912 Paris exhibition of the same name.22 19

20 21 22

Glenn D. Lowry and Milo Cleveland Beach, An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1988), 273. Lowry and Beach, An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection, 307. Willem Floor, “Art (Naqqashi) and Artists (Naqqashan) in Qajar Persia,” Muqarnas 16 (1999): 131. The Sackler works, S1986.278 and 277, were published in Martin, The Miniature Painting and Painters of Persia, India and Turkey From the 8th to the 18th Century, 2 vols (London: B. Quaritch, 1912), ii, Pl. 261; S1986.298, on the other hand, appears in Georges Marteau and

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Figure 1.5 Lacquer-painted doors, Iran, after 1913. Wood, painted, gilded and lacquered, 189.9 × 91.5 × 9 cm. The Walters Art Museum, acc. no. 67.634 © The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

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Another template for one of the medallions, reproduced in Vever and Marteau’s publication, proves this point.23 It is obvious that the sitting young woman with a flask and cup in her hands (fig. 1.5.f) was fashioned after an album page with the composite figure of a Bukharan princess (fig. 1.6).24 Furthermore, this page—as well as its counterpart and two further double-pages added to Martin’s volume—inspired the composition of the door. Accordingly, the six door panels resemble mounted paintings framed by borders of vivid figures. Vever and Marteau’s publication inspired yet another work, namely, Mehdī al-Imāmī’s singleleaf painting of a Reading Youth described further above (fig. 1.4): Although created in the last decade of the Qajar period, it clearly follows their reproduction of a sixteenth-century album page. More importantly, the miniature provides us with the information required for identifying the artist mainly responsible for creating the lacquer door. In the upper right corner of the right door-leaf, we see a young man wearing a red overcoat and a strange cap, casually leaning against a tree and half-embracing its twigs (fig. 1.5.g); it is this the exact same figure standing behind the reader in Mehdī al-Imāmī’s painting.

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24

Henri Vever, Miniatures persanes tirées des collections de Henry d’Allemagne, Claude Anet, Henri Aubry […] et exposées au Musée des Arts décoratifs juin-octobre 1912, 2 vols (Paris: Bibliothèque d’art et d’archéologie, 1913), ii, Pl. cxxv, and the Standing Dervish (BnF, Od. 41, res. 22) is found in Martin, The Miniature Painting and Painters of Persia, India and Turkey From the 8th to the 18th Century, ii, Pl. 166. A comparable case from before 1920, where the Iranian artist Turābī Bek Khurāsānī borrowed his motifs for the illustration of a Khamsa from the same sources is analysed by Simpson, “Mostly Modern Miniatures,” see esp. 382. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S1986.304 was published in Georges Marteau and Henri Vever, Miniatures persanes tirées des collections de Henry d’Allemagne, Claude Anet, Henri Aubry, ii, Pl. lxxxiv.

Mehdī al-Imāmī, born as Mehdī Muḥammad and later known as Mīrzā Āqā, was the last descendant of the famous Imāmī, a family of lacquer ­artists. He was born as son of Sayyid Muḥammad Husayn in Isfahan in 1881. Educated in Tehran, he later returned to Isfahan, where he worked at the bazaar.25 Together with Hosseyn Behzad (1894– 1968), he is today celebrated as one of the founding fathers of the nigārgārī-yi jadīd, or “New ­Miniature Painting” that flourished after 1930.26 A stylistic comparison between the faces in The Reading Youth, that is, of the sitting young woman on the door of the Walters Museum and the young woman with a bird of prey in Mīrzā Āqā’s painting,27 strengthens the assumption of this authorship. All faces share the same distinct features, such as almond-shaped eyes with clearly visible epicanthic folds, eyebrows that become thinner near the temples and the root of the nose, as well as similar nose lines and mouth contours. These observations identify Mīrzā Āqā as the creator, or at least the main creator within a team of artists that worked on the lacquer doors of the Walters Museum. In accordance with the consulted sources, we can furthermore deduce that the doors must have been painted after 1913. There is at least one other work that can be ­attributed to Mīrzā Āqā with certainty: a pair of album covers with polylobed corner pieces and a row of varied medallions, resembling the decoration on the lid of a casket sold at Sotheby’s. Today, the covers are kept at the Khalili Collection in London (LAQ457).28 The centerpiece shows a young 25

Willem Floor, “Art (Naqqashi) and Artists (Naqqashan) in Qajar Persia,” 141. 26 Alice Bombardier, “Persian Art in France in the 1930s: The Iranian Society for National Heritage and its French Connections,” 197 and 203. 27 Cf. . 28 Nasser D. Khalili, Basil W. Robinson, Tim Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, 2 vols. (London: Azimuth, 1997), ii, cat. 315, 106–07.

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Figure 1.6 Seated Princess, Uzbekistan, probably Bukhara, ca. 1600. Opaque watercolor and gold on paper. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, acc. no. S1986.304 © The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

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woman holding a drinking vessel, her eyes cast down bashfully. Altogether, this image resembles the female cupbearer from the Walters door. The Imāmī painting as well also includes a similarly arranged handkerchief, and we therefore are assured to believe that Mīrzā Āqā’s pair of album covers were also created after 1913. The two fighting qilins in the lower right corner derive from an ornamented manuscript page created for Shah Tahmāsp that had once belonged to the Frères Tabbagh in Paris and was later published by Martin under the shelf mark of Pl. 256. Another example underscoring how popular both books were as sources for the Safavid Revival is The Standing Dervish with Begging Bowl. While the original miniature is kept at the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris, a photographic reproduction has been published in the second volume of Martin’s book (Pl. 154, 16.2 × 8.4 cm). Moreover, the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg owns a flawless, albeit colored, miniature of the same format that imitates the black and white photograph (VR-1204).29 4 Conclusion After the middle of the nineteenth century, potters and lacquer painters used Safavid models as ­sources of inspiration. Especially popular were the Chihil Sutūn murals and Safavid single-page miniatures. The growing popularity of these images was the result of a reaction to the decay of Isfahan’s Safavid monuments in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, coinciding with an increasing historical awareness and emerging nationalistic consciousness within the Iranian population. The works of the Safavid Revival were furthermore ­attractive for Western collectors and tourists, who collected them as souvenirs.

29

Adle Adamova, Persian Manuscripts, Paintings and Drawings. From the 15th to the Early 20th Century in the Hermitage Collection, 374, cat. 224.

Later, around the 1860s and 1870s, the Safavid Revival reached its apex. Some of its leading rep­ resentatives came from the Imāmī family, among which Mīrzā Āqā Imāmī became one of its most prominent members after the year 1900. During these decades, a shift from a “Romanticizing” ­attitude toward a version of the Safavid style of 1590 to 1630 occurred that aspired to more historical accuracy, a development that coincided with a booming market for Persian paintings in Paris and London, where collectors competed with each other in accumulating, exhibiting and publishing such images. Ironically, enough, these activities also had long-lasting effects on the artistic production in Iran. In 1912 and 1913 respectively, Martin, Martineau and Vever published Safavid artworks, executed as black and white illustrations and thereby making them accessible for international audiences. In turn, artists such as Mīrzā Āqā made use of these reproductions as templates for their own artworks. Although acquired by Iranians and nonIranians alike, the Persian artists of the Safavid Revival sold most of their works to Europeans, which explains why so many are still found in Western collections. Bibliography Adamova, Adle. Persian Manuscripts, Paintings and Drawings. From the 15th to the Early 20th Century in the Hermitage Collection. London: Azimuth, 2012. Binyon, Laurence, J.V.S. Wilkinson, and Basil Gray. Persian Miniature Painting. Including a Critical and Descriptive Catalogue of the Miniatures Exhibited at Burlington House, January–March, 1931. London: Oxford University Press and Humphrey Milford, ­ 1933. Bombardier, Alice. “Persian Art in France in the 1930s: The Iranian Society for National Heritage and its French Connections.” In The Shaping of Persian Art. Collections and Interpretations of the Art of Islamic Iran and Central Asia, edited by Yuka Kadoi and Iván Szántó, 192–211. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013. Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait and Ariane Varela Braga - 978-90-04-41264-4 Downloaded from Brill.com04/22/2020 08:55:17AM via McGill University

Safavid Revival in Persian Miniature Painting Baer, Eva. “Traditionalism or Forgery: A Note on Persian Lacquer Painting.” Artibus Asiae 55, no. 3/4 (1995): 343–79. Diba, Layla S. “The Formation of Modern Iranian Art: From Kamal-al-Molk to Zenderoudi.” In Iran ­Modern, edited by Fereshteh Daftari and Layla S. Diba, 45–65. Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title, organized by and presented at the Asia Society Museum, New York, on September 6, 2013– January 1, 2014. New York and New Haven, CT: Asia Society and Yale University Press, 2013. Ekhtiar, Maryam and Marika Sardar. “Nineteenth-­ Century Iran: Continuity and Revivalism.” In Heil­ brunn Timeline of Art History, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004 (, last ­accessed March 28, 2019). Fehérvári, Geza, “A Seventeenth-Century Persian Lacquer Door and Some Problems of Safavid LacquerPainted Doors.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 32, No. 2 (1969), 268–80. Floor, Willem. “Art (Naqqashi) and Artists (Naqqashan) in Qajar Persia.” Muqarnas 16 (1999): 125–54. Grube, Ernst J. “Traditionalism or Forgery: Lacquered Painting in 19th-Century Iran.” In Lacquerwork in Asia and Beyond, edited by William Watson, 277– 300. Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia 11. London: Percival David Foundation, 1982. Khalili, Nasser D., Basil W. Robinson, and Tim Stanley. Lacquer of the Islamic Lands. 2 vols, London: Azimuth, 1997. Lowry, Glenn D. and Milo Cleveland Beach. An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1988. Martin, Fredrik Robert. The Miniature Painting and Painters of Persia, India and Turkey From the 8th to the 18th Century. 2 vols. London: B. Quaritch, 1912. Marteau, Georges and Henri Vever. Miniatures persanes tirées des collections de Henry d’Allemagne, Claude

27 Anet, Henri Aubry […] et exposées au Musée des Arts décoratifs juin–octobre 1912. 2 vols. Paris: Bibliothèque d’art et d’archéologie, 1913. Reiche, Ina and Friederike Voigt. “Technology of ­Production: The Master Potter ʿAli Muḥammad Isfahani: Insights into the Production of Decorative ­Underglaze Painted Tiles in 19th Century Iran.” In Analytical Archaeometry. Selected Topics, edited by Howell G.M. Edwards and Peter Vandenabeele. Cambridge: The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2012. Robinson, Basil W. “Qajar Lacquer.” Muqarnas 6 (1989): 131–46. Robinson, Basil W. “Some Modern Persian Miniatures: Contemporary Examples, exhibited by the British Council in London last July, are described against the background of their historic tradition.” The Studio 135 (January–June 1948): 78–85. Schmitz, Barbara. Islamic and Indian Manuscripts and Paintings in The Pierpont Morgan Library. New York: The Pierpont Morgan Library, 1997. Schmitz, Barbara. Islamic Manuscripts in The New York Public Library. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press and The New York Public Library, 1992. Shreve Simpson, Marianna. “Mostly Modern Miniatures: Classical Persian Painting in the Early Twentieth Century.” Muqarnas 25 (2008): 359–95. Soudavar, Abolala. Reassessing Early Safavid Art and History: Thirty-Five Years after Dickson & Welch 1981. Houston, TX: n.p., 2016. Szántó, Iván. “The Art Patronage of Abbas Mirza: New Material from Hungary.” Qajar Studies xii–xiii (2013): 40–7. Vernoit, Stephen, ed. Discovering Islamic Art: Scholars, Collectors and Collections, 1850–1950. London and New York: I. B. Tauris, 2000. Voigt, Friederike. Qadscharische Bildfliesen im Ethnologischen Museum Berlin. Berlin: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museen Dahlem, Ethnologisches Museum, 2002.

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Chapter 2

« De véritables merveilles d’exécution » Les vitraux du fumoir arabe d’Henri Moser Sarah Keller « Je trouve qu’ils sont absolument réussis et de véritables merveilles d’exécution1 ». C’est en ces termes qu’Henri Saladin (1851–1923), architecte parisien et spécialiste de l’Orient, décrit les vitraux qu’il vient de terminer pour le fumoir arabe d’Henri Moser (1844–1923). L’année précédente, l’explorateur et diplomate Moser avait chargé Saladin de concevoir un fumoir oriental pour son château de Charlottenfels près de Schaffhouse en Suisse. Il s’agit d’un salon historiciste, comme ils étaient à la mode depuis la fin du xixe siècle. Plusieurs objets originaux et des imitations de styles islamiques ­divers créées par l’architecte sont réunis (fig. 2.1). Un lambris persan et des carreaux de faïence ­espagnols et persans décorent les parois. Une cheminée factice, d’après un modèle ottoman, est ­entourée de mobilier persan, avec des tapis caucasiens. Un plafond à caissons, construit pour l’occasion et orné de muqarnas, est surmonté d’une coupole initialement en bois mais qui fut remplacée par une coupole en verre lors du transfert du fumoir au Musée d’Histoire de Berne entre 1918 et 1922.2

En 1914, Henri Moser avait fait don du fumoir au Musée.3 Le fumoir reçoit le jour par un mašrabīya, une grille faite de petits éléments en bois tournés et assemblés. Il est surmonté de vitraux, les ­qamarīyat (fig. 2.2). La présente contribution est dédiée à ces vitraux, ces « merveilles d’exécution », ainsi que Saladin les décrit. Avec ses couleurs et sa luminosité des vitraux constituent un élément distinctif dans la plupart des intérieurs néo-islamiques, mais ils sont peu recherchés. ­ Pourtant les qamarīyat avaient reçu une attention particulière des orientalistes depuis le milieu du xixe siècle. De façon exemplaire leur transfert ­illustre les p ­ rocessus de réception à travers les ­barrières techniques. Le vitrail central du fumoir arabe d’Henri Moser est pourvu d’une inscription et est orné de cyprès. Il est encadré de chaque côté par trois vitraux représentants un vase avec des fleurs sous une accolade. L’inscription évoque vaguement la formule de la basmala : bismi ʾllāhi ʾr-raḥmāni ʾr-raḥīmi, (au nom de Dieu le clément et le miséricordieux). Au-dessous se trouve un rinceau de fleurs. Ce type de vitrail rectangulaire, constitué de petites pièces de verre qui représentent des fleurs, des

1 Musée d’Histoire de Berne, n° d’inventaire 1908.670.162 ; lettre d’Henri Saladin à Henri Moser, 19 mai 1908. 2 Le dessin et le coloris de la coupole ont été reproduits à l’identique. Cf. Henri Saladin, Musée historique bernois. Collection H. Moser. Description du projet. Ms., Musée d’Histoire de Berne, n° d’inventaire 1922.670.0260, 5 mai 1918, 15. Ses motifs végétaux se laissent facilement comparer avec des ornements islamiques, tels qu’ils sont par exemple représentés sur des objets métalliques de l’époque safavide de la collection Moser. Mais en tant que coupole en verre, elle se rattache à une tradition européenne de l’Art nouveau et de l’Art déco.

3 Cf. Francine Giese, « From Style Room to Period Room : Henri Moser’s fumoir in Charlottenfels Castle », dans ­Sandra Costa, Dominique Poulot et Mercedes Volait (éds.), The Period Rooms. Allestimenti storici tra arte, collezionismo e museologia, Bologna : Bononia University Press, 2016, 153–60 ; Roger Nicholas Balsiger et Ernst J. Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan: Henri Moser Charlottenfels, 1844–1923. Schaffhouse : Meier, 1992, 185 ; Ernst J. Kläy, « ‘Unser Ziel ist es, ein Werk zu schaffen, das uns überlebt.’ Zum wechselvollen Schicksal der Orientalischen Sammlung Henri ­Moser Charlottenfels », Berner Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Heimatkunde, 56, 1994: 335–58.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��20 | doi 10.1163/9789004412644_005

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Figure 2.1 Musée d’Histoire de Berne, Fumoir arabe d’Henri Moser, 1907–9 © Musée d’Histoire de Berne, 1986

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Figure 2.2 Musée d’Histoire de Berne, Vitraux du fumoir arabe, 1908

© Musée d’Histoire de Berne, photographie Christine Moor, 2015

Figure 2.3 Qamarīya, recto et verso, xviie–xixe siècle. Caire, Musée islamique du Caire, photographie Katrin Kaufmann, 2018

i­nscriptions, des arbres et parfois des bâtiments, surmontés par des arcs et encadrés par un ruban formé de petits cercles, est répandu depuis le ­début du xvie siècle dans l’Empire ottoman (fig. 2.3).4 4 Finbarr Barry Flood, Palaces of crystal, sanctuaries of light : windows, jewels and glass in medieval Islamic ­architecture,

Certains motifs des vitraux du fumoir sont d’une tradition plus ancienne. Tandis que les rubans à petits cercles sont des motifs ornementaux Thèse, Université d’Édimbourg, 1993, 168–172 ; Jonathan Bloom et al. (ed.), Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture, 1. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2009, vol. 1, 209–10.

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que l’on retrouve sur les qamarīyat du temps des Omeyyades et des Abbasides,5 les exemples les plus anciens avec des cyprès sont connus depuis le xve siècle, dans Le Caire mamelouk.6 Une inscription de la basmala apparaît par exemple dans une fenêtre de la paroi située dans la direction de la qibla d’une madrasa de la fin du xive siècle au Caire.7 Les verres des qamarīyat ottomanes sont assemblés avec du plâtre et montés dans des cadres en bois. Leur nom qamarīya ou šamsīya vient de qamar (lune) ou de šams (soleil). 1 Les qamarīyat en Europe Au xixe siècle, ces vitraux ont suscité de l’intérêt en Europe.8 Des esquisses datant des années 1840 montrent des intérieurs de maisons du Caire avec des qamarīyat, comme en témoignent par exemple les dessins de James W. Wild (1814–92) et ceux de l’architecte bernois Theodor Zeerleder (1820–68).9

5 Par exemple à Raqqa ou à Khirbat al-Mafjar. Flood, Palaces of crystal, 78, fig. 2.6, 17. 6 Des exemples se trouvent dans la madrasa de Abū Bakr ibn Muzhir et dans la mosquée de Qijmās al-Isḥāqī (xve siècle). Flood, Palaces of crystal, 118, fig. 68, 92. 7 La madrasa d’ Īnāl al-Yūsufī, construit entre 794–95 H. / 1392–93 a.d. Flood, Palaces of crystal, 131, 139, fig. 75. 8 Des descriptions apparaissent entre autres dans Edward William Lane, Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, London : C. Knight & Co., 1836 (traduit en allemand en 1852), 19 ; dans Hermann von Pückler-Muskau, ­Semilasso in Afrika, vol. 1, Stuttgart : Hallberger’sche Verlagshandlung, 1836, 31 ; dans Heinrich Brugsch. Reise der K. ­Preussischen Gesandtschaft nach Persien 1860 und 1861, 2 vols., Leipzig : J. C. Hinrichs’sche Buchhandlung, 1862–63, vol. 1, 312. 9 Sur les dessins de Wild, voir Victoria and Albert Museum, London, E.3763-1938, E.3774-1938, E.3771-1938, E.3795-1938 ; Abraham Thomas, « James Wild, Cairo and the South Kensington Museum », dans Mercedes Volait (éd.), Le Caire dessiné et photographié au xixe siècle, Paris : Picard, 2013, 41–68, 55–8. Sur les dessins de Zeerleder, voir Mythos Orient. Ein Berner Architekt in Kairo, catalogue d’exposition au Schloss Oberhofen (13 juin–13 septembre 2015),

Ces dessins avaient été réalisés sur place, mais n’avaient pas été publiés à l’époque. En 1867–73, Jules Bourgoin (1838–1908) reproduit dans son livre Les Arts arabes une qamarīya d’une mosquée du Caire, recto et verso, et décrit son « très bel effet ». Il ajoute, qu’il avait aussi vu de telles fenêtres lors de l’Exposition universelle de 1867 à Paris dans la « section turque ».10 Dans L’Art arabe d’après les monuments du Caire, publié en 1877, Émile Prisse d’Avennes (1807–79) mentionne des qamarīyat qui auraient dû être montrées lors de la même Exposition universelle de 1867. Il spécifie qu’il avait pu acheter à Paris trois caisses de fragments de six qamariyyat provenant d’une mosquée en Égypte. En 1867 les qamarīyat avaient été envoyées depuis l’Égypte pour la section égyptienne de l’Exposition universelle de 1867. N’ayant pas supporté le voyage jusqu’à Paris, les vitraux étaient arrivés en morceaux. Prisse d’Avennes avait toutefois réussi à en reconstruire deux et les reproduisit dans son livre (fig. 2.4). D’autres vitraux coloriés qu’il avait dessinés sur place au Caire et qui « diaprent les intérieurs de toutes les couleurs de l’arc-en-ciel11 », y figurent également. En même temps, des artistes s’intéressaient aux intérieurs égyptiens dans lesquels figuraient de tels vitraux ainsi que l’ambiance qui s’en dégageait. The Reception, peint en 1873 par John Frederick Lewis (1805–76), témoigne de cet engouement. En 1886, Stanley Lane-Poole (1854–1931) décrit en détail dans son étude, The Art of the Saracens in Egypt, les 37 qamarīyyat qui se trouvent depuis les années 1870 et 1880 dans ce qui est aujourd’hui le Victoria and Albert Museum de Londres et en publie quatre images. Comme pour les vitraux du fumoir d’Henri Moser, ces qamarīyat montrent des inscriptions, des cyprès et des vases de fleurs.

10 11

Hünibach : Jost Druck AG, 2015, 54, 55 ; Burgerbibliothek Bern, Gr. B. 1039 ; Gr. C. 897. Jules Bourgoin, Les Arts arabes. Paris : Vve Morel et Cie, 1867–73, 4, pl. 92. Prisse d’Avennes 1877, 154, 278, pl. cxli, cxliv, cxlv.

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de 1878 à Paris et entra ensuite au Victoria and Albert Museum.13 Il existe encore un autre mašrabīya qui aurait aussi dû être inséré dans un intérieur et qui est est actuellement conservé dans la collection du Louvre. Entre 1888 et 1890, Edmond de Rothschild (1845–1934) avait fait installer, également par Ambroise Baudry, un fumoir mauresque dans son hôtel à Paris. Les vitraux qui surmontent aujourd’hui ce grillage en bois ne sont pas les originaux, mais des exemplaires attribués à la maison du Baron Alphonse Delort de Gléon (1843–99), construite en 1872 par Ambroise Baudry au Caire. Dans les années 1920, ces vitraux furent ajoutés au ­ mašrabīya d’Edmond de Rothschild.14 2

Figure 2.4 Émile Prisse d’Avennes, L’Art arabe d’après les monuments du Kaire depuis le viie siècle jusqu’à la fin du viiie. Paris : Morel, 1869–77, pl. cxlv

Lane-Poole parle de l’« effet exquis qui est obtenu par une gestion habile du réseau en plâtre12 ». Certains de ses vitraux ornaient un grand ­ mašrabīya daté du xviiie siècle et de provenance cairote. Il avait appartenu au Comte Gaston de Saint-­Maurice (1831–1905), qui avait demandé à ­l’architecte français Ambroise Baudry (1838–1906) d’intégrer les objets de sa collection d’art islamique dans son hôtel particulier au Caire. Cette collection avait été présentée à l’Exposition universelle

12

« […] exquisite effect which is obtained by a skilful management of the plaster rims », Stanley Lane-Poole, The Art of the Saracens in Egypt. London : Chapman and Hall, 1886, 265, fig. 95–98.

Les copies néo-islamiques

À cette époque, les exemplaires originaux de qamarīya étaient très recherchés par les particuliers et les musées d’Europe occidentale. Des copies pour des intérieurs néo-islamiques se fabriquaient bien avant la construction du fumoir d’Henri Moser. Entre 1877 et 1879, Frederic Lord Leighton (1830–96) fait installer dans sa maison à Londres un Arab Hall. Plusieurs qamarīyat du même type ottoman que ceux du fumoir arabe de Moser figurent dans le tambour de la coupole et dans les parois. Lord Leighton avait importé du verre pour ces fenêtres depuis Damas, mais le verre qui supporta le voyage ne suffit que pour en réaliser une seule. Des répliques furent alors créées en

13

V&A, Meshrebiyah, n° 892:2-1884, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, « Meshrebiyah », 2017 (08.11.2017) ; Mercedes Volait, Fous du Caire: excent­ riques, architectes & amateurs d’art en Égypte, 1863– 1914. Montpellier : L’Archange Minotaure, 2009, 90–9. Pour l’œuvre d’Ambroise Baudry, voir aussi la contribution de Mercedes Volait dans ce volume. 14 Volait, Fous du Caire, 99–104.

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Figure 2.5 London, Leighton House, Stained Glass windows for the studio, George Aitchison, 1869–70. Daniel Robbins, Leighton House Museum. Holland Park Road, Kensington. London : The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Culture Service, 2011, fig. 97

­Angleterre.15 Quelques années plus tôt, en 1870, George Aitchison (1825–1910), l’architecte de l’Arab Hall, avait déjà intégré deux qamarīyat dans une autre pièce de la maison de Lord Leighton, le « studio », dont le croquis a été conservé.16 Ils se ­rapprochent, avec leur format allongé, leurs nombreuses pièces de verre et leurs motifs—inscription 15

16

John Sweetman, The Oriental obsession. Islamic inspiration in British and American art and architecture 1500– 1920. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1988, 190–93 ; Daniel Robbins, Leighton House Museum. Holland Park Road, Kensington. London : The Royal Borough of Kensington et Chelsea Culture Service, 2011, 50. Design for two stained glass windows of flowers and Arabic characters for Leighton House, George Aitchison, 1870. riba Library Drawings Collection, SC124/4. Robbins, Leighton House Museum, 97, fig. 83.

et vase de fleurs –, des vitraux conçus par Henri Saladin pour le fumoir arabe (fig. 2.5). Ferdinando Panciatichi di Ximenes d’Aragona (1813–97), le maître d’ouvrage de la Villa di Sammezzano près de Florence, utilise les qamarīyat d’une autre manière. Entre 1853 et 1889, ­Panciatichi transforme ce château en un ensemble fascinant de salons historicistes et orientalistes.17 Dans la Sala dei Gigli, les parois sont ornées d’un panneau qui se répète (fig. 2.6) : il s’agit d’une copie exacte de la qamarīyat publié par Prisse d’Avennes en 1877 (fig. 2.4).18 Panciatichi, qui n’a jamais voyagé 17

18

Pour une analyse de l’architecture de la Villa di Sammezzano, voir les contributions de Francine Giese et d’Ariane Varela Braga dans ce volume. Émile Prisse d’Avennes, L’Art arabe d’après les monuments du Kaire depuis le viie siècle jusqu’à la fin du viiie. Paris : Morel, 1869–77, pl. cxlv.

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Figure 2.6 Regello, Villa di Sammezzano, Sala dei Gigli, 1862

© Bildarchiv Foto Marburg, photographie Domingie & Rabatti, 2015

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en Orient, fait appliquer ce « vitrail » à la paroi en tant que peinture murale, en le détournant ainsi de sa fonction première. Toutefois les pois blancs, qui représentent chez Prisse d’Avennes les petits trous dans le plâtre, éléments si typiques pour ce genre de vitrail, sont transformés en petites boules ou gouttelettes convexes. Suite à ce transfert transmédial, le caractère de l’objet original est perdu, seulement le motif subsiste. Le fumoir arabe d’Henri Moser n’est donc pas le seul intérieur néo-islamique qui dispose de ce type de vitraux ottomans. Si l’on admet que beaucoup d’intérieurs néo-islamiques ont disparu, il est à supposer qu’il en existait bien d’autres. À la différence des vitraux du Leighton House, ceux du fumoir de Moser surmontent un mašrabīya, un ­arrangement typique pour les salons du Caire (fig. 2.1). Le peintre verrier qui a créé les vitraux de l’Arab Hall du Leighton House n’est pas connu, alors que celui du fumoir arabe est en revanche documenté. Il s’agit du peintre verrier parisien Auguste Bruin ([1872]–[1908]), qui a exécuté les vitraux selon le projet d’Henri Saladin.19 Saladin avait lui-même vu beaucoup de qamarīyat et de mašrabīyat. Plusieurs spécimens, surtout du Caire et d’Istanbul, figurent dans son Manuel d’Art musulman, paru en 1907. Les vitraux du kiosque du sultan de la Yeni Camii à Istanbul, achevés en 1665, sont probablement significatifs pour le projet conçu pour Moser. Ce même kiosque aurait i­ nspiré à Saladin la cheminée du fumoir, comme le ­suppose Francine Giese.20 Saladin fait observer que « les plus beaux [vitraux] sont peut-être à Constantinople dans l’appartement du sultan à ­Validé Yéni Djami21 ». Ces qamarīyat montrent également des vases à fleurs et des cyprès sous une accolade, des inscriptions dans des cartouches et des rubans de fleurs qui encadrent ces éléments ornementaux. Saladin les décrit en détail : « Ces

19 20 21

Musée d’Histoire de Berne, n° d’inventaire 1908.670.162, lettre de Bruin à Moser, du 17 mai 1908. Giese, « From Style Room to Period Room », 156. Henri Saladin, Manuel d’art musulman 1, 533, note 1.

35 vitraux sont très fins de dessin, d’une harmonie générale ton jaune avec des fleurs bleues, blanches, rouges et quelques notes turquoises se détachant sur le réseau de plâtre percé d’une quantité de petits trous ronds vitrés en verre blanc qui forment à la vue un pointillé blanc et brillant excessivement fin22 ». On peut lire dans la correspondance entre Bruin, Saladin et Moser, que Saladin visita l’atelier de Bruin une première fois le 1er mai 1908 et y retourna une deuxième fois le 19 mai. Les vitraux furent expédiés depuis Paris le même jour. Le 3 juin, Henri Moser confirmait leur arrivée à Charlottenfels. On ne possède que très peu d’informations sur l’atelier d’Auguste Bruin. Le nom de son entreprise figure sur l’en-tête de son papier à lettre en ces termes : « Peinture sur Verre & Vitrerie d’Art pour Églises & Appartements, maison fondée en 179423 ». L’église Saint-Martin de Chevreuse ­(Île-de-France) possède un vitrail signé par Bruin et daté de 1872. En outre, l’en-tête mentionne que l’atelier de Bruin avait exposé lors des Expositions universelles de Paris. Le peintre verrier parisien avait, pour les vitraux du fumoir arabe, procédé à l’assemblage des pièces en verre en suivant une technique qu’il maîtrisait et qui consiste à assembler les verres à l’aide de baguettes de plomb (fig. 2.2). Le résultat se distingue alors, par la technique utilisée, des qamarīyat originales, qui sont réalisées avec une plaque de plâtre ajourée (fig. 2.3). L’orientaliste Saladin connaissait très bien la technique de fabrication de ces fenêtres qui, comme il l’écrit, « possèdent un charme singulier24 ». Dans son Manuel d’art musulman, l’architecte consacre à cette technique plusieurs passages et publie une image d’un mašrabīya avec des qamarīyat du Caire.25 22 Saladin, Manuel d’art musulman 1, 533, note 1. 23 Musée d’Histoire de Berne, n° d’inventaire 1908.670.162. 24 Saladin, Manuel d’art musulman 1, 169. 25 Il s’agit précisément de celui de l’hôtel particulier du Comte Gaston de St. Maurice qui figura un temps au V&A à Londres. Saladin, Manuel d’art musulman 1., 151, 167–68, fig. 105.

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Figure 2.7 Henri Saladin, Croquis pour le remaniement des vitraux du fumoir arabe, 1908. Encre et aquarelle sur papier. Berne, Musée d’Histoire de Berne, n° d’inventaire 1908.670.162 © Musée d’Histoire de Berne, photographie Christine Moor, 2015

Se préoccupant de l’authenticité du rendu de ces vitraux réalisés en plomb, une année après leur achèvement par Bruin, Saladin propose à son client Moser leur remaniement : « Le fond A de l’encadrement est trop transparent, il me semble qu’il faudrait peindre ce fond en blanc avec de la céruse épaisse afin qu’il soit opaque, mais on devrait toujours réserver les trous transparents […]. De cette façon quand la lumière serait allumée, les vitraux se détacheraient en clair dans un encadrement relativement sombre et cela serait plus conforme à la réalité26 ».

Malgré le fait que Saladin estima que les fenêtres étaient « de véritables merveilles d’exécution27 », il considéra qu’il était nécessaire de les remanier. Il ajoute à la lettre adressée à Moser un croquis qui présente ces améliorations (fig. 2.7). L’encadrement des images, « le fond A », est dessiné de manière sombre et sans couleur. Le résultat de ce ­remaniement est encore visible aujourd’hui (fig. 2.8). Une vue détaillée des fenêtres montre que le verre blanchâtre et opaque, dans lequel sont gravés de petits cercles, a été repeint avec de la peinture blanche—la céruse—et ceci dans le but ­d’obtenir l’effet du plâtre dans lequel sont notamment insérées les pièces de verre d’une q­ amarīya.

26

27

Musée d’Histoire de Berne, n° d’inventaire 1908.670.162 ; lettre du 12 mai 1909.

Musée d’Histoire de Berne, n° d’inventaire 1908.670.162 ; lettre du 19 mai 1908.

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­ appelons-nous la description que Saladin fait des R qamarīyat du kiosque de la Yeni ­Camii : « le réseau de plâtre percé d’une quantité de petits trous ronds vitrés en verre blanc qui forment à la vue un pointillé blanc et brillant excessivement fin28 ». Saladin ne fait pas seulement repeindre le verre avec de la peinture blanche, mais également les baguettes de plomb pour que les vitraux se rapprochent le plus possible des originaux. Bien que Saladin et Bruin aient copié exactement les motifs des fenêtres ottomanes, le résultat est une œuvre hybride entre art oriental et tradition européenne, qui s’éloigne des arts islamiques, mais documente l’intérêt historiciste et orientaliste que l’on portait à ces objets. Peut-être est-il possible d’accorder aux vitraux du fumoir un élément qui les rapproche des qamarīyat originales et les rends plus authentiques : l’effet lumineux. En décrivant les qamarīyat du V&A, Stanley Lane-Poole regrette que « dans notre climat on ne peut pas s’attendre à voir entrer les rayons de soleil par les vitraux de ces qamarīyat29 ». Contrairement aux salles de musée, où les ­ qamarīyat n’étaient habituellement pas ­placées devant des fenêtres, cela était le cas pour le fumoir d’Henri Moser.30 Cependant, comme l’explique Saladin, la fenêtre à Charlottenfels était orientée de telle sorte qu’elle avait « l’inconvénient de n’éclairer le Salon arabe que d’une façon ­imparfaite », et qu’il fallait en plus utiliser un éclairage électrique. Avec le transfert du fumoir au Musée Historique de Berne entre 1918 et 1922, Saladin eut la chance de pouvoir améliorer l’emplacement et l’éclairage de ces vitraux. Il conseille dans son projet de transformation « d’ajourer franchement 28 29

30

Henri Saladin, Manuel d’art musulman 1. L’architecture. Paris : A. Picard, 1907, 533, note 1. « In our climate one cannot reckon on seeing the sun’s rays streaming through the stained glass of those ­kamariyas », Stanley Lane-Poole, The Art of the Saracens in Egypt, 265. Mandy Ranneberg, Landgut und Schloss Charlottenfels : Neuhausen am Rheinfall. Berne : Gesellschaft für Schweizerische Kunstgeschichte, 2015, plan, rabat.

Figure 2.8 Musée d’Histoire de Berne, Détail d’un vitrail du fumoir arabe, 1908 © Musée d’Histoire de Berne, photographie Tino Zagermann, 2015

cette paroi par trois grandes fenêtres afin d’obtenir par l’éclairage naturel l’effet produit artificiellement à Charlottenfels par l’éclairage électrique ». Encore aujourd’hui ces trois grandes fenêtres s’ouvrent dans la façade du Musée Historique de Berne. Ces « trois baies vitrées donn[eraient] par conséquent un jour excellent au Salon arabe, à travers les moucharabis et les vitraux qui décorent cette paroi31 ». Bibliographie Balsiger, Roger Nicholas et Kläy, Ernst J., Bei Schah, Emir und Khan : Henri Moser Charlottenfels, 1844–1923. Schaffhouse : Meier, 1992. Bloom, Jonathan et al. (éd.), Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture, 1. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2009. Bourgoin, Jules, Les Arts arabes. Paris : Vve Morel et Cie, 1867–73. Brugsch, Heinrich, Reise der K. Preussischen Gesandtschaft nach Persien 1860 und 1861, 2 vols. Leipzig : J. C. Hinrichs’sche Buchhandlung, 1862–63. Flood, Finnbarr Barry, Palaces of Crystal, Sanctuaries of Light : Windows, Jewels and Glass in Medieval Islamic Architecture, Thèse, Université d’Édimbourg, 1993. 31

Saladin, Musée historique bernois, 11.

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38 Giese, Francine, « From Style Room to Period Room : Henri Moser’s fumoir in Charlottenfels Castle », in Sandra Costa, Dominique Poulot et Mercedes Volait (éds.), The Period Rooms. Allestimenti storici tra arte, collezionismo e museologia. Bologne : Bononia University Press, 2016, 153–60. Kläy, Ernst J., « “Unser Ziel ist es, ein Werk zu schaffen, das uns überlebt.” Zum wechselvollen Schicksal der Orientalischen Sammlung Henri Moser Charlottenfels », Berner Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Heimatkunde, 56, 1994 : 335–58. Lane, Edward William, Manners and Customs of the ­Modern Egyptians. London : C. Knight & Co., 1836. Lane-Poole, Stanley, The Art of the Saracens in Egypt. London : Chapman and Hall, 1886. Mythos Orient. Ein Berner Architekt in Kairo, catalogue d’exposition au Schloss Oberhofen (13 Juin–13 septembre 2015). Hünibach : Jost Druck AG, 2015. Prisse d’Avennes, Émile, L’Art arabe d’après les monuments du Kaire depuis le viie siècle jusqu’à la fin du viiie. Paris : Morel, 1869–77. Von Pückler-Muskau, Hermann, Semilasso in Afrika, vol. 1. Stuttgart : Hallberger’sche Verlagshandlung, 1836.

Keller Ranneberg, Mandy, Landgut und Schloss Charlottenfels : Neuhausen am Rheinfall. Berne : Gesellschaft für Schweizerische Kunstgeschichte, 2015. Robbins, Daniel, Leighton House Museum. Holland Park Road, Kensington. London : The Royal Borough of Kensington et Chelsea Culture Service, 2011. Saladin, Henri, Manuel d’art musulman 1. L’architecture. Paris : A. Picard, 1907. Saladin, Henri, Musée historique bernois. Collection H. Moser. Description du projet. Ms., Musée d’Histoire de Berne, n° d’inventaire 1922.670.0260, 5 mai 1918. Sweetman, John, The Oriental obsession. Islamic inspiration in British and American art and architecture 1500–1920. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1988. Thomas, Abraham, « James Wild, Cairo and the South Kensington Museum », dans Mercedes Volait (éd.), Le Caire dessiné et photographié au xixe siècle. Paris : Picard, 2013, 41–68. Volait, Mercedes, Fous du Caire : excentriques, architectes & amateurs d’art en Égypte, 1863–1914. Montpellier : L’Archange Minotaure, 2009. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, « Meshrebiyah », 2017, , last accessed Nov 8, 2017.

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Chapter 3

L’art islamique et la fabrique de l’Histoire des musulmans de Sicile de Michele Amari Hélène Guérin De nouvelles sources1 font apparaître l’apport du critique français François Sabatier (1818–91)2 à l’œuvre majeure de l’arabisant Michele Amari (1806–89), la Storia dei musulmani di Sicilia3 à la fin des années 1850. François Sabatier est à ce moment-là un critique d’art aux engagements fouriéristes, auteur d’un Salon de 1851 publié à la Librairie phalanstérienne, mais qui s’est vu par la suite refuser ses autres travaux de critique, notamment sur l’Exposition universelle de 1855.4 Il est également le traducteur de Goethe et de Schiller dans le « respect du mètre de l’original5 » et de

1 Trois lettres inédites de Sabatier à Amari et une partiellement éditée par Nenci, présentes dans le Fondo Amari de la Biblioteca Centrale Regionale di Sicilia, permettent de retracer ces contributions. Je voudrais exprimer toute ma gratitude à Mme Renata Di Natale, conservatrice de la bibliothèque régionale de Palerme, pour avoir grandement facilité l’accès au fonds Amari et m’avoir fourni les reproductions des lettres inédites de François Sabatier. 2 Voir Hélène Guérin, François Sabatier (1818–1891) : lire, traduire et écrire l’histoire de l’art. Les chemins d’un critique et mécène fouriériste vers une Histoire de l’art, Thèse, Université Montpellier 3, et la biographie en ligne sur le site Charles Fourier (). 3 L’ouvrage d’Amari est paru en 4 volumes de 1854 à 1872. C’est dans le troisième volume en deux parties 1868–1872, qu’apparaissent les contributions de Sabatier. 4 Voir Hélène Guérin, François Sabatier. 5 Il est le traducteur du Wilhelm Tell, poème dramatique de Schiller, traduit dans le mètre de l’original, Königsberg, J.H. Bon, Libraire-éditeur, 1859 et du Faust de Goethe, traduit dans le mètre de l’original et suivant les règles de la versification, Paris, Librairie Ch. Delagrave, paru à titre posthume en 1893.

l’historien Ferdinand Gregorovius.6 Il rencontre Michele Amari à Paris dès 1854,7 par l’intermédiaire de son épouse la cantatrice Caroline Ungher,8 personnalité artistique et politique en Italie, qui entretient depuis longtemps des liens d’amitié avec Amari. C’est elle qui lui a offert un dictionnaire lui permettant de travailler aux traductions des manuscrits arabes de la bibliothèque impériale.9 En 1859, c’est Sabatier qui effectue une démarche auprès de Cavour pour qu’Amari obtienne une chaire à l’Université de Pise.10 En 1865, Amari devient de facto son gendre en épousant Louise Boucher11 et réside chez Sabatier à Florence soit au palais Renai soit à la villa de la Concezione, y jouissant de l’extraordinaire bibliothèque. Ceci exposé, à partir de 1857 deux ambitions éditoriales, le tome iii de la Storia pour Amari et un guide historique 6

Sabatier traduit Les Tombeaux des Papes romains, précédé par une introduction de M.J.-J. Ampère, Paris, Michel Lévy frères, 1859. Ferdinand Gregorovius (1821–91) est fait premier citoyen d’honneur de Rome pour sa Die Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter, 1859–72. 7 Une note de juillet 1854 indique qu’il connaît déjà Amari, manuscrit 467 (5), 156, médiathèque E. Zola, Montpellier. 8 Caroline Ungher (1803–77), épouse Sabatier en 1841 à Florence et permet à ce dernier d’entrer en contact avec son important réseau artistique, politique et littéraire des mondes germaniques et italiens pré­ unitaires. 9 Amari in D’Ancona, Carteggio, 152. 10 Francesco Perez a Michele Amari, Firenze 3. ii.1859 in D’Ancona, Carteggio, 167–69. 11 Louise Boucher, fille du peintre Auguste Bouquet, recueillie à la mort de celui-ci par le couple Sabatier-­ Ungher, élevée comme leur propre fille sans pouvoir être adoptée légalement.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���� | doi 10.1163/9789004412644_006

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de la Sicile pour Sabatier vont lier les travaux des deux hommes. Plusieurs réseaux sociaux et intellectuels vont alors s’interpénétrer. Sabatier et Amari peuvent être considérés comme deux points d’articulation de ces réseaux. Le premier représente assez bien la circulation des élites savantes polyglottes au xixe siècle, le second celui, tout d’abord, de l’engagement politique pour l’Italie unitaire puis des échanges des reconnaissances instituées dans le monde universitaire européen. Trois apports de François Sabatier à l’œuvre de Michele Amari permettent d’illustrer les usages de l’appropriation de l’art islamique en Sicile. Le rôle de Sabatier est original et important. Original par les méthodes et les stratégies de r­ ecueil des sources in situ, il est également important par les résultats. La moisson est en effet considérable ; elle comprend la découverte d’inscriptions inconnues, le relevé de la forteresse arabe d’Entella, la découverte des vases dits de Mazara ainsi qu’une participation décisive à la datation et l’attribution du palais de la Zisa à Palerme. En outre, son travail et sa réception, ou plutôt les usages qui en ont été faits, permettent de mieux saisir le rôle de l’appropriation des arts islamiques dans l’écriture de l’histoire de l’art de la Sicile. L’intérêt est de pouvoir ici suivre au plus près une voie singulière vers l’orientalisme, ses buts et ses moyens, politiques et historiques, dans le contexte de l’Italie en train de se constituer, et ceci en suivant les pratiques d’Amari. À rebours d’une historiographie faisant peu de cas des sources,12 y compris publiées, les travaux de Sabatier révèlent son ambition d’historien de l’art et de théoricien et sa place dans un réseau intellectuel européen. Jusqu’à présent, les deux longs séjours de Sabatier sur l’île, en 1858 et 1860, étaient présentés comme de simples excursions. L’envoi dédié à ­Sabatier de l’ouvrage de Ferdinand Gregorovius,

12

La littérature sur Sabatier est restée trop longtemps dépendante de l’avant-propos anonyme du Faust traduit par Sabatier. Nous avons identifié dans notre thèse les auteurs de cet avant-propos et montré la nature ambiguë de ce texte, entre anecdotes et roman familial.

S­ iciliana,13 n’a semble-t-il jamais été lu par les auteurs qui se sont penchés sur lui. Pas plus que les lettres éloquentes d’Amari publiées depuis plus d’un siècle par D’Ancona.14 Sabatier a légué à la ville de Montpellier une importante bibliothèque dépassant un millier d’ouvrages représentant plus de 6000 volumes15 ; plus d’un ouvrage sur dix porte sur la Sicile et constitue une documentation historique et scientifique exceptionnelle sur le sujet pour l’époque. Toutefois, grâce à une lettre inédite, l’archéologue Giuseppe Nenci a exhumé le rôle de Sabatier à Entella en ce qui concerne la strate antique.16 Les cartels touristiques d’Entella, ceux de la Zisa le mentionnent, même si le visiteur se demande qui peut bien être ce Francesco Sabatier qui fournit des renseignements à l’illustre sénateur Amari et qui, dans le cas du palais palermitain, témoigne d’un courage certain en allant se balancer à trente mètres au-dessus du sol, accroché à un support en ruine, afin de relever une inscription. 1

Deux projets éditoriaux et une commande

« De Sicile écrivez-moi tant qu’il vous conviendra et pour ma part je ne vous laisserai pas tranquille. »17 13

Ferdinand Gregorovius, Siciliana. Wanderungen in Neapel und Sizilien, Brockhaus, Leipzig 1861. La préface dédie le livre à Sabatier en rendant hommage à ses ­travaux sur la Sicile, l’exhortant à les publier. 14 Alessandro D’Ancona, Il Carteggio di Michele Amari, raccolto e postillato da Alessandro d’Ancona, Turin : Roux Frassati, 1903–7. 15 Cette bibliothèque est la cartographie des intérêts et des travaux de Sabatier. Exceptionnelle par la rareté de certaines éditions, elle est également remarquable par le nombre de dédicaces des auteurs à Sabatier et des notes marginales de celui-ci. Concernant la Sicile, 29 ouvrages portent l’ex-libris d’Heinrich Wilhelm Schulz, directeur de la Galerie de Dresde, qui a inventorié les monuments de la Sicile. 16 Giuseppe Nenci, « Entella nel 1858 in una lettera inedita di François Sabatier a Michele Amari », Annali Scuola Normale Pisa, S. iii, xx (1990), 785–90. 17 Amari in D’Ancona, Carteggio, 158. Sans indication contraire, c’est nous qui traduisons.

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L’art islamique

Le projet se décide dès 1857. En novembre de cette année, Amari, dans une lettre, qui n’a pas été ­remarquée, adressée à Sabatier,18 soutient le projet éditorial d’un guide d’un genre nouveau sur la Sicile et en même temps passe commande de relevés d’inscriptions et de visites de sites : « Très cher François. Il existe une ou deux douzaines de Guides de Sicile, et pas un de bon. Mais le travail que vous entreprenez est digne de vous, appelé à un destin glorieux. […] Vous êtes armé de la tête aux pieds sur cela, comme sur tant d’autres sujets, et donc : en avant ! »19 Car Amari, en exil, ne peut se rendre sur le terrain et doit s’appuyer sur un réseau d’informateurs afin de pouvoir achever le tome iii de la Storia. Il ne peut compter sur l’architecte Saverio Cavallari20 alors au Mexique. Sabatier est pour lui plus qu’un informateur, c’est un interlocuteur philologue et érudit : helléniste, latiniste, lecteur de Franz Bopp, possédant le sanskrit, engagé dans une traduction du Bhagavad-Gita, traducteur de Carl Schnaase,21 connaisseur du monde byzantin22 et de la mosaïque. Sabatier est également, par sa formation 18 Amari in D’Ancona, Carteggio, 152–55. 19 Amari in D’Ancona, Carteggio, 153–54. 20 Saverio Cavallari, architecte qui a travaillé avec Serra di Falco, puis avec Schulz, livrant plans, dessins des monuments et sites de Sicile. Il a entretenu une correspondance nourrie avec Amari. Voir Gabriella Cianciolo Cosentino, L’architetto e l’arabista, un carteggio inedito : Lettere di Francesco Saverio Cavallari a Michele Amari (1843–1889), transcription et notes de Giuseppina Sinagra, Palerme : Dipartimento dei Beni culturali e dell’Identità siciliana, 2012. 21 Sabatier a traduit en 1857 l’Entstehung und Ausbildung des gothischen Styls de l’historien de l’art Carl Schnaase, paru en 1856 et consacré à la naissance et à la formation du style gothique, traduction inédite et la seule à ce jour en langue française, manuscrit 467 (10), médiathèque Emile Zola, Montpellier. 22 Il a financé en 1846 un voyage en Grèce avec le peintre Dominique Papety, qui a pu copier les peintures du mont Athos, lesquelles ont été réunies en album par Sabatier. Cet album, aujourd’hui au Louvre, inspire

41 de peintre, ses jeunes années partagées avec les peintres Émile Lessore, Auguste Bouquet et Paul Chenavard, capable d’user de nombreuses ­techniques d’empreintes. Et la Sicile est à l’intersection géographique de ses intérêts : l’île est le lieu géométrique de la rencontre entre la Grèce, Byzance, l’Orient et les questions politiques les plus brûlantes. Atout que lui reconnaît Amari : « […] ce que nous demandons maintenant, ce ne sont pas les observations microscopiques de ces messieurs ; c’est la mise en relation de ces monuments avec la civilisation, de la civilisation grecque de la Sicile avec celle des autres pays de l’antiquité, et avec les conditions du pays au Moyen-âge et à notre époque. Cherchez cela, si vous le trouvez dans les cent et un voyages de Sicile parus depuis deux siècles! Par rapport aux monuments du moyen-âge, c’est-à-dire depuis la domination byzantine jusqu’à absorption de la Sicile par la sombre monarchie espagnole, tout reste à faire, détails et idées. C’est pourquoi de ce point de vue, votre travail offrirait un double attrait. »23 Sabatier ajoute à la préparation minutieuse de son voyage l’apprentissage de la langue arabe, possède les grammaires de Sylvestre de Sacy, d’Heinrich Ewald, de William Wright, s’entraîne aux traductions sur les Anecdotes musulmanes d’Auguste Cherbonneau. Plus tard, en 1864, il produira, à la demande d’Amari, titulaire de la chaire d’arabe à Florence, un Répertoire pratique des formes grammaticales arabes en tableaux synoptiques,24 dont l’ambition est de « […] parler aux yeux et, sans ­métaphore, leur faire voir la forme et la figure même des mots afin que devenus visibles, elles grandement Di Marzo pour son Delle Belle arti in Sicilia. 23 Amari in D’Ancona, Carteggio, 157. 24 Ce manuscrit s’inspire du Cours pratique et théorique de langue arabe de Louis Jacques Bresnier, Alger, 1855, et comprend un manuscrit principal de 340 pages et deux manuscrits de corrections d’épreuves. Manuscrit 467 (7), médiathèque Émile Zola, Montpellier, iii.

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Figure 3.1 F. Sabatier, Répertoire des formes grammaticales arabes, 1864, manuscrit 467 (7), M.E.Z.M. Photographie H. Guérin. Avec l’aimable autorisation de la médiathèque Émile Zola

laissassent dans l’esprit une empreinte plus profonde » (fig. 3.1). Position qui est à rapprocher de celle de l’associationnisme, les images sont premières et grâce à leur association nous formerions des idées de plus en plus abstraites. Sabatier possède et a lu et ­annoté toutes les œuvres de Stuart Mill et d’Alexander Bain. Il compte parmi ses amis le traducteur de Bain et Stuart Mill, Émile Cazelles. L’associationnisme est également un ressort intellectuel du ­fouriérisme de Sabatier. L’ultime version de ce cours est vraisemblablement présentée au Président du congrès des orientalistes en 1878, lequel est Amari.25

La rencontre de Sabatier avec l’art islamique se fait donc dans le cadre d’un orientalisme savant, philologique, une enquête minutieuse des formes et de l’histoire, attitude qui caractérisait déjà la démarche de Girault de Prangey trente ans ­auparavant26 mais va au-delà. Ce que projette Sabatier est un véritable tableau régional de l’art de la Sicile, incluant dans sa composition toutes les strates et partant celle islamique. Le tableau, qui est un des deux genres de discours sur l’art apparus au xixe siècle avec la critique, permet de fournir des repères stables dans un siècle d’incertitudes territoriales.27

25

26

Une lettre de 1878 insérée dans le manuscrit est adressée à « Monsieur le président du congrès » et nous savons que Sabatier est membre de ce congrès qui se tient à Florence.

27

Rémi Labrusse, Islamophilies. Paris : Somogy éditions d’art/Lyon : Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, 2011, 114. André Chastel, « Préface ». In Julius von Schlosser, La littérature artistique, traduit de l’allemand par J. Chavy.

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2

Deux séjours, trois résultats

« Très cher ami, je laisse tomber les remerciements, parce qu’ils ne sauraient convenir à un homme de talent à l’esprit aussi subtil que le vôtre. »28 Dans un temps très court, lors du premier voyage, ce sont d’importantes découvertes qui sont faites. Une lettre du 22 août 1858 d’Amari, en réponse à celle inédite de juillet 1858 révèle le travail réalisé par Sabatier. Il permet de lever le doute sur certaines inscriptions jusqu’alors mal relevées et de faire la découverte d’autres, inconnues, comme celles de la maison Mandralisca à Cefalù et du Musée des Jésuites à Palerme. Sabatier réalise à chaque fois des empreintes des inscriptions. Mais, par-dessus tout, ce qui provoque l’émerveillement d’Amari est la découverte de deux grands vases : « Mais la découverte énorme et neuve ce sont les beaux vases de Mazara29 ». Il s’agit de deux des fameux vases-amphores à lustre métallique appartenant au type dit de l’Alhambra. Ce type de vases, objets prestigieux produits autour de Grenade, sous la dynastie nasride, au xive siècle, a fait l’objet d’une importante littérature.30 Parmi les huit vases transmis intacts jusqu’à nous, Sabatier en découvre donc deux, celui qui est désormais à l’Instituto de Valencia de Don Juan de Madrid et celui du musée Abatellis de ­Palerme.31 Le premier vase est découvert en se rendant dans la maison de Burgio des Comtes Gazzera pour relever une empreinte gravée sur une Paris : Flammarion, 1996, 12–3. Sabatier a participé à ces deux genres. 28 Amari in D’Ancona, Carteggio, 156–59. 29 Amari in D’Ancona, Carteggio, 158. 30 Nous ne pouvons citer ici l’ensemble de cette littérature, à titre indicatif et en lien avec l’Italie, voici une référence qui développe une bibliographie : Eredità dell’Islam Arte islamica in Italia a cura di Giovanni Curatola, Silvana Editoriale, 1993. 31 Le premier a été acheté en 1926 pour les collections de l’Instituto Valencia de Don Juan de Madrid, le second fait partie des collections du musée Abatellis de Palerme depuis la fin du xixe siècle.

­ etite colonne de marbre, inscription qu’Amari p possède déjà mais dont la qualité ne lui convient pas. Si l’inscription sur la colonne est déjà connue, c’est le sens de l’observation de Sabatier qui lui fait remarquer le vase. Sur cette colonne : « […] il y a un très beau vase de terre cuite vernissée de ce très bel émail qui semble d’or, quand il est vu sous un certain angle. Il fait un mètre et 10 centimètres de hauteur. Il est abîmé en quelques endroits, et ses anses sont cassées, mais il y a une longue inscription intacte qui fait le tour du col du vase en petits caractères de 2 centimètres de hauteur environ (fig. 3.2). »32 Puis il restitue le protocole d’observation de manière à ce que la critique philologique d’Amari puisse se dérouler dans les conditions les plus proches d’un examen in situ par l’arabisant. La découverte du second vase, dans la petite église de la Madone du Paradis, est également objet d’une description rigoureuse quant à son aspect et au relevé de l’inscription : « Dans la petite église de la Madone du Paradis, à l’extérieur de la porte de Mazara il y a un autre vase très beau, bien mieux conservé et plus grand. Sur son origine je n’ai rien pu savoir de sûr. Il a été offert à l’église par un pharmacien. À Trapani, Don Vito D’Aleo m’a dit qu’il croyait qu’il venait aussi de la maison Ferro, mais il ne connaît pas le vase. L’inscription se trouve sur la panse au point A (fig. 3.3). »33

32

Lettre du 12.07.1858, xxi/6999. Il s’agit du vase de Madrid. Ce serait le vase le plus ancien de la série en raison de son inscription, datable du dernier tiers du xiiie siècle coïncidant avec le règne de Muḥammad ii ; Martinez Caviro citée par Lara Nebreda Martin, Documentación sobre arte y arqqueologia en el Instituto de ­Valencia de Don Juan. Análisis de la colección andalusì a través de sus documentos, Thèse, Universidad de Madrid, 2017, 591. 33 Lettre du 12.07.1858, xxi/6999. C’est le vase de Palerme.

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Figure 3.2 Vase Alhambra, dernier tiers du xiiie siècle. Céramique à lustre métallique, h : 113 cm, Instituto de Valencia de Don Juan, Madrid, RM2-01/04 Photographie ivdj. Avec l’aimable autorisation de l’Instituto de Valencia de Don Juan

La réponse d’Amari est enthousiaste, Sabatier est en mesure de produire « un libro stupendo sulla ­Sicilia34 ». Il insiste également sur un point pour lui important : les découvertes de Sabatier à Entella et qui devront, selon lui, occuper plus de deux bons chapitres dans la rédaction du guide. En effet, Sabatier s’est rendu à la forteresse d’Entella,35 exploit qui ne pourra être renouvelé qu’un siècle plus tard. Pour le critique français, qui exécute un grand nombre de dessins et de relevés, le terrain est en contradiction avec les sources dont dispose Amari pour l’importance du lieu dans la résistance arabe à Frédéric ii.36 34 35

36

« Un livre merveilleux sur la Sicile », Amari in D’Ancona, Carteggio, 157. Nous avons pu observer dans l’exemplaire légué du Dizionario topografico della Sicilia d’Amico, des notes de Sabatier préparatoires au voyage et les dessins de la voie d’accès à ce site. Le problème du rôle d’Entella dans les révoltes arabes est encore aujourd’hui ouvert. Voir Jeremy Johns, « Fonti arabe », dans Alla ricerca d’Entella, Giuseppe

Figure 3.3 Vase Alhambra, xiii–xive siècle. Céramique à lustre métallique, h : 125 cm, Galleria Regionale del Palazzo Abatellis, Palermo, Inv. 5229 Photographie du musée. Avec l’aimable autorisation du musée

« […] je vous dirais qu’il existe des traces plus qu’évidentes d’un château sarrasin sur la pointe du Pizzo de la Reine ; mais en ce lieu seul […]. La petitesse de la forteresse, bien inférieure à celle de Calatamauro prouve qu’il n’y avait pas de forces considérables en ce lieu […]. »37 Cependant, après avoir donné les mesures des citernes et indiqué le fonctionnement des remplissages, il nuance la petite taille de la forteresse grâce à des arguments déduits d’hypothèse portant sur l’histoire du site : « En somme, si je dois juger des seuls éléments aujourd’hui visibles, il ne me paraît pas que l’établissement des derniers arabes ait eu une grande ­importance. Mais il ne faut pas oublier que des

37

Nenci, con contributi di M.J Becker, M.G. Canzanella, S. De Vido, C.A. Di Noto, G. Falsane, L. Gallo, I Gennusa, J Johns, D. Moreschini, G. Nenci, G. Panessa. Pisa : Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Laboratorio di Topografia Storico-Archeologica del Mondo Antico, 1993, 91. Lettre du 12.07.1858, xxi/6999, Fondo Amari, Palerme. Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait and Ariane Varela Braga - 978-90-04-41264-4 Downloaded from Brill.com04/22/2020 08:55:17AM via McGill University

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constructions plus importantes ont pu exister. Frédéric ii a sans doute détruit le nid de la révolte, et chaque jour les paysans des villages alentour sont venus voler les matériaux qui se trouvaient à la surface du terrain, pour bâtir leurs propres maisons. A Contessa, par exemple […] des maisons ont été bâties aux dépends des monuments d’Entella. »38 Amari sollicite l’autorisation d’utiliser ces informations pour achever la Storia. C’est enfin, l’épineux problème de l’attribution du palais de la Zisa qui permet de restituer l’apport de Sabatier critique et historien de l’architecture, qui n’hésite pas à disputer avec Amari. « Je reviens maintenant à un sujet plus intéressant. Vous, vous avez démontré que l’inscription de la Cuba datait de Guillaume le Bon. Je crois moi pouvoir démontrer, sans le recours aux inscriptions, que la Zisa est entièrement une œuvre de Guillaume Premier, ou au moins qu’il n’y a rien dans ce bâtiment qui puisse donner une raison fondée de le dater d’une époque plus ancienne. »39

nacelle non moins ingénieuse pour se suspendre, amarré à la terrasse du bâtiment qui menace de s’effondrer, et de merlons en merlons, placé de face, effectuer ce recueil délicat (fig. 3.4). Il résout enfin les problèmes pratiques posés par Girault de Prangey, l’impossibilité d’accéder aux merlons ou encore de relever les inscriptions trop altérées par des concrétions. Si l’inscription obtenue ne permettra pas de trancher l’attribution de la Zisa, en revanche l’analyse du bâtiment par Sabatier sera confirmée. La conclusion d’Amari à cet égard est nette : « Quant aux Arabes et au Normands je n’ai rien d’autre à vous dire puisque je m’aperçois que vous tapez dans le mille42 ». 3

Les voies originales d’une appropriation de l’art islamique

« Par amitié pour moi et par amour des arts et de la science, Sabatier a relevé ces empreintes et me les a données. »43

Sabatier par le relevé du bâtiment et sa connaissance de l’architecture médiévale fournit des arguments qui annihilent les avis de Serra di Falco et Girault de Prangey en faveur d’un commanditaire arabe.40 Il entreprend alors de démontrer l’existence d’une voûte et de fenêtres dans le palais. Néanmoins, lors du second séjour sur l’île en 1860, sur l’insistance d’Amari qui souhaite obtenir une traduction des inscriptions, il met au point une ingénieuse technique d’empreinte, à partir de gaze et de colle, formant un matériau qui permet de relever sans se déchirer les inscriptions fort abîmées par les dépôts et les nids de guêpes41 et bricole une

Le tome iii de la Storia va effectivement utiliser les travaux de Sabatier, sans les citer cependant. Ainsi les vases de Mazara auraient été vus par Amari en 1868. L’enthousiasmante découverte de 1858 n’est plus, le premier observateur, l’inventeur des pièces est Amari mais leur description paraphrase entièrement Sabatier.

38 39 40

42 Amari in Alessandro D’Ancona, Il Carteggio di Michele Amari, raccolto e postillato da Alessandro d’Ancona, Turin: Roux Frassati, 1903–7, 158. 43 Michele Amari, « Le epigrafi arabiche di Sicilia », Rivista Sicula, Vol. iii, 1870. 44 Michele Amari, Storia dei Musulmani di Sicilia, Volume iii, Parte Prima 1868, et Parte Seconda, Le Monnier, Firenze 1872, 794.

41

Idem. Idem. Duca di Serra di Falco, Del Duomo di Monreale e di altre chiese siculo-normanne. Palermo : Tipografia Roberti, 1838 et Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey, Essai sur l’architecture des Arabes et des Mores en Espagne, en Sicile et en Barbarie. Paris : Hauser, 1841, 78. Lettre du 10.03.1860, xxi/7002, Fondo Amari, Palerme.

« J’ai vu ces deux vases à Mazara en 1868, l’un dans la demeure d’un homme noble et courtois, Monsieur Giovanni Burgio […] ; l’autre dans la sacristie de la Madone du Paradis, petite église au porte de la ville. »44

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Figure 3.4 Lettre de Sabatier du 13 mars 1860, Fondo Amari xxi/7002, brcs

Photographie brcs. Avec l’aimable autorisation de la Bibliothèque régionale de Sicile

Pour la forteresse d’Entella, Sabatier devient un ami anonyme qui fournit d’utiles renseignements.45 Le tome iii légué par Sabatier porte en marge de cette assertion, une laconique et amère remarque « Moi l’ami inconnu46 ». Cette pratique d’emprunt à Sabatier va se révéler constante, à l’exception près de la Zisa, dans une revue sicilienne, tardivement en 1870 et à propos d’épigraphie ­ arabe.47 Mais, au-delà, ce que ces pratiques révèlent c’est une voie originale en Italie de l’appropriation de l’art islamique ainsi que de sa connaissance et de sa diffusion. Ainsi, aux côtés de l’appropriation dans une collection, il faut ici le rendre propre à un usage, historique et politique. Le travail de S­ abatier 45 Amari, Storia dei Musulmani, 822. 46 Cet ouvrage porte la cote L 2936, médiathèque Émile Zola, Montpellier. 47 Michele Amari, « Le epigrafi arabiche di Sicilia », Rivista Sicula, Vol. iii, 1870, 137–52.

est tout entier tourné vers la réalisation d’une fresque historique qui repose sur l’examen des formes artistiques afin de dessiner une communauté qui possède une histoire commune en dépit de formes diverses. Dans ce récit, l’art islamique a la même valeur que l’art grec. Pour Sabatier et Amari, participant à une histoire de l’art italienne qui ne soit plus seulement toscano-centrée et ­vasarienne, l’art islamique est parfaitement approprié à fournir une histoire de la Sicile, à la faire tenir au présent et à lui fournir un futur. C’est-à-dire à bâtir un récit qui permet l’appartenance de l’île à l’Italie unitaire, participant à l’établissement d’une communauté imaginée.48 Le but est politique autant qu’historique. Ce qui est visé c’est la légitimité à énoncer le récit d’une communauté historique, un récit apparemment tourné vers le passé mais 48

Benedict Anderson, L’Imaginaire national. Réflexions sur l’origine et l’essor du nationalisme. Paris : La Découverte, 1996.

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en fait indexé vers le futur. Celui qui connaît le passé peut légitimement être celui qui construit l’avenir. L’absence/présence des travaux de Sabatier dans l’œuvre d’Amari peut alors trouver une hypothèse. Le temps de la connaissance fournie par les érudits étrangers passe, l’histoire n’est plus une arme contre des régimes honnis, la fabrique de l’histoire est désormais un outil pour la fabrique des Italiens. Archives et sources François Sabatier, manuscrits 467 (1–13), médiathèque Émile Zola, Montpellier. François Sabatier, lettres, Fondo Amari xxi, Biblioteca Centrale Regionale di Sicilia. Amari, Michele, Storia dei Musulmani di Sicilia, Volume iii, Parte Prima 1868, et Parte Seconda, Le Monnier, Firenze 1872. Cote L2936 MEZM. Vito Amico, Dizionario topografico della Sicilia, tradotto del latino ed annotato da Gioacchino Di Marzo, tipogr. Morvillo, Palermo, 1855–56, 2 vol.gr. in-8°. Cote 17340 MEZM.

Bibliographie Amari, Michele, « Le epigrafie arabiche di Sicilia », ­Rivista Sicula, Vol. iii, 1870, 137–52. Anderson, Benedict, L’Imaginaire national. Réflexions sur l’origine et l’essor du nationalisme. Paris : La ­Découverte, 1996. D’Ancona, Alessandro, Il Carteggio di Michele Amari, raccolto e postillato da Alessandro d’Ancona. Turin : Roux Frassati, 1903–7. Chastel, André, « préface », dans Julius von Schlosser, La littérature artistique, traduit de l’allemand par J. Chavy. Paris : Flammarion, 1996, 9–14. Cosentino, Gabriella Cianciolo, L’architetto e l’arabista, un carteggio inedito : Lettere di Francesco Saverio

47 ­ avallari a Michele Amari (1843–1889), transcription C et notes de Giuseppina Sinagra. Palermo : Dipartimento dei Beni culturali e dell’Identità siciliana, 2012. Girault de Prangey, Joseph-Philibert, Essai sur l’architecture des Arabes et des Mores en Espagne, en Sicile et en Barbarie. Paris : Hauser, 1841. Gregorovius, Ferdinand, Siciliana. Wanderungen in Neapel und Sizilien. Leipzig : Brockhaus, 1861. Guérin, Hélène, François Sabatier (1818–1891) : lire, traduire et écrire l’histoire de l’art. Les chemins d’un critique et mécène fouriériste vers une Histoire de l’art, Thèse, Université Montpellier 3, 2015. Guérin, Hélène, « Sabatier François (Marie Jean Baptiste), Sabatier-Ungher (nom de plume), apparaît comme Franz Sabatier, Francesco Sabatier, cité fautivement comme Sabatier d’Espeyran », Dictionnaire biographique du fouriérisme, notice mise en ligne en décembre 2016 (). Johns, Jeremy, « Fonti arabe », dans Alla ricerca d’Entella, Nenci, Giuseppe con contributi di M.J Becker, M.G. Canzanella, S. De Vido, C.A. Di Noto, G. Falsane, L. Gallo, I. Gennusa, J. Johns, D. Moreschini, G. Nenci, G. Panessa. Pisa : Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Laboratorio di Topografia Storico-Archeologica del Mondo Antico, 1993. Labrusse, Rémi, Islamophilies. Paris : Somogy éditions d’art/Lyon : Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, 2011. Nebreda Martin, Lara, Documentación sobre arte y arqqueologia en el Instituto de Valencia de Don Juan. Análisis de la colección andalusì a través de sus documentos, Thèse, Universidad de Madrid, 2017. Nenci, Giuseppe, « Entella nel 1858 in una lettera inedita di François Sabatier a Michele Amari », Annali Scuola Normale Pisa, S. iii, xx (1990), 785–90. Serra di Falco (Duca di), Del Duomo di Monreale e di ­altre chiese siculo-normanne. Palermo : Tipografia Roberti, 1838.

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chapter 4

Orientalisme versus orientalité

La nouvelle appréciation des arts de l’Islam en Pologne au début du xxe siècle Agnieszka Kluczewska-Wójcik À l’Exposition universelle de 1878, au Palais du Trocadéro à Paris, le prince Ladislas Czartoryski (1828–94) présentait sept tapis de sa collection, noués en soie, sur un fond lamé d’or et d’argent, d’une richesse de matière extraordinaire. Bien que de technique et de décor persans, certains portaient, dans des médaillons centraux, les armes de la famille Czartoryski ; ils furent donc attribués aux manufactures polonaises. Par la suite, tous les tapis de ce type furent appelés polonais.1 Les fleurons de la collection princière avaient été proposés pour la première fois aux regards parisiens dans la « Salle polonaise » du Musée rétrospectif, à l’exposition de l’Union centrale des Beaux-arts appliqués à l’industrie tenue en 1865 au Palais de l’Industrie.2 En 1869 le plus connu de ces tapis polonais fut reproduit dans Les Collections célèbres d’œuvres d’art dessinées et gravées par Édouard Lièvre. Une notice expliquait les raisons de la naissance du goût des orientalia en Pologne: « Les Polonais ajoutaient à leur costume des ceintures fabriquées en Perse qui se distinguaient par l’ampleur, par la finesse du tissu & l’éclat des couleurs. […] Ces habitudes de luxe eurent pour conséquence naturelle de faire naître & de généraliser dans le pays l’usage d’orner l’intérieur des maisons de tapis & de divans. […] Ces tapis, comme les ceintures, étaient d’abord tirés exclusivement de la Perse & de la Turquie, mais la consommation s’en accrut tellement que, au cours du seizième siècle, 1 Friedrich Spuhler, Seidene Repräsentationsteppiche der mittleren bis späten Safawidenzeit. Die sogennanten Pollentepiche. Berlin : Freie Universität, 1968. 2 Exposition de 1865. Musée rétrospectif. Salle polonaise. Paris : Librairie Centrale, 1865.

on vit s’élever en Pologne de nombreuses fabriques établies par des riches & illustres familles. Ces efforts furent puissamment secondés par l’arrivée dans le pays d’un assez grand nombre d’industriels & d’artisans étrangers […]. »3 Grâce à sa position géographique, la Pologne fut, effectivement, ouverte d’une façon toute naturelle aux influences orientales qui devinrent l’un des facteurs majeurs ayant forgé l’identité culturelle polonaise depuis le Moyen Âge jusqu’au xviiie siècle. Les relations politiques et commerciales avec le Proche Orient ainsi qu’une forte présence de « passeurs »—Arméniens, Tartares, Karaïtes— contribuèrent à l’intégration des éléments orientaux dans la tradition artistique polonaise.4 L’idée du « sarmatisme », en référence au mythe d’une origine polonaise supposée chez les conquérants Sarmates, avec l’adaptation de l’habit d’inspiration orientale, constitue l’un des meilleurs exemples de cette « orientalité » polonaise très particulière, pour reprendre le terme proposé par Jan

3 Félicien de Saulcy et al., Les Collections célèbres d’œuvres d’art dessinées et gravées par Edouard Lièvre. Paris : Goupil & Co, 1869, 60. 4 Tadeusz Mańkowski, Orient w kulturze polskiej. Wrocław/ Cracovie : Ossolineum, 1959 ; Zdzisław Żygulski jun., « The Impact of the Orient on the Culture of Old Poland », dans Art in Poland 1572–1764 : Land of winged horsemen, catalogue d’exposition éd. par Jan K. Ostrowski (Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1999). Alexandria : Yale University Press 1999, 69–79. Ce phénomène d’intégration d’éléments puisés dans le mode de vie, la langue, la mode vestimentaire et le répertoire décoratif orientaux, lié aux échanges entre les deux cultures, est comparable à ce qui se produisit en Espagne sous la domination mauresque.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��20 | doi 10.1163/9789004412644_007

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­Kieniewicz.5 Ainsi, la noblesse polonaise, élite ­dominante dans la République des Deux Nations (République nobiliaire) entre la fin du xvie et la fin du xviiie siècle, se laissa conquérir par l’esthétique orientale au lieu d’adapter celle-ci à la sienne. Indépendamment de leurs liens avec l’Orient, les Polonais se considérèrent pourtant toujours comme des Occidentaux, contrairement à leurs voisins russes, qui ne « découvrirent » leur côté européen qu’au tournant du xviiie siècle, grâce aux efforts de Pierre le Grand.6 Leurs engagements militaires aux confins de la Chrétienté, contre les Turcs, les Tartares et la Moscovie, d’une part, la bonne maîtrise et l’usage presque quotidien de la langue latine, de l’autre, en constituent la preuve. Totalement intégrées, les influences orientales se sont enrichies au siècle des Lumières et à l’époque romantique d’éléments puisés dans les modes venues de l’Europe de l’Ouest, turqueries et chinoiseries en premier lieu. À ceci se sont ajoutés la connaissance directe de l’Orient et l’intérêt croissant pour la littérature et les langues ori­ entales : des collections de manuscrits se formèrent et l’École polonaise des langues orientales d’Istanbul fut créée par le roi Stanislas Auguste Poniatowski (1732–98) en 1767.7 Les relations avec 5 Jan Kieniewicz, « Orientalność polska », dans Andrzej Garlicki (éd.), Sąsiedzi i inni. Varsovie : Czytelnik, 1978, 75–93 ; Stanisław Grzybowski, Sarmatyzm. Varsovie : kaw, 1996. Pierre Schneider utilise le terme « orientalité », en opposition à « orientalisme », à propos des relations de Matisse avec l’art oriental : Pierre Schneider, « ‘La grande pensée’ : tapis d’Orient et xxe siècle », dans Le Ciel dans un tapis, catalogue d’exposition éd. par Eric Delpont, Maria Fernanda Passos Leite et João Carvalho Diaz (Paris, Institut du Monde Arabe, 7.12.2004–27.03.2005, Lisbonne, ­Fondation Calouste Gulbekian, 28.04–31.07.2005). Gand: Éditions Snoeck, 2004, 81. 6 David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, Russian Orientalism. Asia in the Russian Mind from Peter the Great to the Emigration. New Haven/London : Yale University Press, 2010. 7 Tadeusz Majda, « L’école polonaise des langues orientales d’Istanbul au xviiie siècle », dans Frédéric Hitzel (éd.), Istanbul et les langues orientales. Actes du colloque l’inalco, Istanbul 1995. Paris : L’Harmattan, 1997, 123–28.

l’Empire Ottoman évoluèrent : dans la nouvelle situation politique, la Turquie devint non seulement le but des voyages d’exploration, mais aussi l’un des centres de l’émigration polonaise. À la différence de la traditionnelle « orientalité » polonaise, le dialogue visuel entre l’Orient et l’Occident, qui contribua au développement de l’orientalisme pictural en Europe autour de 1830, n’a pas véritablement changé le cours de l’histoire de l’art en Pologne ; Stanisław Chlebowski (1835– 84), élève de Jean Léon Gérôme et peintre de cour du sultan Abdulaziz (1830–76), reste le représentant le plus reconnu de l’orientalisme polonais.8 Les Polonais n’ont pas cherché non plus à revenir vers la légende “sarmate” au moment de la naissance de la nouvelle école artistique, au tournant du xixe siècle, à l’exemple des Hongrois qui, précisément à cette époque, « regardaient vers l’Est », selon l’appel de l’architecte Ödön Lechner (1845– 1914).9 Les motifs orientaux, bien lisibles dans la peinture polonaise de la deuxième moitié du xixe siècle, depuis l’historicisme et l’académisme jusqu’à la Jeune Pologne,10 n’ont véritablement gagné de l’autonomie qu’au début du xxe siècle. De 8

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Agata Wójcik, Stanisław Chlebowski, « nadworny farbiarz Jego Sułtańskiej Mości » : życie i twórczość. Varsovie : Wydawnictwa Drugie, 2016. L’appel orne l’entrée du bâtiment du Musée des Arts Décoratifs à Budapest de Lechner et Gyula Pártos ; cité par Mirjam Dénes, « Shades of Japonisme. The reception of Japanese Art and Culture in Hungary », dans Katalin Gellér et Mirjam Dénes (éd.), Japonisme in Hungarian Art. Budapest : Kovács Gábor Müvészeti Alapitvány, 2017, 134. Cuda Orientu, catalogue d’exposition éd. par Małgorzata Ruszkowska-Macur (Gdańsk, Muzeum Narodowe, 27.06–26.07.2006). Gdańsk : Muzeum Narodowe, 2006 ; Tadeusz Majda (éd.), Masterpieces of Persian Art from Polish Collections, vol. i–ii. Téhéran : Moassesseh Math/Varsovie : National Museum, 2013 ; Orientalizm w malarstwie i rysunku w Polsce w xix i 1. połowie xx wieku, catalogue d’exposition éd. par Anna Kozak et Tadeusz Majda (Warszawa, Muzeum Narodowe, 17.10– 21.12.2008). Varsovie : Muzeum Narodowe, 2008 ; Jan Reychman, Orient w kulturze polskiego Oświecenia. Wrocław/Cracovie : Ossolineum, 1964.

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fait, c’est la première décennie du siècle qui vit la naissance d’une nouvelle vague orientaliste, sous l’influence de la « renaissance orientale » européenne : on peut citer les travaux d’Alois Riegl, de Joseph Strzygowski, de Wilhelm von Bode, ou les expositions organisées par Gaston Migeon, Friedrich Sarre et Fredrik Robert Martin. Grâce aux activités d’un groupe de collectionneurs et d’amateurs, les arts de l’Islam s’imposèrent peu à peu sur la scène artistique et scientifique polonaise. Tapis, tissus, et autres objets artisanaux, changèrent de statut : investis d’une valeur esthétique, ils devinrent des œuvres d’art à part entière. Feliks Jasieński (1861–1929) de Cracovie et Włodzimierz Kulczycki (1862–1936) de Lwów furent les figures de proue de ce courant, à l’origine d’une véritable révolution « décorative » et scientifique. Connu surtout comme collectionneur et propagateur de l’art japonais en Pologne, Feliks Jasieński fut pourtant bien plus : mécène, éditeur, publiciste—le représentant-type de la nouvelle vague du collectionnisme polonais.11 Pianiste de formation, journaliste de métier, il était dilettante et fier de l’être. Ses études à Berlin et à Paris le mirent au courant de toutes les nouveautés artistiques de l’époque, dont deux tendances, le japonisme et la renaissance de la gravure originale, furent primordiales pour sa carrière. En se renforçant mutuellement, elles dirigèrent ses intérêts vers l’art c­ ontemporain, et plus particulièrement vers la jeune « école polonaise ». À Paris, il entra en contact avec les marchands d’art japonais, tels ­Siegfried Bing, Tadamasa Hayashi, Charles Vignier, et les spécialistes des arts graphiques, notamment Edmond Sagot et Gustave Pellet.12 Après son 11

12

Agnieszka Kluczewska-Wójcik, Feliks « Manggha » Jasieński i jego kolekcja w Muzeum Narodowym w Kra­ kowie. Feliks « Manggha » Jasieński and his Collection at the National Museum in Krakow, Korpus daru Feliksa Jasieńskiego. Corpus of Feliks Jasieński’s Donation, vol. i. Cracovie : Muzeum Narodowe, 2014. Agnieszka Kluczewska-Wójcik, « Feliks Manggha-Jasieński (1861–1929), collectionneur d’estampes », Nouvelles de l’estampe, 205, 2006, 6–12; Agnieszka Kluczewska-Wójcik, Feliks « Manggha », 112–20.

retour en Pologne, en 1901, il devint le critique ­musical de la revue varsovienne Chimera de ­Zenon Przesmycki (1861–1944), porte-parole du modernisme polonais.13 Parallèlement, il organise avec un grand éclat médiatique les premières présentations de sa collection, destinée, comme il le souligna dès le début, à la nation. Ses expositions ayant été décriées, il quitte Varsovie pour la ville des ­universitaires et des artistes. À Cracovie, il put poursuivre avec succès ses activités de critique, de commissaire d’expositions, de conférencier, d’éditeur d’albums graphiques et de la première monographie de la peinture contemporaine polonaise (Art polonais. La peinture, 1903–5), d’ami et de complice des peintres, membres de la société « Art », ainsi que des professeurs de l’Académie des Beaux-Arts. Sa collection s’enrichit pour former un panorama de la peinture, de la sculpture et des arts graphiques polonais de la fin du xixe et du début du xxe siècle. Avec le temps, il y ajouta aussi les arts décoratifs contemporains et anciens, et surtout les tapis orientaux et les ceintures dites polonaises. « Manggha » Jasieński, du titre de son ouvrage Manggha. Promenades à travers le monde, l’art et les idées (en hommage à Hokusai),14 fut aussi un grand amateur d’art décoratif oriental, de la littérature et de la musique orientalistes. C’est son voyage en Terre Sainte, entrepris en 1897, qui lui permet de confronter ses visions artistiques avec la réalité. Ses découvertes commencent à Istanbul, où il s’arrête pour goûter à cet « Orient rêvé, avec son charme triste et exquis », et « se refaire, pour ainsi dire, une âme plus jeune de quelques siècles15 ». Il visite Jaffa, Jérusalem, Beyrouth, Damas, Baalbek, Le Caire et Alexandrie. Au Caire, 13 Grzegorz Paweł Bąbiak, Metropolia i zaścianek : W ­kręgu « Chimery » Zenona Przesmyckiego. Varsovie : Wydział Polonistyki UW, 2002 ; Anna Szczepańska, « Chimera » : tekstowa kolekcja Zenona Przesmyckiego. Gdańsk : Słowo, obraz, terytoria, 2008. 14 Feliks Jasieński, Manggha. Promenades à travers le monde, l’art et les idées. Paris/Varsovie : Vieweg, 1901. 15 Jasieński, Manggha, 52.

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« une des plus belles capitales du monde, […] greffée sur une des villes orientales les plus pittoresques », il admire « une multitude de mosquées, bijoux les plus précieux de l’art arabe » ; à Damas, les bazars « immenses et uniques en leur genre16 ». « Après des fouilles patientes, j’y ai découvert hier un superbe manteau arabe en soie mauve, très épaisse, brodée d’argent. Mais ces bonnes aubaines deviennent de plus en plus rares ; les cotonnades anglaises envahissent jusqu’aux bazars de Damas, et bientôt les objets divers, censés être fabriqués en Orient et fabriqués réellement en Orient, seront un mythe17 »—écrit-il. Il portait avec aisance le costume oriental rapporté de son voyage. Portraituré “en arabe” par son ami, peintre et graveur, Leon Wyczółkowski (1852– 1936) (fig. 4.1), il est déguisé en roi Hérode sur un dessin de Józef Mehoffer (1869–1946),18 esquisse pour le vitrail « Adoration des Mages », réalisé pour la Cathédrale Saint-Nicolas de Fribourg, et encore une fois « en bédouin » sur une aquarelle de Zofia Stryjeńska (1891–1976) (fig. 4.2), l’une des élèves de l’école artistique pour les femmes de Maria Niedzielska (1876–1947), à Cracovie, où le collectionneur enseignait entre autres l’histoire des arts décoratifs orientaux. De son périple, il rapporte, outre quelques souvenirs, prémices de sa collection orientale, une série de photographies de monuments historiques, pour enrichir ses conférences consacrées à l’art arabe. Beaucoup plus qu’un simple récit de voyage, ses présentations constituent une introduction aux études de l’art et de la culture de l’Islam, et plus particulièrement de l’ornementation (décorations murales, plafonds, mosaïques, lambris, dallage, vitraux, étoffes, tapis, reliures, faïences), la première de ce genre en Pologne.19 Ses ­conférences 16 Jasieński, Manggha, 83. 17 Jasieński, Manggha, 67. 18 Józef Mehoffer, Feliks Jasieński en roi Hérode, 1904, crayon sur papier, 48,0 × 47,2 cm, Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie, mnk iii-ra-70-999. 19 Wystawy sztuki w salonie Chimery, Chimera, 1/2, 1901, 361–62.

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Figure 4.1 Leon Wyczółkowski, Portrait of Feliks Jasieński, 1908, huile sur toile, 133 × 60, Musée national de Cracovie (collection Jasieński), mnk ii-b-919

sont illustrées également par des livres : La Décoration arabe (1890), d’Émile Prisse d’Avennes, L’Art arabe d’Albert Gayet (1893), Altorientalische Teppiche (Leipzig, 1891) d’Alois Riegl, Les Arts du tissu

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Figure 4.2 Zofia Stryjeńska, Souvenir de Manggha (La conférence de Feliks Jasieński), aquarelle, crayon, gouache sur papier, 1912, 33 × 38,5, Musée national de Cracovie (collection Jasieński) mnk iii-ra-5767

(1909) et Manuel d’art musulman (1907–27) de Gaston Migeon, Islamische Kunstwerke (Berlin, 1928) de Raymond Koechlin, le manuel de Wilhelm von Bode et Ernst Kühnel Vorderasiatische Knüpftepiche aus älterer Zeit (Leipzig, 1914), ­Miniaturmalerei in islamischen Orient de Kühnel (Berlin, 1923), ainsi que par des publications de son maître à penser Ernest Renan.20 C’est pourtant sa collection qui constitue la meilleure preuve du goût de Jasieński pour l’art oriental, et plus particulièrement ses tapis.21 Il 20 21

Toutes ces publications se trouvent aujourd’hui à la Bibliothèque du Musée national de Cracovie. Beata Biedrońska-Słotowa, Kobierce tureckie (Turkish carpets), Muzeum narodowe w Krakowie Katalog zbiorów Tom iii (The National Museum in Kraków Collection Catalogues Volume iii). Cracovie : Muzeum Narodowe, 1983 ; Agnieszka Kluczewska-Wójcik, « A new approach to Islamic art : The collecting of Eastern c­arpets in

commence à en acheter dès le début de sa carrière, mais sa passion s’intensifie dans les années 1910– 20.22 Il est correspondant de Charles Vignier (­Paris), de Rex & Co et R. Wagner (Berlin), mais surtout des antiquaires de Cracovie, Varsovie et Lwów (Léopol, aujourd’hui Lviv).23 Pendant la ­ oland at the beginning of the 20th century », dans BeaP ta Biedrońska-Słota, Magdalena Ginter-Frołow, Jerzy Malinowski (éds.), The Art of the Islamic World and the Artistic Relationships between Poland and Islamic Countries. Cracovie : Manggha Museum, Polish Institute of World Art Studies, 2011, 371–84. 22 Tapis, tissus et ceintures polonaises constituent la majeure partie des achats de Jasieński après la donation de sa collection au Musée de Cracovie en 1920 : ­Archives de la Conservation du Musée national de Cracovie, TD Jas, p. 34–65. 23 Kluczewska-Wójcik, Feliks « Manggha », 168–70 ; Archives du Musée national de Cracovie, Donation Jasieński, S1/16, S1/19.

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Figure 4.3 Ceinture polonaise, Słuck, période de Jan Madżarski (1767–80), soie à fil d’or et d’argent, taqueté façonné et crocheté, broché, 447,0 × 36,0 cm, Musée national de Cracovie (collection Jasieński), mnk xix-2289

Grande Guerre, il voyage en Galicie et Podolie (aujourd’hui Ukraine) à la recherche de tapis et de ­kilims. Ces mêmes kilims qui, découverts par les artistes polonais, sont à l’origine du développement de la tapisserie en Pologne au début du siècle—signe distinctif de la nouvelle école décorative polonaise. Les ceintures dites polonaises, ou de Słuck, constituent le deuxième centre d’intérêt du collectionneur (fig. 4.3).24 En soie, parfois à fil d’or ou d’argent, longue de quelques mètres, la ceinture accompagnait le costume de la noblesse polonaise, mais n’était pas fabriquée forcément en Pologne. D’ailleurs, Jasieński les considère comme des œuvres « limitrophes », adaptées par la tradition polonaise, et souligne toujours leurs origines orientales.25 Et ce n’est pas pour des raisons sentimentales qu’il les apprécie mais pour leurs valeurs 24

25

Maria Taszycka, Pasy wschodnie (Eastern sashes). Katalogi zbiorów Muzeum Narodowego w Krakowie Kraków (Catalogues of the Collection National Museum in Cracov). Cracovie : Muzeum Narodowe, 1990. Feliks Jasieński, « Jakiej sztuki Polsce trzeba? », Świat, 13, 1914, 13.

décoratives, comme le prouve le mieux sa collection. Leurs décors, coloris, et formes trouvent un écho inattendu dans les ceintures obi japonaises de son recueil, mais aussi dans les batiks javanais et ceux fabriqués par les apprenties des Ateliers de Cracovie (fondés en 1911). Autour de Jasienski se forme un cercle d’amateurs d’orientalia. Son ami Wyczółkowski non ­seulement le peint en costume arabe, mais aussi l’accompagne dans ses voyages chez les marchands de Berlin où ils achètent, selon le témoignage du peintre, des tapis pour quelques ­milliers de marks.26 Pendant ses séjours parisiens, le peintre Józef Pankiewicz (1866–1940), muni d’un carnet d’adresses soigneusement fourni par le 26

Maria Twarowska (éd.), Leon Wyczółkowski. Listy i ­wspomnienia. Wrocław/Cracovie : Ossolineum, 1960, 82. Les restes de la collection d’art oriental de ­Wyczółkowski se trouvent aujourd’hui au Musée national de Poznań : Wojciech Lipowicz et al. (éd.), Z kolekcji Leona Wyczółkowskiego. Dar artysty dla Muzeum ­Wielkopolskiego w Poznaniu. Catalogue d’exposition (Muzeum Okręgowe Leona Wyczółkowskiego, Bydgoszcz 13.04–30.06.2011). Bydgoszcz : Muzeum Okręgowe Leona Wyczółkowskiego, 2011.

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J’ai acheté des faïences persanes, de [vraies] merveilles ! De l’argent que vous m’aviez envoyé, combien dois-je dépenser pour des faïences ? car je pourrais acheter encore quelque chose d’autre. Pour que vous sachiez quels sont les prix des poteries ailleurs. »

Figure 4.4 Józef Pankiewicz, Vase persan, 1908, 90 × 64 cm, Musée national de Cracovie (collection Jasieński), mnk ii-b-889

c­ ollectionneur, flâne dans la capitale à la recherche de poteries et d’étoffes orientales—objets de collection et sujets de ses tableaux (fig. 4.4). Comme le rapporte Pankiewicz en septembre 190727 : « Il y a une chance d’acheter quelques faïences persanes (plus exactement ce sont des poteries vernissées) extraordinaires et très bon marché. Moi-même, j’ai déjà acheté un vase […]. Pour quelque 300 francs, on peut acheter des choses divines. […] Peut-être réfléchirez-vous à ce propos. […] Je suis allé chez Vignier. Les prix [y sont] horribles. Les morceaux d’étoffes à plusieurs centaines de francs. Que faire ? Vignier vous écrira lui-même. 27

Lettres de J. Pankiewicz à F. Jasieński, Paris le 4 et le 16 septembre 1907, manuscrits, Archives du Musée national de Cracovie, 633/51 ; traduction de l’auteur.

Jasieński entretient les relations avec d’autres amateurs, notamment Erazm Barącz (1859–1928), peintre de la famille des collectionneurs léopoldiens d’origine arménienne ; il sera le représentant de Barącz au moment de la donation de sa collection au musée de Cracovie en 1922. Avec le temps « Manggha » devient l’autorité reconnue dans le domaine des tissus orientaux. Raymond Koechlin, secrétaire général de la Société des amis du Louvre et vice-président de l’Union centrale des arts décoratifs, l’un des organisateurs des grandes expositions d’art islamique, visite en 1906 le « Musée Jasienski » : « Vous avez une collection exquise, d’un choix parfait » écrit-il au collectionneur.28 D’ailleurs, fondateur du « Département du Musée national de Cracovie » (le nom qu’il utilise pour sa collection depuis 1903), Jasieński se rapproche par son goût et ses convictions des cercles d’amateurs d’art parisiens travaillant avec et pour les musées, tels que Koechlin, Jules Maciet ou Migeon, et des marchands, tels que Vignier ou Dikran Kelekian, intéressés par les deux traditions orientales.29 Le 11 mars 1920, Jasieński lègue au Musée de Cracovie un ensemble de plus de quinze mille œuvres d’art, la plus importante collection privée jamais offerte à une institution muséale en Pologne. Elle constituait pour le musée, appartenant à la ville mais considéré par les Polonais comme le premier musée national, un enrichissement de premier ordre dans le domaine de la peinture, 28 29

Lettre de R. Kœchlin à F. Jasieński, Archives du Musée national de Cracovie, S1/14, p. 113. Rémi Labrusse, « Paris, capitale des arts de l’Islam ? Quelques aperçus sur la formation des collections françaises d’art islamique au tournant du siècle », Bulletin de la Société de l’Histoire de l’Art français, 1997, 275–309.

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de la sculpture et des arts décoratifs contemporains polonais. Son cabinet des estampes, en premier lieu des gravures polonaises et françaises du tournant du siècle, était tout aussi exceptionnel. L’ensemble composé de tapis orientaux, d’objets d’art, de peintures et d’estampes japonaises plaçait le musée cracovien parmi les premières institutions publiques en Europe. Indépendamment de sa grande valeur artistique, la collection, réunissant l’avant-garde, l’Islam et le Japon, témoignait— et témoigne encore aujourd’hui—de l’engagement de Jasieński dans le mouvement du renouveau de l’art national polonais sur les bases d’une « relecture » du patrimoine artistique du Proche et de l’Extrême Orient. Si le milieu des islamophiles français, « le petit groupe de pionniers des années 1910 »,30 dont Jasieński se sentait si proche, concentrait ses efforts sur la réception et l’appréciation esthétique de l’art de l’Islam, c’était en revanche la démarche scientifique qui dominait en Allemagne et en Autriche.31 Pendant qu’Émile Prisse d’Avennes et Adalbert de Beaumont analysaient les règles de l’ornement oriental, Ernst Herzfeld, Ernst Kühnel, Moritz Becker et Wilhelm von Bode bâtissaient les bases de l’islamologie et de l’histoire de l’art islamique. Ce sont justement les publications et les expositions préparées par les chercheurs de Berlin et de Vienne—celle de 1891, en premier lieu—qui ­servirent de point de départ pour les activités de Włodzimierz Kulczycki. Zoologiste, professeur d’anatomie et recteur de l’Académie vétérinaire de Lwów (Lviv), il constitua un très important ensemble de tapis orientaux, aujourd’hui divisé entre les Collections artistiques nationales du Château

30 31

Labrusse, « Paris, capitale des arts de l’Islam ? », 1997, 297–99. Annette Hagedorn, « The development of Islamic art history in Germany in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries », dans Stephen Vernoit (éd.), Discovering Islamic art. Scholars, collectors and collections 1850–1950. London/New York : I.B. Tauris, 2000, 117–27.

de Wawel à Cracovie et le Musée de Tatras Tytus Chałubiński à Zakopane.32 Situé au carrefour des routes commerciales, Lwów, capitale de la Galicie autrichienne, grâce à ses institutions scientifiques—l’Institut orientaliste de l’Université Jan Kazimierz et la Société orientale polonaise (créée en 1922)—, et la ­présence d’une forte minorité arménienne, constitue une place de choix pour un passionné des ­tapis orientaux. Kulczycki les achète chez des marchands léopoldiens, tels que Filip Haas & Cie (la première acquisition certifiée remonte à 1906), Abdul Kerim, A. Zucker, M. Schulberg, Bolesław Jaroszewski, Samuel Schein (de Vienne) et surtout Tadeusz Wierzejski (1892–1974)—historien de l’art, antiquaire puis propriétaire de la salle des ventes, conseiller et ami du collectionneur.33 Le cercle d’amateurs d’art oriental de la ville est d’ailleurs assez large, avec notamment Roman Barącz (médecin) et son frère Tadeusz (sculpteur), Mie­ czysław Reyzner (peintre), Aleksander Skarbek (homme politique), et Wilhelm Wolf (explorateur qui a passé une dizaine d’années à Istanbul), et les objets passent fréquemment d’une collection à l’autre. Si les premiers achats de Kulczycki ont un caractère plutôt banal, ceux qui suivent sont beaucoup plus réfléchis, comme le prouvent les notes conservées dans les archives du collectionneur qui concernent les échanges de tapis modernes contre des pièces plus anciennes.34 Conscient du manque de ressources pour une étude plus approfondie de 32

Magdalena Piwocka (éd.), Kobierce i tkaniny wschodnie z kolekcji Kulczyckich. Cracovie : Państwowe Zbiory Sztuki na Wawelu, 2006. Jerzy (1898–1974), fils de Kulczycki, lui aussi collectionneur, vend une partie de la collection familiale au musée de Wawel en 1964, le reste est légué par sa femme Anna au musée de Zakopane, en 1977, et exposé au Département Kulczycki du Musée des Tatras depuis 1981. 33 Piwocka, Kobierce i tkaniny, 20–22. 34 Anna Piotrowicz-Kulczycka, « Dzieje kolekcji kobierców wschodnich Włodzimierza i Jerzego Kulczyckich », dans Kobierce i tkaniny wschodnie z kolekcji Kulczyckich, catalogue d’exposition éd. par Maria ­Podlowska-Reklewska (Kraków, Państwowe Zbiory

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Figure 4.5 Tapis de la collection Włodzimierz Kulczycki, exposé à l’Exposition des tapis mahométans, céramique orientale et européenne au Musée national de Cracovie, 1934, photographie, Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe

l’art oriental, Kulczycki complète alors sa bibliothèque, composée surtout de publications en langue allemande, et commence ses propres recherches.35 Bientôt, il publie le catalogue du Musée grec-catholique de Lwów (1910),36 ainsi que celui de sa propre collection (1914).37 En 1926, il en

35

36

37

S­ ztuki na Wawelu, juillet-septembre 2006). Cracovie : Państwowe Zbiory Sztuki na Wawelu, 2006, 11. La première position du catalogue de sa bibliothèque orientale est la version manuscrite du catalogue de l’exposition de tapis de Vienne de 1891 ; Archives de la famille Kulczycki. Włodzimierz Kulczycki, Kobierce wschodnie xvii w. w muzeum staropigijnem we Lwowie. Cracovie : Drukarnia Narodowa, 1910. Włodzimierz Kulczycki, Beiträge zur Kentnis der orientalischen Gebetteppiche hauptsächlich auf Grunt eige-

présente une partie, à l’occasion de l’exposition L’Orient en Pologne, organisée par la Société de sauvegarde des monuments historiques de ­Varsovie—il l’accompagne par la préparation d’un catalogue manuscrit en trois exemplaires.38 Les deux expositions suivantes, à Lwów en 1928 et à Cracovie en 1934, dont Kulczycki est un des organisateurs, constituent une étape décisive de la redécouverte de l’art oriental en Pologne. La présentation des tapis et « d’autres productions artistiques » des collections de Lwów, intitulée L’Orient mahométan, est organisée par la Société des amis des beaux-arts et du Musée d’industrie artistique de la ville (fig. 4.5). Elle est accompagnée d’un catalogue, dont l’introduction par Kulczycki fait le point sur les recherches dans les domaines des techniques, de l’histoire et de l’esthétique de tapis orientaux.39 Sa version augmentée Tapis mahométans avec 60 illustrations. Étude basée sur la collection de l’auteur, paraît une année plus tard,40 et éveille un vif intérêt pour la collection et pour les thèses développées par le collectionneur, et plus particulièrement pour le choix du terme d’ « art mahométan », au lieu d’ « art arabe41 ».

38

39

40

41

ner Teppichsammlung. Lemberg [Lviv] : B. Połoniecki, 1914. Les versets du Coran sont traduits par Mojżesz Schorr, professeur à l’Université de Varsovie. Włodzimierz Kulczycki, Pamiętnik xxii wystawy Tow. Opieki nad Zabytkami Przeszłości w Warszawie w 1926 w kamienicy Baryczków, zebrany przez autora w trzech rękopisach…, [manuscrit] Varsovie, 1926, Archives de la famille Kulczycki. Włodzimierz Kulczycki, « Kobierce mahometańskie », dans Wschód mahometański. Wystawa kobierców i innych wyrobów przemysłu artystycznego ze zbiorów lwowskich, catalogue d’exposition (Lwów, Muzeum Przemysłowe, avril-mai 1928). Lwów : Muzeum Przemysłowe, 1928, 3–14. Włodzimierz Kulczycki, Kobierce mahometańskie z 60 reprodukcjami. Studium na podstawie zbiorów autora, Sztuki Piękne, v (3–4), 1929, 81–141. Alfred Holender, Zbiory prof. Włodzimierza Kulczyckiego. Najwspanialszy komplet dywanów wschodnich w rękach polskich. Cracovie : Wydawnictwo « Czasu », 1930.

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Figure 4.6 Vue de l’Exposition des tapis mahométans, céramique orientale et européenne, Musée national de Cracovie, 1934, photographie, Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe

Dans l’introduction au catalogue de l’exposition au Musée national de Cracovie en 1934, Kulczycki écrit :

du connoisseurship et du collectionnisme de tapis, et du développement de la réflexion critique les concernant (fig. 4.6). »42

« Les tissus mahométans anciens, tapis en premier, unissent tous les éléments du grand art, et commencent à surpasser dans nos intérêts les autres. Les deux dernières expositions en font la preuve. […] Ces expositions […] ont prouvé non seulement que notre public est capable d’apprécier cet art, mais ont aussi entamé une vive discussion dans la presse de Varsovie, Cracovie et Lwów. Elles ont montré également que, bien que les tapis mahométans aient été présents dans nos demeures depuis bien longtemps, les plus anciens et les plus beaux y sont très rares. Traités comme des objets purement utilitaires, ils se détériorèrent et disparurent progressivement. Un des buts de cette exposition est justement la propagation de l’idée

En réponse à Kulczycki, l’orientaliste Tadeusz Kowalski publie un article polémique où il revient sur la question de la terminologie—il juge l’expression « d’art mahométan » liée directement à la religion, donc trop restrictive—et, en expliquant les règles de la classification et de la décoration des tapis orientaux, propose une étude historique et

42

Włodzimierz Kulczycki, « Słowo od zbieracza », dans Alfred Holender (éd.), Katalog wystawy kobierców mahometańskich, ceramiki azjatyckiej i europejskiej. Cracovie : Muzeum Narodowe, 1934, 8–9 (traduction de l’auteur).

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Figure 4.7 Musée des Princes Czartoryski, salle de la bataille de Vienne, Cracovie [vers 1930], photographie, Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe

linguistique du sujet, la première synthèse de ce genre.43 « La réponse du collectionneur » qui s’ensuit sanctionne en quelque sorte la nouvelle vision de l’art « islamique » en Pologne.44 L’exposition du 1934 réunit des « tapis mahométans, céramique orientale et européenne », provenant des collections publiques et privées des deux centres de l’islamophilie polonaise : Lwów, avec la collection Kulczycki, et Cracovie, avec celles de 43

Tadeusz Kowalski, « Uwagi orientalisty na marginesie wystawy kobierców wschodnich w Muzeum Narodowym w Krakowie », Przegląd Współczesny [Cracovie], 143, 1934, 428–42. 44 Włodzimierz Kulczycki, « Odpowiedź zbieracza na uwagi orientalisty », Przegląd Współczesny [Cracovie], 145, 1934, 296–305.

J­asieński, faisant désormais partie du Musée national. Un domaine néanmoins en est absent : la ­miniature. En effet, ni Kulczycki ni Jasieński, féru d’estampes japonaises, ne s’intéressaient à cet art, qui était pourtant présent dans les bibliothèques des grandes familles aristocratiques polonaises— les Czartoryski, les Zamoyski, les Ossoliński…—et ceci depuis le début du xixe siècle.45 45

Tadeusz Majda, Katalog rękopisów tureckich i perskich, Katalog rękopisów orientalnych ze zbiorów polskich, vol. 5/2, Varsovie: pwn, 1967 ; Magdalena G ­ inter-Frołow, « Miniatures from Persian manuscripts : The history of Polish collections », dans Beata Biedrońska-Słota, Madgalena Ginter-Frołow, Jerzy Malinowski (éds.), The Art of the Islamic World and the Artistic Relationships between Poland and Islamic Countries. Krakow :

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Le prince Ladislas Czartoryski, possesseur des fameux tapis dits polonais, avait hérité de la collection des manuscrits de son père Adam Jerzy (1770– 1861), bon connaisseur de la littérature persane, et parlant plusieurs langues orientales. Lui-même amateur de miniatures persanes, il agrandit la bibliothèque par des acquisitions faites à Paris, Londres, Istanbul et Téhéran.46 Transférée à Cracovie en 1878, la collection familiale devint le ­Musée des Princes Czartoryski, ouvert au public— aujourd’hui partie du Musée national de Cracovie.47 Tout au long du xxe siècle, le Musée conserve le caractère muséographique caractéristique du siècle précédent, avec la galerie des peintures, dont la perle est La Dame à l’hermine de Léonard de Vinci, et les collections archéologiques grecques, étrusques et égyptiennes, comme deux points forts.48 Les orientalia des Czartoryski étaient répartis entre la salle d’armes, les salles espagnole, de céramiques, et de curiosités, et la bibliothèque. L’accent spécial était mis sur les tapis, les tentes d’apparat et d’autres objets provenant— ou supposés provenir—du butin de guerre du roi Jean iii Sobieski (1629–96) (fig. 4.7). Et c’est précisément cette provenance légendaire de la bataille de Vienne qui constituait la renommée de la collection orientale de Czartoryski auprès du public, bien plus que sa valeur historique et artistique. Les ­ anggha Museum, Polish Institute of World Art StuM dies, 2011, 401–13. 46 Stefan Komornicki, « Les principaux manuscrits à peintures orientaux du Musée des Princes Czartoryski », Bulletin de la Société française de reproduction des manuscrits à peintures, xviii, 1935, 165–84. 47 Zdzisław Żygulski jun. (éd.), The Princes Czartoryski Museum: a History of the Collection. Cracovie : National Museum, 2001. Rattachée au Musée national de Cracovie après la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, la collection Czartoryski a intégré le Musée en 2016. 48 Roman Jodko, Katalog topograficzny Muzeum xx Czartoryskich, 3 vols., manuscrit, [1912], Bibliothèque Czartoryski, EW xvii 3081–3. À une exception près, tous les catalogues publiés par le Musée concernaient cette partie de la collection ; voir la bibliographie : Żygulski, The Princes Czartoryski Museum.

miniatures persanes, exclues de cette légende, n’étaient connues que d’un petit groupe d’amateurs et de savants. Les expositions de 1926, 1928 et de 1934 ont donné un vrai essor aux recherches sur l’art islamique en Pologne. Les années trente, avec les travaux de Tadeusz Mańkowski (1878–1956), approfondissent la réflexion sur la place de l’Orient dans la culture polonaise. Mańkowski, issu du milieu léopoldien, répondra en quelque sorte à l’appel émanant du cercle des premiers orientalistes polonais.49 En effet, ce sont des collectionneurs et des érudits, comme Jasieński et Kulczycki, qui, dans les deux premières décennies du xxe siècle, imposent cet art considéré comme « mineur » auprès du public et des critiques, dans l’univers de la muséographie, d’une part, et celui de l’histoire de l’art, de l’autre. Bibliographie Bąbiak, Grzegorz Paweł, Metropolia i zaścianek :W kręgu « Chimery » Zenona Przesmyckiego. Varsovie : Wydział Polonistyki UW, 2002. Biedrońska-Słotowa, Beata, Kobierce tureckie (Turkish carpets), Muzeum narodowe w Krakowie Katalog zbiorów Tom iii (The National Museum in Kraków Collection Catalogues Volume iii). Cracovie : Muz­ eum Narodowe, 1983. Cuda Orientu, catalogue d’exposition, éd. par Małgorzata Ruszkowska-Macur (Gdańsk, Muzeum Narodowe, 27.06–26.07.2006). Gdańsk : Muzeum Narodowe, 2006. Dénes, Mirjam, « Shades of Japonisme. The reception of Japanese Art and Culture in Hungary », dans Katalin Gellér, Mirjam Dénes (éd.), Japonisme in Hungarian Art. Budapest : Kovács Gábor Müvészeti Alapitvány, 2017, 112–211. Exposition de 1865. Musée rétrospectif. Salle polonaise. Paris : Librairie Centrale, 1865. 49

Tadeusz Mańkowski, Genealogia sarmatyzmu. Varsovie : piw, 1946 ; Tadeusz Mańkowski, Orient w kulturze polskiej. Wrocław/Cracovie : Ossolineum, 1959.

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60 Ginter-Frołow, Magdalena, « Miniatures from Persian manuscripts : The history of Polish collections », dans Beata Biedrońska-Słota, Madgdalena Ginter-­ Frołow, Jerzy Malinowski (éds.), The Art of the Islamic World and the Artistic Relationships between ­Poland and Islamic Countries. Cracovie : Manggha Museum, Polish Institute of World Art Studies, 2011, 401–13. Grzybowski, Stanisław, Sarmatyzm. Varsovie : KAW, 1996. Hagedorn, Anette, « The development of Islamic art history in Germany in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries », dans Stephen Vernoit (éd.), Discovering Islamic art. Scholars, collectors and collections 1850–1950. London/New York : I.B. Tauris, 2000, 117–27. Holender, Alfred, Zbiory prof. Włodzimierza Kulczyckiego. Najwspanialszy komplet dywanów wschodnich w rękach polskich. Cracovie : Wydawnictwo « Czasu », 1930. Jasieński, Feliks, Manggha. Promenades à travers le monde, l’art et les idées. Paris/Varsovie : Vieweg, 1901. Jasieński, Feliks, « Jakiej sztuki Polsce trzeba? », Świat, 13, 1914, 12–3. Kieniewicz, Jan, « Orientalność polska », dans Andrzej Garlicki (éd.), Sąsiedzi i inni. Varsovie : Czytelnik, 1978, 75–93. Kluczewska-Wójcik, Agnieszka, « Feliks Manggha-Jasieński (1861–1929), collectionneur d’estampes », Nouvelles de l’estampe, 205, 2006, 6–20. Kluczewska-Wójcik, Agnieszka, « A new approach to Islamic art : The collecting of Eastern carpets in Poland at the beginning of the 20th century », dans Beata Biedrońska-Słota, Magdalena Ginter-Frołow, Jerzy Malinowski (éds.), The Art of the Islamic World and the Artistic Relationships between Poland and ­Islamic Countries. Cracovie : Manggha Museum, Polish Institute of World Art Studies, 2011, 371–84. Kluczewska-Wójcik, Agnieszka. Feliks « Manggha » Jasieński i jego kolekcja w Muzeum Narodowym w Krakowie. Feliks « Manggha » Jasieński and his Collection at the National Museum in Krakow, Korpus daru Feliksa Jasieńskiego. Corpus of Feliks Jasieński’s Donation, vol. i. Cracovie : Muzeum Narodowe, 2014.

Kluczewska-Wójcik Komornicki, Stefan, « Les principaux manuscrits à peintures orientaux du Musée des Princes Czartoryski », Bulletin de la Société française de reproduction des manuscrits à peintures, xviii, 1935, 165–84. Kowalski, Tadeusz, « Uwagi orientalisty na marginesie wystawy kobierców wschodnich w Muzeum Narodowym w Krakowie », Przegląd Współczesny [Cracovie], 143, 1934, 428–42. Kulczycki, Włodzimierz, Kobierce wschodnie xvii w. w muzeum staropigijnem we Lwowie. Cracovie : Drukarnia Narodowa, 1910. Kulczycki, Włodzimierz, Beiträge zur Kentnis der orientalischen Gebetteppiche hauptsächlich auf Grunt eigener Teppichsammlung. Lemberg [Lviv] : B. Połoniecki, 1914. Kulczycki, Włodzimierz, « Kobierce mahometańskie », dans Wschód mahometański. Wystawa kobierców i innych wyrobów przemysłu artystycznego ze zbiorów lwowskich, catalogue d’exposition (Lwów, Muzeum Przemysłowe, avril–mai 1928). Lwów [Lviv] : Muzeum Przemysłowe, 1928, 3–14. Kulczycki, Włodzimierz, Kobierce mahometańskie z 60 reprodukcjami. Studium na podstawie zbiorów autora, Sztuki Piękne, v (3–4), 1929, 81–141. Kulczycki, Włodzimierz, « Odpowiedź zbieracza na uwagi orientalisty », Przegląd Współczesny [Cracovie], 145, 1934, 296–305. Kulczycki, Włodzimierz, « Słowo od zbieracza », dans Alfred Holender (éd.), Katalog wystawy kobierców mahometańskich, ceramiki azjatyckiej i europejskiej. Cracovie : Muzeum Narodowe, 1934, 8–9. Labrusse, Rémi, « Paris, capitale des arts de l’Islam ? Quelques aperçus sur la formation des collections françaises d’art islamique au tournant du siècle », Bulletin de la Société de l’Histoire de l’Art français, 1997, 275–309. Lipowicz, Wojciech et al. (éd.), Z kolekcji Leona Wyczółkowskiego. Dar artysty dla Muzeum Wielkopolskiego w Poznaniu. Catalogue d’exposition (Muzeum Okręgowe Leona Wyczółkowskiego, Bydgoszcz 13.04– 30.06.2011). Bydgoszcz : Muzeum Okręgowe Leona Wyczółkowskiego, 2011. Majda, Tadeusz, Katalog rękopisów tureckich i perskich, Katalog rękopisów orientalnych ze zbiorów polskich, vol. 5/2, Varsovie : PWN, 1967.

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Orientalisme versus orientalité Majda, Tadeusz, « L’école polonaise des langues orientales d’Istanbul au xviiie siècle ». In par Frédéric Hitzel (éd.), Istanbul et les langues orientales. Actes du colloque l’INALCO, Istanbul 1995. Paris : L’Harmatan 1997, 123–28. Majda, Tadeusz (éd.), Masterpieces of Persian Art from Polish Collections, vol. i–ii. Tehran : Moassesseh Math/Varsovie : National Museum, 2013. Mańkowski, Tadeusz, Genealogia sarmatyzmu. Varsovie : PIW, 1946. Mańkowski, Tadeusz, Orient w kulturze polskiej. Wrocław/Cracovie : Ossolineum, 1959. Orientalizm w malarstwie i rysunku w Polsce w xix i 1. połowie xx wieku, catalogue d’exposition éd. par Anna Kozak et Tadeusz Majda (Warszawa, Muzeum Narodowe, 17.10–21.12.2008). Varsovie : Muzeum Narodowe, 2008. Piotrowicz-Kulczycka, Anna, « Dzieje kolekcji kobierców wschodnich Włodzimierza i Jerzego Kulczyckich ». In Kobierce i tkaniny wschodnie z kolekcji Kulczyckich, catalogue d’exposition éd. par Maria Podlowska-Reklewska (Kraków, Państwowe Zbiory Sztuki na Wawelu, juillet-septembre 2006). ­Cracovie : Państwowe Zbiory Sztuki na Wawelu, 2006, 11–7. Piwocka, Magdalena (éd.), Kobierce i tkaniny wschodnie z kolekcji Kulczyckich. Cracovie : Państwowe Zbiory Sztuki na Wawelu, 2006. Piwocka, Magdalena, « Włodzimierz i Jerzy Kulczyccy twórcy kolekcji ». In Kobierce i tkaniny wschodnie z kolekcji Kulczyckich. Catalogue d’exposition éd. par Maria Podlowska-Reklewska (Kraków, Państwowe Zbiory Sztuki na Wawelu, juillet–septembre 2006). Cracovie : Państwowe Zbiory Sztuki na Wawelu, 2006, 19–31. Reychman, Jan, Orient w kulturze polskiego Oświecenia. Wrocław/Cracovie : Ossolineum, 1964. Saulcy, Félicien de, et al., Les Collections célèbres d’œuvres d’art dessinées et gravées par Edouard Lièvre. Paris : Goupil & Co, 1869.

61 Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, David, Russian Orientalism. Asia in the Russian Mind from Peter the Great to the Emigration. New Haven/London : Yale University Press, 2010. Schneider, Pierre, « ‘La grande pensée’ : tapis d’Orient et xxe siècle ». In Le Ciel dans un tapis, catalogue d’exposition éd. par Eric Delpont, Maria Fernanda Passos Leite et João Carvalho Diaz (Paris, Institut du Monde Arabe, 7.12.2004–27.03.2005, Lisbonne, Fondation Calouste Gulbekian, 28.04–31.07.2005). Gand : Editions Snoeck, 2004, 70–81. Spuhler, Friedricher, Seidene Repräsentationsteppiche der mittleren bis späten Safawidenzeit. Die sogennanten Pollentepiche. Berlin : Freie Universität, 1968. Szczepańska, Anna, « Chimera » : tekstowa kolekcja Zenona Przesmyckiego. Gdańsk : Słowo, obraz, terytoria, 2008. Taszycka, Maria, Pasy wschodnie (Eastern sashes). Katalogi zbiorów Muzeum Narodowego w Krakowie Kraków (Catalogues of the Collection National ­Museum in Cracov). Cracovie : Muzeum Narodowe, 1990. Twarowska, Maria (éd.), Leon Wyczółkowski. Listy i wspomnienia. Wrocław/Cracovie : Ossolineum, 1960. Wójcik, Agata, Stanisław Chlebowski, « nadworny farbiarz Jego Sułtańskiej Mości » : życie i twórczość. Varsovie : Wydawnictwa Drugie, 2016. Wystawy sztuki w salonie Chimery, Chimera, 1/2, 1901, 361–62. Żygulski jun., Zdzisław, « The Impact of the Orient on the Culture of Old Poland ». In Art in Poland 1572–1764 : Land of winged horsemen, catalogue d’exposition éd. par Jan K. Ostrowski (Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1999). Alexandria : Yale University Press 1999, 69–79. Żygulski jun., Zdzisław (éd.), The Princes Czartoryski Museum : a History of the Collection. Cracovie : National Museum, 2001.

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Part 2 Appropriation, Reuse and Eclecticism

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Chapter 5

Appropriating Damascus Rooms

Vincent Robinson, Caspar Purdon Clarke and Commercial Strategy in Victorian London Moya Carey This article examines different social and commercial agendas which underscored Middle Eastern art-collecting in late nineteenth-century E ­ urope.* This was a collecting practice that encompassed many different art media, and extended even to architecture, albeit in fragmentary state. Here, a London case-study will demonstrate the interlinking trade histories of carpets sold in tandem with the Syrian interiors known then to art-dealers as “Damascus Rooms”. European dealers and curators coined this evocative term to describe the imported and reconstructed interiors they displayed in their salesrooms and exhibition galleries. As demonstrated here, these very “Rooms” conjured an intimate context within which to exhibit (and sell) diverse art objects. The term “Damascus Rooms” refers to beautiful wood-paneled interiors created for the private houses of urban notables in the Syrian capital, of which surviving examples typically date from the late seventeenth through to the nineteenth centuries. The paneling, cornicing, alcove-doors, windows and ceilings are profusely decorated in bright colors, enlivened with reflective metal foil and relief effects of raised pastiglia plasterwork. There * With grateful thanks to Anke Scharrahs, Audrey Whitty, Mercedes Volait, and Mariam Rosser-Owen, who curated the display A Room from Damascus at the V&A, April 2015– April 2016, and organized the study day “Introducing Damascus Rooms: The Decorated Interiors of 18th and 19th Century Syria,” V&A, October 3, 2015, with papers by Stefan Weber, Anke Scharrahs, Brigid Keenan, and Zahed Taj-Eddin. A blog about the display was published to coincide with the study day: (accessed February 1, 2019).

are many different design schemes and painted elements, including radial geometry, fine knotwork, urban vignettes and floral or fruit still life compositions. This variety reflects changes in Ottoman Syrian taste over two centuries. Verses of poetry, or of pious texts, typically run along the upper frieze. Within the original room, this paneled zone was typically a raised seating area, located beneath a high ceiling, with colored glass windows at clerestory level (fig. 5.1).1 By the second half of the nineteenth century, these bright interiors may have been falling out of fashion in Syria: at this point, Damascus Rooms became subject to a new and foreign appropriation, which is the topic of this article. With a specific focus on art-dealer Vincent J. Robinson (1829–1910) and his relationship with the South Kensington Museum (today the Victoria and Albert Museum, or V&A) in London, I will argue that this growing interest may be charted through commercial networks to national ­museum collections across Europe and America. Furthermore, this fashion for displaying Damascus Rooms was determined by the earlier travel experiences of a European cultural elite, who recalled the caliber of the Syrian domestic architecture they had visited personally. With new demand abroad, examples of Damascus Rooms were purchased from private households in the Syrian city, de-installed, and exported. Such was their appeal that modern versions were being made “in historic style” and also exported. This continued throughout the late nineteenth and into the early twentieth centuries. Intimate 1 Anke Scharrahs, Damascene ʿAjami Rooms. Forgotten Jewels of Interior Design (London: Archetype, 2013).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��20 | doi 10.1163/9789004412644_008

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Figure 5.1 James Wild, An Upper Room in the House of Mohamed Aga Chaweesh, Damascus, May 1847. Watercolor painting on sketchbook page, 41.5 × 29.8 cm. London, V&A E.3869–1938 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

and distinctive, imported Syrian Rooms became fashionable in public and private European ­contexts. International exhibitions, renowned for their temporary installations of characteristic national architectures, evidently were a significant and influential forum for this display trend as well.2 Art dealers appropriated Damascus Rooms as charming display environments for a heterogeneous range of Middle Eastern objects, enclosed within their salesrooms.3 This layout appealed to

private clients, but also to museum curators, as this article proposes. Between 1880 and 1895, a series of Damascus Rooms was offered for sale to the South Kensington Museum, which confirms a ­contemporary trend for displaying thematic architectural interiors.4 These successive museum ­purchases also demonstrate the key role of architectural salvage in the history of collecting, in nineteenth-century Syria and Egypt. Finally, this article will conclude with an account of how a

2 For Middle Eastern architectural display contexts at the 1878 Paris exhibition, see Moya Carey and Mercedes Volait, “Framing ‘Islamic Art’ for Aesthetic Interiors: Revisiting the 1878 Paris Exhibition,” International Journal of Islamic Architecture, 2020 (forthcoming). 3 The salesroom deliberately laid out in the style of a private interior is discussed in David Roxburgh, “Au Bonheur des

Amateurs: Collecting and Exhibiting Islamic Art, ca. 1880– 1910,” Ars Orientalis, 30, Exhibiting the Middle East: Collections and Perceptions of Islamic Art (2000): 9–38. 4 On the enduring history of themed rooms in museum displays, see Julius Bryant, “Museum Period Rooms for the Twenty-first Century: Salvaging Ambition,” Museums Management and Curatorship 24, no. 1 (2009): 73–84.

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­ amascus homeowner negotiated the sale of a D paneled interior room in January of 1877. 1

Collecting for a Design Museum

The South Kensington Museum was established in the wake of London’s Great Exhibition of 1851, and opened its doors in 1857. More than a social amenity, the museum was formally intended as a ­reference collection for Britain’s modern design industries. It was estimated that the right study material would improve British manufacturing, and thus also the economic health of the nation state (and the empire).5 What was especially appreciated for this purpose were selective design traditions from the Islamic world (here mostly limited to a contact zone extending across Spain and India). This focus of appropriation was most prominently proposed by the design theorist Owen Jones, whose key publication The Grammar of Ornament (1856) set out a veritable manifesto for reforming design in Victorian Britain. The South Kensington Museum duly sought art objects and architectural fragments as useful reference material. These acquisitions were not studied for their cultural context; they were ­appropriated as aesthetic “fuel” to invigorate contemporary design.6 Industrial museums in other countries followed the same rather mechanical principle of

5 The genesis of the South Kensington Museum is discussed in Julius Bryant, ed., Art and Design for All. The Victoria and Albert Museum (London: V&A, 2011). 6 This reductive approach is noted in Gülru Necipoğlu, “L’idée de décor dans les régimes de visualité islamiques,” in Purs Décors? Arts de l’Islam, regards du xixe siècle. Collections des Arts Décoratifs, ed. Rémi Labrusse (Paris: Les Arts Décoratifs, 2007), 10–23. For Britain, the evident imperialism of the South Kensington appropriation of Indian design traditions in particular is laid out in Tim Barringer, “The South Kensington Museum and the Colonial Project,” in Colonialism and the Object. Empire, Material Culture and the Museum, ed. Tim Barringer and Tom Flynn, (London: Routledge, 1998): 11–27.

decontextualization for industrial ­application, be it in Paris, Vienna, Budapest, Berlin or Dublin. That at least was the theory of the museum’s mission. In order to achieve its goal, however, the South Kensington reference collection had to be built first, and effectively from scratch. That ­gradual process of acquisition was grounded in commercial and cultural realities, relating to art market availability, trending fashion, and social aspiration. Museum curators were susceptible to all of these contemporary trends, and themselves acted within commercial networks. Increasingly, the habits of specific art connoisseurs and collectors would determine how Islamic Middle Eastern art was displayed, as a widening bourgeois society admired and aspired to domestic trends of the elite. This enthusiasm was quite the opposite of procuring decontextualized specimens for designers to study, but it nonetheless also influenced how South Kensington acquired and displayed the arts of the Middle East. 2

1873: Leighton in Damascus

A social aura surrounded significant figures of the Aesthetic Movement, who were the leading tastemakers of the Victorian age. For example, Royal Academy painter Frederic Leighton (1830–96) was a well-traveled cultural figure, and his London ­studio-house displayed a renowned collection of Syrian tiles, along with other architectural fittings appropriated from the Middle East and Southeast Asia.7 These furnishings sometimes worked their way into his genre paintings. Using new steamship routes, Leighton regularly traveled to the Mediterranean, visiting Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Palestine, Turkey and Syria. As his 1873–74 paintings confirm, Leighton deeply responded to the splendid urban 7 Louise Campbell, “Decoration, Display, Disguise. Leighton House Reconsidered,” in Frederic Leighton: Antiquity Renaissance Modernity, ed. Tim Barringer and Elizabeth Prettejohn (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999), 267–93.

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Figure 5.2 Frederic Leighton, Old Damascus—Jews’ Quarter, also titled Gathering Citrons, 1873–74. Oil painting on canvas © Christie’s Images / Bridgeman Images

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Appropriating Damascus Rooms

fabric of Damascus (fig. 5.2).8 The city’s courtyard mansions were often recorded by visiting artists and writers, who were impressed by the aesthetic grandeur of these historic houses, and the warm experience of hospitality within.9 Like other similar travelers, Frederic Leighton collected architectural fragments, which he used to decorate a new extension of his home. Designed in 1877–79 by George Aitchison (1825–1910), Leighton’s Arab Hall is a creative confection of salvaged components of wood, stone and tilework and new complementary elements by British craftsmen, including tiles by William de Morgan and mosaics by Walter Crane. The Hall gives the strong impression that Leighton had brought the exquisite fragments home with him, as re-appropriated mementos of his worldly travels, and evidence of his aesthetic flair—with contemporary British additions completing the creative conversation. However, despite his extensive personal travels, many of Leighton’s Syrian tiles came to his London address via commercial agents, working on commission, as well as by ­personal acquaintances.10 One of Leighton’s 8

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Old Damascus—Jews’ Quarter, also referred to as Gathering Citrons, today in private collection and Interior of the Grand Mosque (Preston: Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library, prsmg: P366) were shown at the Royal Academy’s annual exhibition in 1874 and 1875, respectively (Emilie Barrington, The Life, Letters and Work of Frederic Leighton, vol. 2, (New York: Macmillan, 1906), 205–06). “We stood in a great flagged court, with flowers and citron trees about us, and a huge tank in the centre that was receiving the water of many pipes. We crossed the court and entered the rooms prepared to receive four of us. In a large marble-paved recess between the two rooms was a tank of clear, cool water […]. Nothing, in this scorching, desolate land could look so refreshing as this pure water flashing in the lamplight […]. Our rooms were large, comfortably furnished, and even had their floors clothed with soft, cheerful-tinted carpets. […] All this luxury was as grateful to systems and senses worn out with an exhausting day’s travel, as it was unexpected.” Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad (London: Penguin, 2002, first published 1869), 340. Richard Burton (1821–90) wrote to Leighton from Damascus in March 1871. He promised to locate “good old

69 confirmed Damascus sources was Caspar Purdon Clarke (1846–1911), whose purchasing strategy is central to this article. Museum curators and the general public alike were attracted by intimate access to elite private collections such as Leighton’s, at least as much as to their aesthetic selections of art objects. Art dealers were quick to respond to the nuance of this combination. Across the network of Victorian art, taste and commerce, the most influential individuals operated in several capacities. William Morris (1834–96), for example, was a businessman, designer, craftsman, collector, conservationist, and radical socialist thinker. Some dealers were keen to become art scholars: this, for instance, was the ambition of Vincent Robinson, a London-based importer whose family business specialized in Indian textiles. Some curators turned out to be natural brokers: this was the case with Caspar Purdon Clarke, who made extensive acquisitions throughout the Middle East and India. Trained at South Kensington as an architect, Dublin-born Purdon Clarke eventually became the Director of the South Kensington Museum (in 1896), and in 1905 went on to direct the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Social, urban and transport infrastructures were all changing, creating new conditions of mobility, for objects as well as for people. For the interest of late nineteenth-century Europeans in Islamic art, these new conditions enabled a very central act of appropriation: architectural salvage. In the following account, a sequence of events related to the Damascus Room acquisitions by South Kensington will be discussed from the perspective of two individual agents, Vincent Robinson and Caspar Purdon Clarke. This concludes that both were driven by vested interests, and aimed to improve their personal and professional status, respectively. specimens” of Damascus tilework and hinted about locating tiles from Jerusalem. Yet it is not clear which tiles he actually sent. A later letter (July 1876, Trieste) noted that he had just shipped Leighton tiles from “the tomb (Moslem) of Sakhar, on the Indus [modern Pakistan]” (Barrington, Leighton, 2: 218–19).

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1878, London: “A Room Complete From Damascus”

In March 1878, William Morris wrote a letter to his daughter May on the occasion of her sixteenth birthday: “I have seen a very pretty thing this week; that is an exhibition of eastern things at the Carpet-man’s Vincent Robinson’s. He has bought a room complete from Damascus, walls, ceiling, window and all and ‘tis put together properly with only the due amount of light in it—due in Syria I mean not in London—it is all vermillion & gold & ultramarine, very beautiful and it is just like going into the Arabian Nights: he has also the most beautiful tiles, and brass & copper engraved bowls & vessels very fine: one little casket of the 13th century I thought the finest piece of metal-work I had ever seen on that scale.”11 Morris had visited Vincent Robinson’s shop on Wigmore Street in London. Robinson had inherited the business, which had long focused on Indian textile imports. In his census returns, Robinson described himself as a carpet merchant or an East India merchant. He had loaned carpets to the India Museum at Whitehall, formerly the corporate collection of the East India Company. Robinson’s firm also imported carpets from across the Middle East. This begs the question why Robinson was now offering a Damascus Room full of tiles and metalwork. The answer lies in Robinson’s long-term association, and friendship, with Caspar Purdon Clarke. For at least four years, Robinson had been working in tandem with Purdon Clarke, a junior architect at the Works Department of the South Kensington Museum, who also maintained a sideline as a freelance purchasing agent. Together 11

Letter to May Morris, dated March 21, 1878 (Norman Kelvin, ed., The Collected Letters of William Morris, vol. 1, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984), 464–65).

­ obinson and Purdon Clarke had been developing R architectural reconstruction as a form of commercial stagecraft: in 1874, they collaborated on a replica of an “Egyptian villa” displayed at Alexandra Palace, a public exhibition venue in north London. The interior was described in the press as “copied from an example in Cairo”: Purdon Clarke supplied the Cairo designs, whereas Robinson provided the carpets.12 For the next two years (1874–76), Purdon Clarke was in Iran on a different professional mission, working on the British Legation (today the embassy) in Tehran.13 In addition to this role, he bought a broad range of objects (reportedly for “some thousands of pounds”), on a commission for the art furniture firm of Christopher Dresser (1834–1904): the firm sold a consignment of these on to the South Kensington Museum.14 From Iran, Purdon Clarke also sent examples of carpets to Vincent Robinson, evidently pressing for a commission from the carpet dealer.15 In early 1877, Caspar Purdon Clarke was in Syria: again, he was on commission, this time working 12

“A Novelty in Preparation at the Alexandra Palace,” The Workshop 7, no. 10 (1874): 160. Caspar Purdon Clarke had traveled to Egypt in 1872, reportedly to work on the completion of St Mark’s Church in Alexandria, designed by his mentor James Wild (Moya Carey, Persian Art. Collecting the Arts of Iran for the V&A (London: V&A, 2018), 41). As Wild’s assistant, he would also travel to Tehran in 1874, on a similar mission for Wild (see next note). 13 Carey, Persian Art, 41–67; John Gurney, “Legations and Gardens, Sahibs and their Subalterns,” Iran 40 (2002): 218–19. 14 V&A Archive, MA/2/P7/1 (Purchases by Officers on Visits Abroad), memos signed by Edward Poynter, George Wallis and Richard Thompson, dated November 30, 1876. 113 items of tilework, glass and textiles were sold to the South Kensington Museum (V&A 1 to 113–1877). Carey, Persian Art, 45, n.56. 15 “I sent Vincent Robinson a letter by this post on the subject of carpets, see if you can stir him up for a commission to buy” (V&A Archive of Art & Design, AAD/2003/10/21 (Charles Holme), letter to Christopher Dresser, dated August 10, 1875).

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for two different parties: Frederic Leighton and the South Kensington Museum. He later noted, “Leighton had asked me, if I went to Damascus, to go to certain houses and try to effect the purchase of certain tiles. […] I returned with a precious load, and in it some large family tiles [i.e. group sets], the two finest of which are built into the alcove of the Arab Hall. Leighton made no difficulty about the price, and insisted upon paying double what I had given.”16 The Museum had authorized him to spend up to £250.17 During these five weeks in Damascus, Purdon Clarke bought the Room that would eventually be offered for sale, one year later, at Vincent Robinson’s showroom. As observed by William Morris, in the spring of 1878 this impressive Damascus Room was on display in Wigmore Street, filled with the tiles and metalwork that (as noted) were not Robinson’s usual stock. This was because Caspar Purdon Clarke had supplied the Room’s contents, as well as the Room itself. The following ­account explains the significant delays between Purdon Clarke’s Syrian purchase (in January 1877), Robinson’s London display (in March 1878) and South Kensington Museum’s eventual purchase of the Damascus Room (in June 1880). Over the summer of 1878, Robinson and Purdon Clarke both worked in Paris, on the British India section at the international exhibition. Purdon Clarke was the official commercial agent, and also designed the India pavilion.18 As a commercial 16

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Quoted in Barrington, Leighton, 2:218. In 1883, Purdon Clarke described the tiles elsewhere as “a unique pair of large panels of tiles with sunken niches now forming a part of Sir Frederick Leighton’s Arab Hall” (V&A Archive, ED/84/205 (Official Visits Abroad by keepers of the Museum with reports on foreign Museums, collections, etc.), memo by Caspar Purdon Clarke, dated June 11, 1883). V&A Archive, MA/2/P7/1 (Purchases by Officers on Visits Abroad), memo from Philip Cunliffe-Owen, dated December 28, 1876. Reproduced in The Illustrated London News supplement (July 13, 1878): ii. See Carey and Volait, “Framing ‘Islamic Art.’”

e­ xhibitor, Robinson’s firm put out an extensive display of carpets: some were from India, but many others came from Iran and elsewhere. Robinson included large examples from Safavid Isfahan, and later carpets from Kurdistan, Hamadan, Kermanshah, Daghestan, Bukhara and Turkoman Central Asia. He also showed a range of ceramic, glass and brass vessels from Iran.19 The 1878 Paris exhibition offered to the public eye an unprecedented range of fine carpets from Safavid Iran.20 These came not only from Robinson’s display, but also from the collections ­exhibited by art connoisseurs Castellani, Goupil, Czartoryski, Rothschild and others. Impressive private collections were increasingly displayed at International Exhibitions, revealing an intimate world to the wider public in dedicated display areas.21 In this instance, the publicity forced a new consensus about the true quality of historic carpets, and about the critical centrality of Iran. A leading voice in that debate was George Birdwood (1832–1917), former British government administrator in India, and now Director of the India Museum in London. He was an active promoter of Indian craft revival, and published a long account of the carpet industries of Asia, praising their long history and underlining Iran’s foundational status.22 In Birdwood’s new assessment, Robinson 19

A contemporary illustration of the display (heavily emphasizing the carpets) was published in Émile Bergerat, “Maison Vincent Robinson & Co.,” Les Chefs-D’Œuvre d’Art à l’Exposition Universelle de 1878 (Paris: Ludovic Baschet, 1878) 172 (Carey and Volait, “Framing ‘Islamic Art’,” fig.2). This range may be contrasted with Robinson’s stock at the Paris exhibition in 1867, which reportedly focused on Indian textiles, see Matthew Digby Wyatt, “Report on Carpets, Tapestry, and other Stuffs for Furniture. (Class 18.),” in On the Arts of Decoration at the International Exhibition at Paris, a.d. 1867, (London, 1868), 19–20. 20 Carey, Persian Art, 197–204. 21 Carey and Volait, “Framing ‘Islamic Art.’” 22 George Birdwood, The Industrial Arts of India (London: Chapman & Hall, 1880), much of the carpet chapter was published earlier for the 1878 Paris exhibition as

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Figure 5.3 Model of the Damascus Room sold by Vincent Robinson, 1880. Pencil and watercolor on card. London, V&A Archive, MA/1/R1314/1 (Vincent J. Robinson) © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

recognized a critical promotion for the art status of carpets, which might well transform the commercial value of his own stock. Carpets were the central pillar of R ­ obinson’s business, and following the 1878 Paris event, he carefully approached the South Kensington Museum in order to display and ultimately sell his carpets in a prestigious public context. First, he secured the Museum authorities’ attention by steering them toward the recent rising trend for Damascus Rooms. The opportunity to display such a Room had come from his associate, Caspar Purdon Clarke. As to be discussed below, Robinson also wished this institutional engagement to create a different social profile for himself. 4

1880, London: Robinson’s Damascus Room

In January 1880, Birdwood’s India Museum transferred to South Kensington Museum, and its George Birdwood, “Handbook to the Indian Court,” Handbook to the British Indian Section. Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878 (London, 1878). Birdwood’s impact is discussed in Carey, Persian Art, 198–99.

c­ollection was absorbed. Caspar Purdon Clarke was appointed curator of the new Indian Section, his first permanent position at the Museum. As the permanent carpet collection was still insufficient for long-term display, the Museum now borrowed (or rather rented) carpets from Robinson’s firm for the first few months of 1880.23 This was a circulation arrangement: carpets and other textiles went back and forth between the shop and the museum. Others remained on long-term loan in the galleries, for what would be years. South Kensington was not buying from Robinson as yet; the following account suggests a deliberate strategy on Robinson’s part, to entice the Museum to buy more comprehensively from his principle stock: carpets. Over the summer of 1880, Robinson made an interesting marketing pitch. He invited the museum’s director and art curator to visit his salesroom, to see the Damascus Room with all its interior furnishings. It is unrecorded whether Caspar Purdon Clarke joined them: given the following information, this seems unlikely. Like William Morris two years earlier, the visitors were impressed by this paneled interior from Syria. By this date—1880— the South Kensington Museum held collections of Iranian objects, Iznik ceramics and plaster cast specimens of Cairo architecture—the decontextualized items usually required by a design museum. But they had nothing quite as theatrical as a furnished Damascus Room, and it is clear that the South Kensington staff were attracted to Robinson’s setup. A miniature pop-up model, made of watercolor-painted card, remains in the V&A Archives, and is stored there together with the Robinson correspondence (fig. 5.3). Robinson followed up the visit with a persuasive note, that “the Curious Damascus Room” must now be purchased or lost to another client: “There is the possibility of placing this room more

23

V&A Archive, MA/1/R1314/1 (Vincent J. Robinson), loan correspondence dating 1880–1; Carey, Persian Art, 204–06.

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Figure 5.4 Wall from a Damascus Room, Syria, 1170 ah/1756–77, as installed at South Kensington Museum. Museum Guardbook photograph. London, V&A 2676–1902, negative number 24334, photograph depicts V&A 411–1880 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

a­ dvantageously, in a pecuniary way, than the one [I proposed] this morning, but I have a personal wish to see it in the National Collection.”24 The pressure worked: the Damascus Room and its contents were sold to the Museum for £850.25 It was installed on display at South Kensington by Caspar Purdon Clarke (fig. 5.4). The contents were described as “ordinary 19th century Syrian and Persian manufacture”: lamps, tables, ceramic pots and dishes, metalwork, a bookstand, a hookah pipe base, twenty-one cushions, eight mattresses and four carpets. The Arabic inscription around the frieze was a pious poem,

24 25

V&A Archive, MA/1/R1314/1 (Robinson), letter from Robinson to Cunliffe-Owen, dated June 18, 1880. V&A 411–1880 (“Room and Fittings from Damascus”), including 72 parts and subparts numbered 411a to 411rr-1880.

concluding with the date 1170 ah (1756–57); the Museum had it translated in August 1880.26 It was later reported that Robinson’s impressive showroom was not the first place where the South Kensington authorities had seen this very Damascus Room. Apparently, they had seen it before, and indeed had refused to buy it. Writing in 1919, the American designer Lockwood de Forest (1850– 1932) remembered that when Caspar Purdon Clarke had first brought the Room (“from a house just taken down”) from Syria to Britain (i.e. in early 1877), it had been entirely at his own expense, and that the Museum had then refused to buy it from 26

One of the Museum’s long-term art referees for Spanish art, Juan Facundo Riaño (1829–1901) translated this and other Persian inscriptions (V&A MSL/1906/691; V&A Archive, ED/84/208 (Employment of Experts and Professional Assistance for Special Tasks), memo ­ signed Phillip Cunliffe-Owen, dated August 14, 1880).

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him: “He was in despair and did not know what to do as he could not afford to hold any such thing.” At this stage, Robinson had stepped in: “his friend, Vincent Robinson, came to his rescue and purchased and put it up in his store. The Kensington trustees saw it there and wanted it.” It was only in 1880 then, on encountering the Damascus Room in a persuasively commercial context, that the museum staff could finally perceive it as worthwhile for the collection. De Forest noted with dismissive satisfaction that Robinson had charged the museum ten times Clarke’s asking price, “determined to give them a lesson.”27 Aside from relieving Purdon Clarke’s difficulty, Robinson’s sale was a calculated overture to attract the South Kensington Museum to buy much more from him, as it soon did. Once the Damascus Room transaction had taken place, Vincent Robinson’s firm approached the Museum again, now offering three further sets of Middle Eastern objects. The first set consisted of items presumably also sourced by Caspar Purdon Clarke in Iran (1874–76) and Syria (1877). The ­Iranian objects included a gilded steel flask from Isfahan, and the Syrian material included a tile spandrel from the 1581 Sinaniya Mosque in Damascus. Two groups of carpets followed: the first consisting of four very expensive examples, of which one was compared to the great Isfahan carpets recently displayed (i.e. by Robinson) at the Paris Exhibition in 1878. After these came a larger set of twenty carpets, surveying Iran, Turkey and Central Asia. It was said they would “illustrate a wider field of Asiatic manufacture.” The latter two consignments relate more obviously to Robinson’s ­principle a­ctivity as a “Carpet-Man.” A glowing ­recommendation to purchase these carpets was

written by Purdon Clarke himself. He made no reference to his earlier role as a commissioned agent for Robinson’s firm. The museum bought all three groups of objects. The Damascus Room had therefore been an ­impressive means to win over the museum authorities, and the episode is full of coordinated commercial strategy and overture. By selling to a national institution, Robinson worked to promote a higher art value for well-made historical c­ arpets—and a different status for himself. This continued when (with George Birdwood’s help), ­Robinson published an influential color-­illustrated book in 1882. The book, Eastern Carpets, Twelve Early Examples, was offered as a prize at art school competitions across Britain and distributed by the South Kensington Museum. As limited as it was, Robinson’s scholarship remained attached to commercial advantage: of the twelve featured carpets, many still belonged to him. He would sell further specimens to South Kensington in 1884, including one published in Eastern Carpets. He retired from his firm shortly afterwards, leaving the new managing ­director, Edward Stebbing, to recover the many long-term loans that Robinson had made to South Kensington since 1880. This was especially embarrassing for three large-scale Isfahan carpets, which the Museum authorities now refused to buy for £1,000. After two tense years of correspondence, one of these Isfahan carpets was finally purchased. It had been on display in Paris in 1878 and therefore was one of the objects that changed critical opinion about the value of historical carpets.

27

South Kensington was now focusing more upon Middle Eastern art collecting, with “Persian Court” galleries (opened in April 1876) re-named “the Persian and Saracenic Courts” to demonstrate ­ expanding horizons. From Robinson’s personal ­ perspective, his initial impact on the Museum’s displays grew less visible with every passing year. The Museum was increasingly making bulk

“Clarke knew the importance of the room when he saw and bought it. The trustees thought they knew better and did not trust him or take his advice. When at last they found out their mistake it cost the museum the difference between one hundred pounds and one thousand.” (Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Art, Lockwood de Forest papers, 1858–1980, Box 2, Folder 12, “Museum Management” dated June 1919, with grateful thanks to Mercedes Volait).

5

1881–88: More Rooms

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Figure 5.5 Cupboard doors from a Damascus Room, Syria, 1204 ah/1789–90. London, V&A 504:1–1883 and 504:2–1883 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

a­ cquisitions of salvaged architectural fittings, organized and supplied by a range of commercial firms and independent agents in Egypt and Syria: several re-appropriated rooms were now installed within the galleries of the South Kensington Museum. In 1883 Robinson’s Damascus Room was joined by a­ nother Damascus Room of slightly later date (1204 ah/1789–90), bought from Paris-based art dealer Henri Vuagneux (fig. 5.5).28 Two Cairo Rooms were purchased as well, sent directly from Cairo by Greville Chester (in 1881) and Stanley Lane-Poole (in 1883), respectively.29 28

29

In 1883, Henri Vuagneux sold the Museum “a Room from Damascus” for £500 (V&A 504–1883), composed of decorated walls, ceiling, alcoves and windows. In 1881, Rev. Greville John Chester (1830–92) sold South Kensington an extensive range of architectural salvage,

These four purchases were part of a wider export trend, of sourcing decorative interiors in Egypt and Syria, and directly marketing them to European museums. As noted above, this was not limited to stripping out historic houses of Damascus or Cairo—there also was an active replica industry. This is confirmed in a correspondence sourced from both Cairo and Damascus. The Cairo materials included tile sets, wooden mashrabiya window screens, stained glass windows set in stucco, and a wooden ceiling attributed to “the house of Sheikh Bakri at Cairo” in the 1881 Art Inventory (V&A 102 to 150– 1881). In 1883, the Museum bought from Stanley LanePoole (1854–1931) a “Room from Cairo” composed of wooden walls, cornices, ceiling, lattice windows, door and stucco windows (V&A 1193–1883), and a further 276 tiles and 15 architectural fragments (V&A 1193 to 1234–1883).

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b­ etween the Dublin Museum of Science and Art (a sister institution of South Kensington), and the art-importers Mawe & Co., in 1888. Mawe offered a Damascus Room they had currently placed on display at the international exhibition in Brussels, “a copy of an Old Damascus Room, such as were used for the Harem.”30 The firm also owned two more (modern, newly constructed) Damascus Rooms, as well as an “old” example (meaning an original salvaged interior), which they sold to the Budapest Museum at the 1885 Antwerp international exhibition. In October 1884, an article in The Times newspaper complained about an incoherent sprawl of “Saracenic objects,” located in various galleries across the South Kensington Museum site: to the writer, it was clear that the Museum’s Middle Eastern art collections were expanding beyond any existing narrative of its gallery displays.31 ­Acquisitions 30

31

“This one is not old but very careful work, and we think it would interest you. If so, we will take £175 for it. If desired we could supply all the fittings of a Syrian Room” (Dublin nmi Archive, Art & Industry Correspondence, letter dated October 30, 1888). Longfield (the curator in Dublin) noted in a memo (dated October 31): “Rooms of this kind are very difficult to manage in a Museum when they can never be properly seen and I think it would be much preferable to have panels showing the different styles of decoration—in any case it would be better to secure some genuine specimens of the Old work.” This comment about display logistics may explain Longfield’s later decision (discussed below) to purchase a single wall from a much older Damascus Room, in 1894. “The Saracenic objects are scattered about in various parts of the Museum, according as room can be found for them. […] At present, we have to search for them in holes and corners, and the general public does not like to have the trouble of finding as well as looking […]. It really is a Sabbath day’s journey to take a complete view of the Saracenic collection at the South Kensington Museum, but the result is worth the fatigue” (Stanley Lane-Poole, “Saracenic Art at the South Kensington Museum,” The Times, October 23, 1884, 3. I am grateful to Mariam Rosser-Owen for identifying the (otherwise anonymous) author as Stanley Lane-Poole (personal communication, January 18, 2018).

had continued. The vendor of the 1883 Damascus Room, Henri Vuagneux, was involved in mediating an enormous bulk purchase from Gaston de SaintMaurice that was completed in 1884. This private domestic collection would be the Museum’s most substantial acquisition of Middle E ­ astern art to date, including over 400 examples of metalwork, ceramics, carpets and textiles.32 Saint-Maurice had served at the Khedival court in Cairo for a decade, and with his return to France in 1878, he showed his personal house collection at the Paris Exhibition. Placed within the official Egyptian displays, SaintMaurice’s collection occupied a single gallery entitled L’Égypte de Khalifes.33 This was more than an assembly of art objects—it was an important series of salvaged architectural fittings and plaster cast specimens molded from historic mosques and Cairene houses. Now removed to Paris, these had all been embedded into the walls, doors, windows and ceilings of Saint-Maurice’s spectacular maison arabe in Cairo. At South Kensington, a massive acquisition such as this must surely have eclipsed the diverse material sold earlier by Vincent Robinson, but there was more to come. From 1892 onwards, Robinson’s company successor, Edward Stebbing, now coordinated the sale to South Kensington of a remarkable sixteenth-century carpet from a Safavid shrine in northwestern Iran—it was an exceptional carpet to outshine all others. Stebbing also wrote a new book about it, The Holy Carpet of ­Ardabil, which in its content (and, for the 1893 elephant-folio edition, even in its scale) far ­ ­surpassed Robinson’s Eastern Carpets.34 The 1893 edition c­ irculated around the national network of 32 33

V&A 880 to 1048–1884, and 1058 to 1063–1884. The Egyptian display rationale for Paris 1878 is discussed in Carey and Volait, “Framing ‘Islamic Art.’” 34 Carey, Persian Art, 173–81. Stebbing’s monograph addressed carpet history with reference to twenty-three carpets from the Robinson firm stock, with a focused account of the Ardabil carpet and its Safavid cultural context. It was printed in two editions, the first in 1892, and a very large format with five hand-colored plates in 1893 (fifty copies, by private subscription).

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art museums, where the large-scale color images now allowed textile workers to copy the complex designs. The Ardabil Carpet itself was delivered to the museum in April 1893. The next year, Vincent Robinson wrote to the South Kensington authorities: “I have a Damascus ceiling of a room much finer than the one in the room which the Museum had of me some years ago. As you are aware I am now retired from all affairs of business so that I propose—if the South Kensington Museum authorities will accept the ceiling as a present to send it to you—but I must impose one condition, and that is that my name shall be attached to the room. I was originally induced to part with the room on Sir Philip Owen’s promise that this should be done but I should now make a condition of the Museum accepting my proposal.”35 This rather competitive demand for publicity ­suggests that Robinson was now concerned about fixing his social status through personal legacy, ­established by his various contributions to the Museum. His initial wish to have his own name publicly acknowledged in the South Kensington galleries had been disappointed, and other named collectors and suppliers were now being celebrated in the same spaces. His handbook Eastern Carpets was being superseded by other writers, i­ncluding his own business successor Edward Stebbing. Hence his insistence on a public credit in 1894. 6

36

1894–95: The Habra Brothers’ Damascus Room

Months later, the South Kensington Museum was contacted by Habra Brothers, an art-dealing company with branches in London, Beirut and Damascus. They offered a Damascus Room for sale, which 35

the Museum decided not to purchase.36 By 1894, South Kensington had two Damascus Rooms (from Robinson in 1880, from Vuagneux in 1883), two Cairo Rooms (from Chester in 1881, from LanePoole in 1883), and even a new ceiling recently donated by Vincent Robinson (in February 1894). Other museums within South Kensington’s nationwide network (such as the Science and Art Museums of Dublin and Edinburgh), however, had none. In Dublin, the museum’s curator T.H. Longfield had already turned down an offer in 1888 (as noted above) to buy a modern replica of a Syrian room, firstly because it was not “genuine,” but secondly because he felt that “Rooms of this kind are very difficult to manage in a Museum when they can never be properly seen.”37 Perhaps on these grounds, Caspar Purdon Clarke (or someone at the South Kensington Museum) now made a radical and pragmatic decision on behalf of the wider museum network. The Habra Brothers’ offer of a Damascus Room was accepted, and it was sent to South Kensington—there, its four decorated walls were dismantled and separated, to be distributed to three different museums. In October 1894, Habra Brothers sold one wall to the Dublin Museum, where it remains to this day in the National Museum of Ireland (fig. 5.6).38

V&A Archive, MA/1/R1314/2 (Robinson), letter from Robinson to John Donnelly, dated February 3, 1894. The ceiling was accessioned: V&A 618–1894.

37 38

This collates archival correspondence and acquisition records for both the V&A and the National Museum of Ireland (Decorative Arts and History branch), V&A Archive, MA/1/H16 (Habra Bros.); nmi Archive, Art & Industry Correspondence. The documentation confirms that Philip Habra’s firm sold extensively to both Dublin and South Kensington Museums from July 1894 onwards; these were principally architectural fittings, such as a marble-inlaid fountain basin (V&A 76–1896), decorative stone pavement and hundreds of Syrian tiles. See note 30 above. Dublin, National Museum of Ireland DF:1894.759. Dateable to the mid-seventeenth-century, the Dublin wall was re-identified in 2016 when Audrey Whitty and I investigated the Middle East collections at the National Museum of Ireland. The dismantled panels were examined in January 2017, by specialist conservator Anke Scharrahs. With new photography of the panels, the museum’s Photographic Department used Purdon

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Figure 5.6 Wall from a Damascus Room, Syria, ca. 1081 ah/1670–71, digital reconstruction of extant components. Dublin, National Museum of Ireland, DF:1894.759 Photography by Valerie Dowling and Peter Moloney, digital reconstruction by Richard Weinacht, Photographic Department, National Museum of Ireland

As Longfield worked out how to re-assemble the panels and cornices for re-display in Dublin, he wrote to Purdon Clarke in London for advice. In response, Purdon Clarke drew and sent him an elevation sketch and a detailed ground plan of the likely original house site in Damascus (fig. 5.7). The two curators also discussed the Room’s Arabic Clarke’s outline sketch to create a digital reconstruction of the whole wall (with thanks to Valerie Dowling, Peter Moloney and Richard Weinacht). Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria has now identified 81 components (215-D2) from two further walls of this room: “Paneling of two sides of the Interior of a Room at Damascus,” acquired “by the kind and very valuable assistance of Mr Purdon Clarke” in 1896 (Trustees’ Report to the Honorable The Chief Secretary (1896), 25–6, with grateful thanks to Richard Gillespie and Sophie Couchman, Melbourne). The final wall has not been identified at the Edinburgh Museum, although it was ­reportedly sent there to the director Robert Murdoch Smith.

i­ nscriptions, which praise the Prophet Muḥammad.39 In a regretful letter to Longfield, Purdon Clarke expanded upon the fate of this particular Damascus Room, and the ongoing market supply of similar examples: “Unfortunately your room has been divided up, the other long side is at Edinburgh and the ends at Melbourne. […] I am very sorry we had to break up the room. Another one has arrived in London at six times the price, and vulgar Turkish work of the present century. Your room is older than the condition of the woodwork shows—at least the style.”40 39

With thanks to Behnaz Atighi-Moghaddam for identifying the ismāʾ al-ḥusnā (personal communication, April 7, 2017). 40 Dublin nmi Archive, Art & Industry Correspondence, letter dated 29 January 1895. While the Dublin panels do not include an inscribed date, Anke Scharrahs has Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait and Ariane Varela Braga - 978-90-04-41264-4 Downloaded from Brill.com04/22/2020 08:55:17AM via McGill University

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7

Conclusion: Purchasing from Private Houses in Damascus

Before he became a permanent member of the curatorial staff in 1880, Caspar Purdon Clarke had been an effective field agent for South Kensington Museum, as well as for Robinson, Leighton, Dresser and presumably other private clients. In 1883, he wrote a six-page internal memo, briefing museum colleagues on his collecting experience in Turkey and Syria in 1876–77. He noted likely competition from rival collectors (including “all the European consuls”) and any European export firms, and warned South Kensington curators to avoid them. Instead, to purchase valuable historical art objects, Purdon Clarke recommended not to contact “the delals or brokers,” but “the local bankers”: they would know which of their clients was privately in need of cash and could make discreet introductions. Thus he described how in January 1877, he had negotiated the purchase of what would become the museum’s “first” Damascus Room (eventually sold to South Kensington by Vincent ­Robinson’s firm): “I was taken to the houses of people who were anxious to sell but desirous of keeping from other residents the knowledge of their being compelled to part with heirlooms. Thus I acquired the Damascus Room now in the Museum and a unique pair of large panels of tiles with sunken niches now forming a part of Sir Frederick Leighton’s Arab Hall. Many objects were offered upon the condition that they would be received as a gift but a return present in money would be received. This was nearly always a genuine offer made on account of a superstitious repugnance to sell family relics and the genuineness proved by the lowness of the sum asked. […] The Damascus room was accepted as a

noted their close parallels with the earliest known dated Damascus Room, on display at the Manial Palace in Cairo, and inscribed 1081 ah/1670–71 ad (Anke Scharrahs, email message to author and Audrey Whitty, January 24, 2017).

Figure 5.7 Caspar Purdon Clarke, interior elevation and ground plan of Damascus Room as remembered in situ, sketches made in London, October 17, 1894, and November 2, 1894. Dublin, National Museum of Ireland, Archives, Art & Industry Correspondence

gift, the return presented being fixed at £10 for the owner’s family and £5 for the servants.”41 This was therefore a transaction of social as well as commercial delicacy. The Syrian householder had decided to sell the paneled room-fittings, but he wished for the exchange to be handled discreetly, and without the judgmental knowledge of his Damascus neighbors. Purdon Clarke’s observations suggest that the commercial supply of Damascus Rooms was not an open market, but a private situation, rooted in personal dignities.42 41 42

V&A Archive, ED/84/205 (Official Visits), memo by Caspar Purdon Clarke, dated June 11, 1883. Bids for personal transactions were not necessarily successful, as Henry Wallis discovered when he tried to Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait and Ariane Varela Braga - 978-90-04-41264-4 Downloaded from Brill.com04/22/2020 08:55:17AM via McGill University

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My introduction suggested that the late nineteenth-century European demand for imported Syrian rooms was related to the reputations of well-traveled figures in the elites of European society, with the painter Frederic Leighton and his Arab Hall set as an example. Art-dealers such as Vincent Robinson could benefit from this association, by selling other objects (in his case particularly carpets) displayed inside such evocative and admired interiors. The web of transactions described here would then follow. One final citation shows how long such impressive associations could endure and be exploited for commercial advantage: in 1913, a short article in The Connoisseur advertised another Damascus Room for sale in London, again at “Messrs. Vincent Robinson’s galleries.”43 The anonymous author noted that Leighton’s 1873 visit to Damascus had been memorialized by his well-known painting of a domestic courtyard in the Jewish quarter (Gathering Citrons, illustrated above), and then claimed (improbably) that the room now currently for sale had been ­dismantled from the very same Syrian house—as had the V&A’s Damascus Room.44 However unconvincing the coincidence, this shared provenance account demonstrates how commercially

43 44

buy a paneled room in Cairo in 1891: “The mufti (the owner of the room) […] prefers to see the room wrecked and the ornamentation demolished to selling it [to me]” (V&A Archive, MA/1/W330/1 (Henry Wallis), letter dated February 5, 1891). “A Room from ‘the Street called Straight,’” The Connoisseur, 1913, 132–34. The author claimed that this Jewish house was the source of the Damascus Room purchased by Purdon Clarke for Robinson, and sold to South Kensington as one of its “treasures” in 1880. These and other details suggest the information was supplied from within Robinson’s firm, as part of an impressive but loose pedigree for the current room on sale. At this date (1913), all of the protagonists (Leighton, Purdon Clarke and Robinson himself) had died. I am grateful to Anke Scharrahs for confirming that Bayt Farhi, the house painted by Leighton, could not be the original site of the V&A’s 1880 Damascus Room, as its dimensions do not match those of the house.

attractive such associations (with Lord Leighton, and with the V&A) continued to be. This article has set out a series of acquisitions made by South Kensington, which appropriated and adapted Syrian architectural fragments for redisplay in the museum. Vincent Robinson and Caspar Purdon Clarke were influential negotiators, responding to and partly shaping an apparently expanding commercial supply of historic interiors and modern replicas coming from Syria. In 1877, a private householder had made the decision to sell an interior room to a visiting commercial agent (Purdon Clarke): he shipped it back to London only for the South Kensington Museum to refuse to buy it from him. Ironically, the museum would eventually buy exactly the same Damascus Room at a much higher price, from a London-based art dealer (Robinson) in 1880. Robinson in turn would use the Room to entice further business from the national design museum, and in later life, he also expected the same Room to elevate his own social credit. By 1894, institutional opinion had truly changed: an export firm such as Habra Brothers, which dealt in historic interiors as well as modern replicas, could approach the South Kensington Museum directly and be confident of a successful sale. Throughout his career, Caspar Purdon Clarke worked on public and private projects that re-­ assembled, re-created or simply re-imagined ­historical interior rooms: his 1874 Cairo “villa” in Alexandra Palace, the Damascus tilework that ­ entered Leighton’s 1877–79 Arab Hall, his ­ ­self-designed Indian pavilion constructed for the 1878 Paris e­xhibition, and the more convoluted “Durbar Hall” c­ reated for the 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London.45 Seen in this context, 45

In 1886, Caspar Purdon Clarke oversaw the construction of this “Durbar Hall,” combining composite design ideas from across the Indian subcontinent, sections plaster cast directly from Mughal architecture, and newly produced woodwork carved by specialist Punjabi craftsmen. Reversing the typical trend, this “themed room” was acquired later for a private domestic context, leaving the South Kensington Museum for Lord ­

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Purdon Clarke’s 1877 purchase of the Damascus Room shows that he was consistently engaged with a contemporary display trend, rooted in architectural salvage—as well as the impression (through plaster casts) and imitation (through replica styles) of such salvage. Like many others, he had realized correctly that spectacular themed rooms were particularly attractive to museum-­ going members of the public, possibly because they evoked fashionable private interiors which anyone might aspire to inhabit—or at least wish to visit. The international exhibitions also confirmed the popular success of replica architecture as visitor attractions. Art ­dealers (such as Robinson in London) already understood that thematic interiors stimulated consumers. Caspar Purdon Clarke may have trained as an architect, but his successful future was in the world of museums. Bibliography Anon. “A Novelty in Preparation at the Alexandra Palace.” The Workshop. 7, no. 10 (1874): 160. Anon. “A Room from the ‘Street called Straight’.” The Connoisseur. (1913): 132–34. Barringer, Tim. “The South Kensington Museum and the Colonial Project.” In Colonialism and the Object. Empire, Material Culture and the Museum, edited by Tim Barringer and Tom Flynn, 11–27. London: Routledge, 1998. Barrington, Emilie. The Life, Letters and Work of Frederic Leighton. 2 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1906. Bergerat, Émile. “Maison Vincent Robinson & Co.” In Les Chefs-d’Œuvre d’Art à l’Exposition Universelle de 1878, 172. Paris: Ludovic Baschet, 1878. Birdwood, George. The Industrial Arts of India. London: Chapman & Hall, 1880.

Brassey’s home on Park Lane, London. As taste changed, the interior was deinstalled again, and transferred to the Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, where Brassey was the local Member of Parliament (Barringer, “The South Kensington Museum and the Colonial Project”: 24–5).

81 Bryant, Julius. “Museum Period Rooms for the Twentyfirst Century: Salvaging Ambition.” Museums Management and Curatorship 24, no. 1 (2009): 73–84. Bryant, Julius, ed. Art and Design for All. The Victoria and Albert Museum. London: V&A, 2011. Campbell, Louise. “Decoration, Display, Disguise. Leighton House Reconsidered.” In Frederic Leighton: Antiquity Renaissance Modernity, edited by Tim Barringer and Elizabeth Prettejohn, 267–93. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999. Carey, Moya. Persian Art. Collecting the Arts of Iran for the V&A. London: V&A, 2018. Carey, Moya and Mercedes Volait. “Framing ‘Islamic Art’ for Aesthetic Interiors: Revisiting the 1878 Paris Exhibition.” International Journal of Islamic Architecture, 2020 (forthcoming). Digby Wyatt, Matthew. “Report on Carpets, Tapestry, and other Stuffs for Furniture. (Class 18.).” In On the Arts of Decoration at the International Exhibition at Paris, a.d. 1867, Consisting of Reports to the British Government […] and to the French Government on “Ouvrage de Tapissier et de Decorateur”, by Jules Dieterle and Matthew Digby Wyatt. London: 1868. Gurney, John. “Legations and Gardens, Sahibs and their Subalterns.” Iran 40 (2002): 202–32. Kelvin, Norman, ed. The Collected Letters of William Morris. 4 vols. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984. Lane-Poole, Stanley. “Saracenic Art at the South Kensington Museum.” The Times, October 23, 1884. Necipoğlu, Gulru. “L’idée de décor dans les régimes de visualité islamiques.” In Purs Décors? Arts de l’Islam, regards du xixe siècle. Collections des Arts Décoratifs, edited by Rémi Labrusse, 10–23. Paris: Les Arts Décoratifs, 2007. Roxburgh, David. “Au Bonheur des Amateurs: Collecting and Exhibiting Islamic Art, ca. 1880–1910.” Ars Orientalis 30 Exhibiting the Middle East: Collections and Perceptions of Islamic Art (2000): 9–38. Scharrahs, Anke. Damascene ʿAjami Rooms. Forgotten Jewels of Interior Design. London: Archetype, 2013. Twain, Mark. The Innocents Abroad. London: Penguin, 2002, first published Hartford, Conn: American Publishing Company, 1869.

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Chapter 6

Le remploi de grands décors mamelouks et ottomans dans l’œuvre construit d’Ambroise Baudry en Égypte et en France Mercedes Volait L’architecte Ambroise Baudry (1836–1908) a pratiqué au Caire durant les années 1870 une forme particulière d’historicisme orientaliste dont les ­ ­ramifications temporelles, matérielles et internationales sont encore mal identifiées. Le parti architectural consistait en une revivification des styles historiques de l’Égypte médiévale et postmédiévale par le biais de l’incorporation de grands décors et de fragments anciens (portes, écrans de bois tourné, lambris de mosaïques de marbre, revêtements c­ éramiques) dans un bâti moderne, en les agrémentant de répliques d’ornements historiques obtenues par moulages en plâtre, et complétés d’éléments historicistes « à la manière de » dessinés expressément pour s’harmoniser avec les pièces anciennes ou pour servir de raccord. Il est tentant de rattacher ce genre à la tradition millénaire du remploi en Égypte, mais rien ne prouve qu’il lui soit directement corrélé. Il est certain en revanche qu’il y connaît une postérité notable, puisque la réutilisation d’éléments anciens continue à se pratiquer très couramment aujourd’hui. Il existe de fait des établissements spécialisés dans la récupération et la revente de décors anciens, telle la maison ʿAbd al-Wuddūd, active depuis les années 1930.1 1 Menha El-Batraoui, « Un rêve d’architecte : Omar El Farouk », Qantara, 96 (2015), 57–60 ; enquête personnelle, 2011 ; Mercedes Volait, « Le goût mamelouk au xixe siècle : d’une esthétique orientaliste à un style national générique », dans Mercedes Volait et Emmanuelle Perrin (dir.), Dialogues artistiques avec les passés de l’Égypte : une perspective transnationale et transmédiale. Paris : ­InVisu, 2017, (consulté le 7 février 2018).

Si la pratique du recyclage moderne de fragments anciens est encore mal connue pour ce qui est de l’architecture néo-islamique, elle est bien mieux cernée pour ce qui est de l’historicisme européen. En France dès les années 1850, aux ÉtatsUnis à partir des années 1890, l’« art de la reprise2 » a représenté une véritable industrie, avec architectes experts en assemblages, corps de métiers spécialisés et entrepôts dédiés. Le phénomène correspond à la « fétichisation des objets du passé » au sein de sociétés en proie à l’industrialisation, et répond à la fois à la demande sociale d’une bourgeoisie en quête de décors authentiques pour ses intérieurs et à la pénurie d’objets et de fragments anciens en nombre suffisant pour satisfaire son obsession.3 Les salles de style et autres period rooms qui peuplent les musées du monde représentent le versant public de cette quête du passé ; elles traduisent au passage la démocratisation d’univers longtemps réservés aux seuls érudits et aristocrates. 1

Un architecte collectionneur

D’extraction modeste mais cadet du peintre Paul Baudry, qui fut l’une des gloires de la peinture académique sous le Second Empire, Ambroise Baudry 2 L’expression est de Jean-Pierre Criqui, responsable scientifique du colloque « L’art de la reprise : Remplois, détournements et assemblages à travers l’histoire », 23–4 mai 2008, Musée du Louvre. 3 Manuel Charpy, Le Théâtre des objets, Espaces privés, culture matérielle et identité bourgeoise. Paris, 1830–1914, Thèse, Université de Tours, 2010, chapitre 5 passim.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi 10.1163/9789004412644_009

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fait ses classes à bonne école, en particulier comme inspecteur des travaux sur le chantier de l’Opéra de Paris, sous la direction de Charles Garnier qui le prend sous son aile et entreprend de parfaire sa formation artistique et sa culture générale. Lorsque le conflit franco-prussien entraîne la fermeture du chantier en 1870 et la dispersion des dizaines d’artistes et d’ouvriers qui y travaillaient, Baudry se trouve obligé de rechercher un nouveau gagne-pain. La réalisation d’un piédestal pour la statue équestre du grand pacha Muḥammad ʿAlī, à ériger sur une place d’Alexandrie, le conduit en Égypte en 1871. Il y passe les quinze années suivantes et y fait une carrière fulgurante, dans l’orbite de la cour égyptienne ; de 1875 à 1877, il devient officiellement l’architecte du palais khédivial de Gīza. Dès 1872, il fait venir sur place deux collaborateurs, Charles Guimbard et Marcel Gouron Boisvert pour l’assister sur ses chantiers.4 L’un de ses premiers clients égyptiens est l’homme d’affaires Alphonse Delort de Gléon (1843–99), très investi dans la création ex-nihilo de nouveaux quartiers au Caire pour le compte de la dynastie régnante ; il en supervise les tracés, la viabilisation et la distribution des terrains à bâtir. Pour l’un de ces terrains, devenu la propriété de Delort de Gléon, Baudry dessine en 1872 une maison de « style arabe » qui incorpore quelques fragments authentiques, dont des moucharabiehs et des céramiques.5 Delort s’est passionné pour les objets d’art d’islamique dès son arrivée au Caire en 1868 ; léguée par la suite au musée du Louvre, sa collection, et le legs financier qui l’accompagne, y permettent l’ouverture en 1922 d’une section islamique. La villa Delort est en partie une mise en espace des trésors amassés sur place et dans la

r­égion ; elle est conçue par un architecte qui est depuis son plus jeune âge un collectionneur né, en dépit de moyens financiers très limités. À 17 ans, Baudry a déjà réuni un ensemble conséquent de monnaies et de médailles antiques pour le plaisir éprouvé à l’érudition historique, et les ressources que celle-ci offre à son imaginaire, ainsi qu’il l’écrit à son frère Paul en 1855 : « parce que j’ai soif d’instruction et que l’étude de l’Antiquité est très ­instructive et très amusante. Avec une pièce, je reconstruis un règne, je vois l’empereur. J’apprends quelles sont ses habitudes, ce qu’il a fait, etc. Avec le secours de l’imagination, je reconstruis un passé depuis longtemps évanoui et les moments que je passe en cette occupation me procurent un plaisir infini6 ». Le collectionneur en herbe n’aurait su mieux dire les émotions que procurent la possession et la contemplation des témoins du passé, avant même d’assoir un statut social. La découverte émerveillée des monuments du Caire, et l’aisance financière que lui procure sa position égyptienne, permettent à Baudry d’étendre ses collections aux « objets arabes », ainsi qu’il les désigne dans son testament en 1902.7 Grâce à un œil aiguisé, Baudry s’avère un extraordinaire dénicheur de métaux, de bois et de céramiques ­islamiques sur les marchés cairote et damascène. Une partie de son ancienne collection se trouve au musée du Louvre depuis 1898 et une autre dans les collections du Metropolitan Museum of Art depuis 1907 ; un ensemble de pièces conservé en mains privées a été dispersé en 1999.8 La villa Delort offre la première formulation d’un art de la reprise dont Baudry acquiert avec le  temps une remarquable maîtrise. C’est un style  ­savant, nourri par une connaissance intime

4 Marie-Laure Crosnier Leconte et Mercedes Volait, L’Égypte d’un architecte : Ambroise Baudry (1838–1906). Paris : Somogy, 1998. 5 Ambroise Baudry, Élévations, coupes et détails décoratifs de la maison Delort de Gléon au Caire, dessins, crayon, plume, encre et aquarelle sur papier, dimensions diverses, entrés en 2000 dans les collections du Musée d’Orsay à Paris, inv. aro 2000 380–85.

6 Lettre d’Ambroise Baudry à son frère Paul, 14 avril 1855 (collection particulière, transcription au Centre de documentation du Musée d’Orsay). 7 Suite du testament d’Ambroise Baudry, décembre 1902 (collection particulière, transcription au Centre de documentation du Musée d’Orsay). 8 Catalogue de vente Arts d’Orient, Paris-Drouot Montaigne, lundi 7 juin 1999, lots n° 76–147.

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Figure 6.1 Le Caire, Villa Ambroise Baudry, élévation et coupe, Baudry, 1875, plume et lavis rose (collection particulière)

des  monuments du Caire qu’il visitait fréquemment et dont il aida à produire l’un des premiers ­inventaires en 1883.9 Ses réalisations ultérieures, à commencer par sa propre maison réalisée entre 1875 et 1876 au Caire (fig. 6.1), témoignent de sa familiarité avec la culture visuelle et matérielle du Caire m ­ onumental. L’inspiration offerte pour la courbe d’une arcature ou le dessin d’une baie n’exclut pas la création. Dans son habitation, Baudry reprend l’idée, déjà tentée pour la villa Delort, des carreaux de céramique disposés en tour de porte, avec un mode

d’accrochage particulièrement élégant retenant chaque spécimen par de simples griffes, plutôt que serti dans un cadre en bois comme cela devint la norme (fig. 6.2). Pareille présentation ne doit rien à l’art mamelouk et tout à l’architecte français. L’art de la reconstitution mis au point par Ambroise Baudry fait immédiatement des émules. L’exemple le plus extraordinaire est l’hôtel particulier réalisé au Caire entre 1872 et 1879 pour le comte Gaston de Saint-Maurice (1831–1905), appelé à la cour égyptienne en 1868 pour occuper les fonctions de grand écuyer.

9 Mercedes Volait, « Amateurs français et dynamique patrimoniale : aux origines du Comité de conservation des monuments de l’art arabe », dans La France et l’Egypte à l’époque des vice-rois 1805–1882, sous la direction de Daniel Panzac et André Raymond. Le Caire : Institut français d’archéologie orientale, 2002, 311–26.

2

Remplois et répliques

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Figure 6.2 Le Caire, Villa Ambroise Baudry, céramiques en tour de porte, Baudry, 1875–76, photographe anonyme (collection particulière)

c­ alligraphié en arabe à l’intérieur de l’édifice, l’architecte-collectionneur est pour beaucoup dans le singulier projet mis en œuvre par le comte de Saint-Maurice pour sa propre habitation cairote (fig. 6.3).10 L’aristocrate revendique avoir eu l’intention de construire « une maison sur un plan ancien, avec des matériaux provenant des plus 10

Mercedes Volait, Maisons de France au Caire : le remploi de grands décors mamelouks et ottomans dans une architecture moderne. Le Caire : Publications de l’IFAO, 2012.

belles habitations des xive, xve et xvie siècles11 ». La presse la décrit comme une « restauration arabe12 » dans le sens que les architectes français de l’École des Beaux-arts conféraient au terme au xixe siècle : soit une restitution complète d’un 11 Londres, Victoria and Albert Museum Archive, Saint-Maurice nominal file, MA/1/S180, Lettre de Saint-Maurice à Sir Philip Cunliffe Owen, directeur du South Kensington Museum, 24 octobre 1882. 12 Ch. Gabriel (pseudonyme de Gabriel Charmes), « L’art arabe au Caire », Journal des débats, 26 août 1879, i, 2.

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Figure 6.3 Le Caire, Hôtel particulier Saint-Maurice, élévation principale, Guimbard et Gouron Boisvert, arch., 1872–79 (Bibliothèque de l’INHA)

­ onument à partir des vestiges qui en avaient m subsisté et des extrapolations qui pouvaient être faites sur la base de sources textuelles ou de monuments similaires. En l’occurrence, l’exercice demandé à Guimbard et Gouron était de réinventer entièrement une habitation à partir des éléments de bric et de broc que le comte avait pu récupérer dans les chantiers de démolition du Caire, ou ­encore fait venir de Damas.13 L’élément le plus ­authentique, si l’on puit dire, est le grand salon cruciforme qui règle toute la distribution de la maison. Mais c’est une authenticité toute relative, qui ne vaut que par rapport au reste de la résidence et non par rapport aux grandes salles nobles 13 Volait, Maisons de France, 2012.

qui caractérisent les demeures mameloukes et ­ottomanes du Caire. Par son ouverture sur une large terrasse, comme par la symétrie quasi parfaite des quatre branches de son plan, le grand ­salon Saint-Maurice est une recréation entièrement artificielle. Certains décors, comme les grandes plaques d’albâtre ornant les parois de la terrasse, sont de même sans équivalent dans l’architecture historique du Caire. On pourrait multiplier les exemples de détournement des formes conventionnelles de l’architecture mamelouke et ottomane. Le comte engloutit une fortune dans sa construction, quelque 850.000 F de l’époque (plus de 3 millions d’euros actuels), soit l’équivalent de 50 annuités des appointements qu’il percevait à titre de grand écuyer du vice-roi égyptien. Le

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c­ aractère luxueux des intérieurs réalisés, à grands renforts de dallages en marbre ou de boiseries marquetées, est frappant, même si les photographies noir et blanc par lesquelles ces décors intérieurs nous sont principalement connus ne rendent pas justice à leur éclatante polychromie. Il faudrait la restituer par voie de modélisation numérique pour pouvoir en apprécier pleinement les chatoiements. Devenue en 1884 propriété de la France pour servir de représentation diplomatique, l’habitation fut longtemps la plus en vue au Caire, celle qu’artistes et visiteurs de marque se pressaient pour visiter, celle que les journalistes qualifiaient de « petit Alhambra14 »—faute de référence plus adéquate sans doute. Exceptionnellement bien documenté, l’hôtel particulier Saint-Maurice permet d’analyser de près la fabrique d’une reconstitution qui tient à la fois du pavillon d’exposition universelle et du décor historiciste Second Empire, façon « Maison pompéienne » du prince Napoléon, édifiée à Paris entre 1854 et 1870. Il montre comment des éléments de nature très différente— remplois, répliques et réinterprétations—et de médialité non moins diverse—stuc, céramique, pierre, bois—sont assemblés pour donner l’illusion d’une architecture historique. Les parois de la grande terrasse tapissées d’ornements moulés sur des décors originaux illustrent la fortune de ce type de dispositif décoratif. Elles arborent des répliques qui copient strictement, ou reprennent plus librement, des rosaces, linteaux, vitraux ou panneaux de stuc ajouré situés dans des mosquées d’époque mamelouke, respectivement les sanctuaires al-Mū’ayyad (1420), Sultān Ḥasan (achevée en 1363) ou Qijmās al-Isḥāqī (1480). Les moulages remplacent à des fins d’authenticité les remplois lorsque ceux-ci ne sont pas disponibles. La technique de la reproduction par le plâtre se développe un peu partout en Europe à partir des années 1840 ; elle connaît son acmé après que 15 pays ont ratifié lors de l’Exposition universelle de 1867 une 14

« Une fête chez le ministre de France au Caire », Le Monde illustré, 9 mai 1885, 318.

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« Convention internationale pour la promotion universelle des reproductions d’œuvres d’art », proposée par Henry Cole, premier directeur du South Kensington Museum, afin d’encourager la circulation de copies en plâtre entre les musées européens.15 Ce vocabulaire décoratif se retrouve dans les intérieurs qu’Ambroise Baudry réaménage pour son ami Ernest de Blignières en sa demeure familiale du Bot en Bretagne entre ­ 1878  et  1882 (fig. 6.4), de même que dans le fastueux fumoir néo-mamelouk dessiné en 1889–93 pour l’hôtel parisien d’Edmond de Rothschild16 (fig. 6.5). Un entrepreneur français du Caire, Jean Jaladon, dont on sait encore peu de choses si ce n’est qu’il travailla pour Baudry en 1873, en fait sa spécialité. En 1891, il passe pour avoir en stock « tous les moulages des mosquées du Caire17 ». Les portes à vantaux marquetés en bois et en os, surmontées d’un moulage en plâtre, et complétées d’huisseries encadrées de céramiques moyen-orientales, forment un arrangement standard qu’on retrouve d’un « hall arabe » à l’autre. Les niches plates à arc en carène et à décor radiant constituent un autre dispositif récurrent. La Rue du Caire reconstituée à Paris à l’occasion de l’Exposition universelle de 1889 sur les instructions de Delort de Gléon en présente des spécimens, également obtenus par voie de moulages, qui furent par la suite offerts au Musée de Sculpture comparée sans qu’on sache ce qu’il en advint.18 Le décor néo-mamelouk par voie 15 16 17

18

Voir le numéro spécial : « Le moulage. Pratiques historiques et regards contemporains », In Situ, 28 (2016). Crosnier Leconte et Volait, L’Égypte d’un architecte, 1998, 121–25. Lettre de Raphael Suarès à Ambroise Baudry, 25 avril 1891 (collection particulière). Le Metropolitan Museum of art de New York a possédé des moulages islamiques dus à Jaladon, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Catalogue of the Collection of Casts. New York : Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2e éd., 1910, 222–24 ; je remercie Mariam Rosser-Owen pour cette indication. Paris, Musée des monuments français, msc 5, Moulages exécutés au Caire (Égypte) près les plus beaux monuments de l’art des Califes par feu le Baron Delort de

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Figure 6.4 Paris, Hôtel particulier Edmond de Rothschild, fumoir, Baudry architecte, 1889–93 (Archives Waddesdon Manor)

Figure 6.5 Hennebont, Château du Bot, salles de réception, Baudry architecte, 1880–82 (Musées du Mans)

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de moulages n’est plus la lubie d’un seul, c’est devenu un procédé décoratif. De tels moulages peuvent être aperçus sur des clichés photographiques datant des années 1890 pris au Caire par le photographe Beniamino Facchinelli. Tous portent au dos la mention « Museo arabo », ce qui laisse à penser qu’un atelier de moulages fonctionna sans doute un temps au sein de ce Musée (aujourd’hui Musée d’art islamique).19 3

Des objets composites

Les objets composites que les réalisations architecturales de Baudry ont livrés à la postérité ne sont pas aisés à classer dans les catégories historiographiques établies. En désignant la maison Baudry comme un « Cluny arabe » dans une lettre écrite du Caire en 1875, son frère Paul Baudry a explicitement livré une des généalogies de ce genre décoratif ou imaginaire architectural, soit le remeublement par Alexandre du Sommerard d’une des dernières demeures médiévales de Paris, aujourd’hui le musée de Cluny, pour installer ses collections. Il en a ce faisant pointé le caractère interculturel.20 Faute de témoignages probants, il est impossible de dire si ce mélange des genres relève de l’intentionnel (la conception d’une architecture interculturelle) ou de l’impensé (une déclinaison pragmatique des pratiques clunisiennes). Tout au plus sait-on que la frénésie syncrétique anime les collectionneurs bien au-delà de leur séjour égyptien, et des fragments islamiques. À son retour en France après avoir vendu ses collections islamiques au V&A Museum et son hôtel particulier

19

20

Gléon et offerts au Musée de sculpture comparée par Henri Vuagneux, 24 septembre 1901. Maryse Bideault et al., Le Caire sur le vif, Beniamino Facchinelli photographe (1875–1895). Paris : inha, 2017, catalogue d’exposition, 53–5. Mercedes Volait, « Les intérieurs orientalistes du comte de Saint-Maurice et d’Albert Goupil : des « Cluny arabe » au Caire et à Paris à la fin du xixe siècle », dans Sandra Costa, Dominique Poulot et Mercedes Volait (eds.), The Period Rooms. Allestimenti storici tra arte, collezionismo e museologia. Bologne : Bononia University Press, 2017, 103–14.

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égyptien à la ­ diplomatie française, Gaston de Saint-Maurice entreprend à nouveau un projet de « restauration », cette fois sur la Côte d’Albâtre. La bâtisse qu’il érige par assemblage de fragments, dont une façade à pans de bois achetée dans une ville normande, met en scène de nombreux remplois (dont de la céramique moyen-orientale) et des copies « de toutes provenances : au rez-dechaussée, fenêtres de l’hôtel de Cluny à Paris, arcade ogivale de Rouen, fenêtre de l’hôtel de la Trémoille, armoiries de Jacques Cœur de Bourges et au-dessus de la porte, armes de France », selon l’architecte et historien d’art Charles Normand (1900).21 Mêlant temporalités et géographies, la période mamelouke et le Second Empire, la céramique de Damas et la boiserie marquetée du Caire, les créations de Baudry ont produit, dans le domaine du décor comme du mobilier, des hybrides dont le destin patrimonial et muséal n’est pas simple à fixer. Les moulages modernes de décors historiques constituent un premier genre d’objets, dont la place n’est pas assurée hors de rares musées tel que le Victoria and Albert Museum qui réfléchit désormais à des salles illustrant, par l’universalité de sa collection de moulages, la mondialisation propre au xixe siècle. Les meubles incorporant des parties anciennes dans des structures modernes représentent un autre cas de figure.22 Le vaisselier moderne que Baudry fit fabriquer par un menuisier maltais au Caire à partir d’éléments anciens (copiés ou insérés) (fig. 6.6) figure a­ ujourd’hui dans une des salles dédiées aux dynasties mameloukes du Musée d’art islamique du Caire. Le guide des collections convient que l’objet est un unicum pour cette époque.23 Son invention est de fait postérieure de plus de 3 siècles ! Des salles consacrées 21 22

23

Cité in Volait, « Les intérieurs », 106. Mercedes Volait, « Goût de la réplique et art de la reprise : le mobilier ‹ de style arabesque › au Caire après 1860 », dans Sylvia Naef, Pauline Nerfin et Nadia Radwan (dir.), D’une rive à l’autre : patrimoines croisés. Genève : Slatkine, 2018, 223–34. Bernard O’Kane (ed.), The Illustrated Guide to the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, avec des contributions de Mohamed Abbas et Imam R. Abdulfattah. Le Caire: The American University in Cairo Press, 2012, 134. Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait and Ariane Varela Braga - 978-90-04-41264-4 Downloaded from Brill.com04/22/2020 08:55:17AM via McGill University

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Figure 6.6 Le Caire, Vaisselier présenté dans les salles mameloukes du Musée d’art islamique mais réalisé sur les plans d’Ambroise Baudry, vers 1875, Musée d’art islamique du Caire, inv. 23767 Photographie M. Volait, 2017

au xixe siècle, ou mieux encore un espace dédié à la réception des arts de l’Islam au siècle de l’industrie, seraient plus appropriées ; elles restent à ­imaginer. Des boiseries composites, datant probablement de la même époque, sont actuellement exposées au nouveau National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation ouvert au Caire en 2016 ; d’autres sont présentées dans le petit musée archéologique

de l’Université du Caire. C’est une production qui ne fut pas marginale, mais qui n’a jamais été systématiquement étudiée. En attendant que le temps fasse son œuvre et permette à l’art islamique tardif et composite de prendre ses marques dans la sphère muséale, on retiendra que le collectionnisme ouvert à la ­curiosité extra-européenne a inspiré en Égypte Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait and Ariane Varela Braga - 978-90-04-41264-4 Downloaded from Brill.com04/22/2020 08:55:17AM via McGill University

Le remploi de grands décors mamelouks et ottomans

une modalité particulière d’historicisme architectural consommateur de remplois et de copies. Le phénomène, on l’a dit, n’est pas propre à l’Égypte. Il a pour pendant, en France, la dispersion à peu près contemporaine des grands décors des xviie et xviiie siècles en vue de leur remontage aux quatre coins du globe.24 Les intérieurs anglais ont connu un destin similaire.25 Des architectes américains se sont fait par la suite une spécialité du ­remontage de ces décors démembrés.26 L’histoire antique et médiévale du remploi a inspiré de nombreuses études. C’est à faire son histoire moderne qu’il faudrait désormais s’atteler. Bibliographie Bideault, Maryse et al., Le Caire sur le vif, Beniamino Facchinelli photographe (1875–1895), catalogue d’exposition (Paris, INHA, 21 avril-8 juillet 2017). ­Paris : INHA, 2017. Catalogue de vente Arts d’Orient, Paris-Drouot Montaigne, lundi 7 juin 1999. Charpy, Manuel, Le Théâtre des objets, Espaces privés, culture matérielle et identité bourgeoise. Paris, 1830– 1914, Thèse, Université de Tours, 2010. Craven, Wayne, Stanford White, Decorator in opulence and dealer in Antiquities. New York : Columbia University Press, 2005. Crosnier Leconte, Marie-Laure et Volait, Mercedes, L’Égypte d’un architecte : Ambroise Baudry (1838– 1906). Paris : Somogy, 1998. El-Batraoui, Menha, « Un rêve d’architecte : Omar El Farouk », Qantara, 96 (2015), 57–60. 24

25 26

Bernard Pons, Grands décors français 1650–1800, reconstitués en Angleterre, aux États-Unis, en Amérique du Sud et en France. Dijon : Faton, 1995. John Harris, Moving Rooms: The Trade in Architectural Salvages. New Haven : Yale University Press, 2007. Wayne Craven, Stanford White, Decorator in opulence and dealer in Antiquities. New York : Columbia University Press, 2005.

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Gabriel, Ch. (pseudonyme de Gabriel Charmes), « L’art arabe au Caire », Journal des débats, 26 août 1879, i, 2. Harris, John, Moving Rooms : The Trade in Architectural Salvages. New Haven : Yale University Press, 2007. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Catalogue of the Collection of Casts. New York : Printed for the Museum, 2e éd., 1910. O’Kane, Bernard (éd.), The Illustrated Guide to the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, avec des contributions de Mohamed Abbas et Imam R. Abdulfattah. Le Caire : The American University in Cairo Press, 2012. Pons, Bernard, Grands décors français 1650–1800, reconstitués en Angleterre, aux États-Unis, en Amérique du Sud et en France. Dijon : Faton, 1995. Volait, Mercedes, « Amateurs français et dynamique patrimoniale : aux origines du Comité de conservation des monuments de l’art arabe », dans Daniel Panzac et André Raymond (éds.), La France et l’Egypte à l’époque des vice-rois 1805–1882. Le Caire : Institut français d’archéologie orientale, 2002, 311–26. Volait, Mercedes, Maisons de France au Caire : le remploi de grands décors mamelouks et ottomans dans une architecture moderne. Le Caire : IFAO, 2012. Volait, Mercedes, « Le goût mamelouk au xixe siècle : d’une esthétique orientaliste à un style national générique », dans Mercedes Volait et Emmanuelle Perrin (éds.), Dialogues artistiques avec les passés de l’Égypte : une perspective transnationale et transmédiale. Paris : InVisu (CNRS-INHA) (« Actes de colloques »), 2017, (consulté le 7 février 2018). Volait, Mercedes, « Les intérieurs orientalistes du comte de Saint-Maurice et d’Albert Goupil : des ‘Cluny arabe’ au Caire et à Paris à la fin du xixe siècle », dans Sandra Costa, Dominique Poulot et Mercedes Volait (éds.), The Period Rooms. Allestimenti storici tra arte, collezionismo e museologia. Bologne : Bononia University Press, 2017, 103–14. Volait, Mercedes, « Goût de la réplique et art de la reprise : le mobilier ‘de style arabesque’ au Caire après 1860 », dans Sylvia Naef, Pauline Nerfin et Nadia Radwan (éds.), D’une rive à l’autre : patrimoines croisés, Genève : Slatkine, 2018, 223–34.

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Chapter 7

International Fashion and Personal Taste

Neo-Islamic Style Rooms and Orientalizing Scenographies in Private Museums Francine Giese This article focuses on two collectors of Islamic art, both eccentric amateurs, passionate travelers and high officials,1 who at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries installed private museums in their residences in Stuttgart, at the time the capital of the Kingdom of Wurttemberg, and the Swiss town of Neuhausen, respectively. Following display strategies that Alexandre Du Sommerard (1779–1842) had introduced in Paris during the first half of the nineteenth century and that were reinvented by French architect Ambroise Baudry (1838–1906) in Cairo during the 1870s and 1880s,2 Karl, Prince of Urach, Count of Wurttemberg3 (1865–1925) and Henri

1 Whereas Henri Moser’s biography is well-known, see esp. Roger N. Balsiger and Ernst J. Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan. Henri Moser Charlottenfels 1844–1923 (Schaffhausen: Meier, 1992), 11–63, there is far less information published on the adventurous life of Karl Prince of Urach, see Wolfgang Schmierer, “Karl Fürst von Urach, Graf von Württemberg,” in Das Haus Württemberg. Ein biographisches Lexikon, ed. Sönke Lorenz, Dieter Mertens and Volker Press (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1997), 390; Harald Schukraft, Kleine Geschichte des Hauses Württemberg (Tübingen: Silberburg-Verlag, 2007), 251–52; Eberhard Merk, “Karl Fürst von Urach. Ein Orientreisender aus dem Haus Württemberg,” Archivnachrichten 40 (2010): 10–2. 2 On the significance of Alexandre Du Sommerard for the introduction of period and style rooms in private and public museums during the nineteenth century, see the contributions in Sandra Costa, Dominique Poulot, and Mercedes Volait, ed., The Period rooms. Allestimenti storici tra arte, gusto e collezionismo (Bologna, bpu, 2016) with further references. 3 For convenience only, the abbreviated name “Karl von Urach” will be used in the following.

Moser Charlottenfels (1844–1923) translocated the internationally established trend of displaying Islamic artworks in Orientalizing style rooms to Germany and Switzerland.4 For this purpose, the two cosmopolitan collectors benefited from their extensive personal and professional networks, as will be shown in the following.

4 Moser’s style room has been closely studied by the author in recent years, see Francine Giese, “Theodor Zeerleder und Henri Moser—zwei Schweizer Orientreisende und ihre Fumoirs,” in Mythos Orient. Ein Berner Architekt in Kairo, ed. Stiftung Schloss Oberhofen (Hünibach: Jost Druck, 2015), 41–4; Francine Giese, “From Style Room to Period Room: Henri Moser’s fumoir in Charlottenfels Castle,” in The Period rooms. Allestimenti storici tra arte, gusto e collezionismo, ed. Sandra Costa, Dominique Poulot, and Mercedes Volait (Bologna, bpu, 2016), 153–60; Francine Giese, “Orientalisierende Fumoirs in der Schweiz. Islamische Architekturzitate zwischen Nachahmung, Abguss und Assemblage,” in Der Orient in der Schweiz. ­Neo-islamische Architektur und Interieurs des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, ed. Francine Giese, Leïla el-Wakil, and Ariane Varela Braga (Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 2019), 59–84; Francine Giese and Ariane Varela Braga, “Translocating Metropolitan Display Strategies in 19th-century Europe. Frederick Stibbert, Henri Moser and their Orientalist Style Rooms,” International Journal of Islamic Architecture 8, no. 1 (2019): 115–40, doi: 10.1386/ijia.8.1.115_1. In contrast, there are still only few publications on the so-called Arab Rooms (Arabische Räume) at Palais Urach in Stuttgart. For a definition of the term “style room,” see Benno Schubiger, “‘Period Rooms’ als museographische Gattung: ‘Historische Zimmer’ in Schweizer Museen,” Zeitschrift für Schweizerische Archäologie und Kunstgeschichte 66, no. 2–3 (2009): 82.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��20 | doi 10.1163/9789004412644_010

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1

Displaying Islamic Art in Orientalizing Style Rooms—a Global Trend

The origins of collecting and displaying Islamic art in the nineteenth century were closely related to the exclusive circles of connoisseurs, artists and art dealers who were global trend-setters in an increasingly entangled world.5 In this context, Paris stands out as the uncontested cultural capital of the second half of the nineteenth century, with Albert Goupil (1840–84) and Edmond James de Rothschild (1845–1934) as two of its main protagonists.6 Both were famous for their Islamic art collections, which they presented in Orientalizing style rooms that have been created by assembling original pieces and contemporary replicas. The aim was to re-contextualize the artefacts through what we may call a scenography “parlante,” and to integrate collections into the domestic spaces of 5 David J. Roxburgh, “Au Bonheur des Amateurs: Collecting and Exhibiting Islamic Art, ca. 1880–1910.” Ars Orientalis 30 (2000): 9–38; Sven Kuhrau, Der Kunstsammler im Kaiserreich. Kunst und Repräsentation der Berliner Privatsammlerkultur (Kiel : Ludwig, 2005), esp. 27–31; Neil Harris, “Period Rooms and the American Art Museum,” Winterthur Portfolio 46, no. 2/3 (Summer–Autumn 2012): 117–38; Artur Ramon Navarro and Clara Beltrán Catalán, “Del coleccionismo privado a los museos. Una reflexión sobre la importancia del mecenazgo en tiempos turbulentos,” Goya 345 (October–December 2013): 285–303; María Antonia Casanovas, “De lo útil y lo bello. El coleccionismo de céramica,” Goya 345 (October–December 2013): 326–41; Solmaz Mohammadzadeh Kive, “The Exhibitionary Construction of the ‘Islamic Interior,’” in Oriental Interiors. Design, Identity, Space, ed. John Potvin (London and New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015), 39–57; Carlos G. Navarro, “La historia domesticada. Fortuny y el coleccionismo de antigüedades,” In Fortuny (1838–1874), ed. Javier Barón (Madrid : Museo Nacional del Prado, 2017), 373–425. 6 See esp. Mercedes Volait, “Les intérieurs orientalistes du comte de Saint-Maurice et d’Albert Goupil : des ‘Cluny arabes’ au Caire et à Paris à la fin du xixe siècle,” in The Period Rooms. Allestimenti storici tra arte, collezionismo e museologia, ed. Sandra Costa, Dominique Poulot and Mercedes Volait (Bologna: Bononia University Press, 2016), 103–14.

their families, as Ulrich Leben argues.7 Whereas Leben analyzes the cultural and artistic influence of Edmond de Rothschild’s fumoir arabe, executed by Ambroise Baudry between 1889 and 1892,8 on other members of the banking dynasty, Sven Kuhrau emphasizes the importance of the described display strategy for Berlin, the capital of the German Empire, during the so-called Kaiserzeit (1871–1918).9 Here, art collectors were not only influenced by Alexandre Du Sommerard’s outstanding period room ensemble at the Hôtel de Cluny, but also by other nineteenth-century Parisian art collectors, including members of the Rothschild family.10 The transfer of these aesthetics from Paris to Berlin was promoted by the Jewish banker and art collector Oskar Hainauer (1840– 94), the representative of the Rothschild bank in Berlin as of 1864.11 Even though the majority of German collectors discussed in Kuhrau’s book had a faible for Western art, Arthur Gwinner’s 1891 reintegration of the Nasrid dome of the Torre de las Damas from the Alhambra’s Partal Palace into his house at Rauchstraße 1 in Berlin attests that during the nineteenth century original Islamic artefacts were present in Berlin as well.12 7

Ulrich Leben, “A High Victorian legacy at Waddesdon Manor: Baron Ferdinand’s smoking room and its contents since the creation of Waddesdon,” Journal of the History of Collections 27, no. 3 (November 2015): 335–45. 8 M.-L. Crosnier Leconte and M. Volait, ed., L’Égypte d’un architecte. Ambroise Baudry (1838–1906) (Paris : Somogy Éditions d’Art, 1998), 70–94. As for the date, see Volait, “Les intérieurs orientalists,” 113. 9 Leben, “A High Victorian legacy,” 335–45. On the Rothschild family and their art patronage, see Pauline ­Prevost-Marcilhacy, ed., Les Rothschild. Une dynastie de mécènes en France (Paris : Somogy, Bnf, Louvre éd., 2016). 10 Kuhrau, Der Kunstsammler im Kaiserreich, 32–39. 11 Kuhrau, Der Kunstsammler im Kaiserreich, 39–45, 275. 12 Gwinner had kept this precious souvenir from the ­Partal Palace, which he owned from 1885/86 until he donated it to the Spanish state in 1891, see Jens Kröger, ed., Islamische Kunst in Berliner Sammlungen (Berlin: Parthas, 2004), 85; Anna McSweeney, “Arthur von ­

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International Networks and the Significance of Cultural Centers

In contrast to Paris and Berlin, the translocation of the so-called “Rothschild taste”13 to Wurttemberg and Switzerland is much lesser known. The implementation of a display strategy in Stuttgart and Neuhausen that had originated in the metropoles of the time may surprise at first. Taking a closer look at the biographies of Karl von Urach and Henri Moser, however, it becomes apparent that they both had been part of the cultural elite of Paris, since they had lived in the French capital temporarily or even permanently during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Accordingly, the house of Urach possessed two estates at 16 rue Saint-Guillaume and 208 Boulevard SaintGermain,14 whereas Henri Moser moved to Paris in 1893 as a result of his diplomatic activities for Austria-Hungary, acting as the Commissioner General of the occupied territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina for several years.15 As a personal friend of Edmond de Rothschild, who, together with his wife, had accompanied the Swiss Orient traveler during his fourth journey through Central Asia in 1888–89, Moser had first-hand knowledge of the Rothschild collection and especially of Edmond’s

13

14 15

Gwinner und die Alhambra-Kuppel,” in Wie die Islamische Kunst nach Berlin kam. Der Sammler und Museumsdirektor Friedrich Sarre, ed. Julia Gonnella and Jens Kröger (Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 2015), 89–102. The installation of one of the very few original pieces from the Alhambra within a contemporary interior differs from the abundant reuse of original Mamlūk pieces, see Mercedes Volait, Maisons de France au Caire. Le remploi de grands décors mamelouks et ottomans dans une architecture modern (Cairo : Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 2012), 49–70. Ulrich Leben defines the “Rothschild taste” as a practice of embedding artworks in historicist settings within the domestic spaces of collectors, see Leben, “A High Victorian legacy,” 343. HStAS GU 120 Bü. 298. Balsiger and Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan, 178–84.

fumoir arabe, of which five ink sketches have survived as part of Henri’s legacy.16 However, the networks of our two collectors actually extended the Rothschilds’ by far. Karl, who used to travel under his pseudonym of Baron Charles de Neuffen, even owned a house in ­Heliopolis—a suburb outside of Cairo established in 1905.17 During the nineteenth century, the ­Egyptian capital was known for attracting foreign architects, who brought European trends to the Khedivial city. Whereas German architects Julius Franz (1831–1915) and Carl von Diebitsch (1819–69) had a predilection for neo-Moorish style,18 Ambroise Baudry transferred the practice of reusing original furniture in historicist interiors from France to Egypt. Telling examples are the Maison de Delort de Gléon (1872), the Hôtel Saint-Maurice (1875–79) and his own residence, built in the same 16

17 18

bhm Ethno Inv. 1922.670.0260.38. Two of the mentioned sketches are published in Francine Giese and Ariane Varela Braga, “Translocating Metropolitan Display Strategies in Nineteenth-Century Europe: Frederick Stibbert, Henri Moser, and their Orientalist Style Rooms,” International Journal of Islamic Architecture 8, no. 1 (2019), figs. 7–8, doi: 10.1386/ijia.8.1.115_1. HStAS GU 10 Bü. 165; HStAS GU 120 Bü. 297. Elke Pflugradt-Abdel Aziz, “Islamisierte Architektur in Kairo : Carl von Diebitsch und der Hofarchitekt Julius Franz—Preußisches Unternehmertum im Ägypten des 19. Jahrhunderts,” PhD diss., Rheinische FriedrichWilhelms University Bonn, 2003; Elke Pflugradt-Abdel Aziz, “Orientalism as an Economic Strategy: The Architect Carl von Diebitsch in Cairo (1862–1869),” in Le Caire—Alexandrie : Architectures européennes, 1850– 1950, ed. Mercedes Volait (Cairo : Institut français d’archéologie orientale, 2004), 3–22; Elke PflugradtAbdel Aziz, “Carl von Diebitsch: Moorish Style as Stateof-the-Art Architecture in 19th-century Cairo,” in The Myth of the Orient. Architecture and Ornament in the Age of Orientalism, ed. Francine Giese and Ariane Varela Braga (Bern: Peter Lang, 2016), 63–77; Elke ­ Pflugradt-Abdel Aziz, “Carl von Diebitsch und der ­ maurische Stil als State-of-the-Art-Architektur im Ägypten des 19. Jahrhunderts,” in A Fashionable Style. Carl von Diebitsch und das Maurische Revival, ed. Francine Giese and Ariane Varela Braga (Bern: Peter Lang, 2017), 199–210.

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Ismāʾīliyya neighborhood in 1875–76. After his return to Paris, affluent French collectors of Islamic art commissioned Baudry to create several neoMamlūk style rooms, amongst which we find ­Edmond de Rothschild’s fumoir arabe at his hôtel particulier at 41 Faubourg Saint-Honoré.19 Baudry’s 1896 project for a neo-Mamlūk mosque in Paris is noteworthy as well, even though the building was never executed.20 According to Mercedes Volait, Baudry elaborated the plans together with the Parisian architect Henri Saladin (1851– 1923).21 Saladin met Henri Moser during the 1900 Paris World Fair, for which he had created the Tunisian pavilion, while Moser had been responsible for the much-acclaimed pavilion of Bosnia and 19

20 21

Mercedes Volait has worked extensively on the French architect Ambroise Baudry, see, for instance, Crosnier Leconte and Mercedes Volait, L’Égypte d’un architecte, 56–133; Mercedes Volait, “Passions françaises pour les arts mamelouks et ottomans du Caire (1867–1889),” in Rémi Labrusse, ed., Purs Décors? Arts de l’Islam, regards du xixe siècle. Collections des Arts Décoratifs (Paris : Les Arts Décoratifs and Musée du Louvre, 2007), 98–103; Volait, Maisons de France au Caire, 49–51; Mercedes Volait, “Les intérieurs orientalistes du comte de SaintMaurice et d’Albert Goupil : des ‘Cluny arabes’ au Caire et à Paris à la fin du xixe siècle,” in The Period Rooms. Allestimenti storici tra arte, collezionismo e museologia, ed. Sandra Costa, Dominique Poulot and Mercedes Volait (Bologna: Bononia University Press, 2016), ­103–14; Mercedes Volait, “De l’usage du remploi et du moulage : l’hôtel particulier du comte de Saint-­ ­ Maurice,” in Le Caire sur le vif. Beniamino Facchinelli photographe (1875–1895), ed. Maryse Bideault, Thomas ­Cazentre, Jérôme Delatour, and Mercedes Volait (Paris: inha, 2017), 53–55, as well as her contribution in this volume. Crosnier Leconte and M. Volait, L’Égypte d’un architecte, 126–27. My thanks go to Mercedes Volait for pointing out this fact to me. On Saladin’s activities as architect, scholar and art critic, see Myriam Bacha, “Henri Saladin (1851– 1923). Un architecte ‘Beaux-Arts’ promoteur de l’art ­islamique tunisien,” in L’Orientalisme architectural entre imaginaires et savoirs, ed. Nabila Oulebsir and ­Mercedes Volait (Paris : Picard, 2009), 215–30; Giese, “Theodor Zeerleder und Henri Moser.”

Herzegovina.22 As attested by a hand-written letter from May 10, 1905, the Parisian architect was impressed by the artefacts on display and acquired some of them.23 In the following years Moser and Saladin exchanged various letters relating to the Swiss traveler’s extensive photo collection— Saladin even included some reproductions of them to his publications—, his specialized literature on Bosnia and Central Asia or his first-hand knowledge on art institutions in Sarajevo.24 In 1907, when the work on Moser’s private museum and his fumoir arabe began, their correspondence even intensified.25 3

The Arab Rooms of  Palais Urach— Witnessing Metropolitan Trends in Stuttgart

After traveling great parts of the world, including Spain, North Africa and the Near East, and after having assembled a remarkable Islamic art collection, Karl von Urach decided to install several ­Orientalizing style rooms at Palais Urach, the family residence at Neckarstraße 68 in Stuttgart. The property, destroyed by bombs in 1944, which ­formerly had been known as Palais Taubenheim, was renamed after its acquisition by Karl’s mother Florestine, Duchess of Urach, Countess of Wurttemberg, in 1869. According to documents preserved at the municipal archive of Stuttgart (Stadtarchiv),  Florestine submitted a project to connect the ­originally detached annex building

22

23 24 25

Balsiger and Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan, 178– 84. Also see Ágnes Sebestyén’s contribution in this volume. bhm Ethno Inv. 1922.670.0260.81. bhm Ethno Inv. 1922.670.0260.81. Moser’s legacy, donated to Bern Historical Museum (bhm) in 1914, conserves an impressive number of hand-written letters by Henri Saladin that attest the close collaboration between architect and patron during the realization of the Swiss collector’s Arab smoking room, bhm Ethno Inv. 1908.670.162.

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with the main residence at first floor level.26 The plans by local architect Karl Mayer, dating from March 24, 1893, were approved in April. Within this newly built wing, which initially housed a salon and atelier, Karl von Urach commissioned the aforementioned architect Karl Mayer, to create a series of Orientalizing interiors inspired by neo-Moorish and neo-Mamlūk architecture, the so-called Arab Rooms (Arabische Räume) (figs. 7.1–7.2). Both Islamic styles were important references in von Urach’s life, since he had grown up in close proximity to one of the most important neo-Moorish building ensembles of the nineteenth century— Karl Ludwig Wilhelm von Zanth’s Wilhelma. ­Moreover, between 1887 and 1918 he extensively traveled across the Mediterranean, with frequent stays in Egypt, particularly in Cairo, where he owned the above-mentioned house, which is a reason why he was likewise familiar with Mamlūk architecture.27 Based on available archive materials we can identify five different building phases: according to a typed description of the Arab Rooms most probably written after Karl’s death for their public inauguration, works on the neo-Moorish room (1) started in 1893. During a second phase two neoMamlūk style rooms (2a–b) were added between 1899 and 1902 (fig. 7.3).28 This first exhibition space, on which I will focus here, was extended in 1907, 1909 and 1924–25.29 As we know from the conserved documentation, the implementation of the interior designs for these early rooms was 26

27 28 29

Stuttgart. Baugesuch Ihrer Durchlaucht der Frau Herzogin von Urach Gräfin von Württemberg betreffend die Herstellung eines Flügelbaus am Palais Neckarstrasse No 68, StAS, Nachlass Mayer 32. Wolfgang Schmierer, “Karl Fürst von Urach, Graf von Württemberg,” 390. Merkblatt für den Fremdenführer in den arabischen Räumen Neckarstrasse 68, HStAS, GU 120 Bü. 20. Building application (Baugesuch), K. Mayer Architekt, Stuttgart, May 21, 1907, HStAS GU 10 Bü. 55; building application (Baugesuch), K. Mayer Architekt, Stuttgart, April 6, 1909, HStAS GU 10 Bü. 51; building application (Baugesuch), E. Barth Architekt, Stuttgart, June 11, 1924, HStAS GU 10 Bü. 55.

time-consuming: Karl von Urach was occupied with obtaining original architectural pieces, plaster replicas, as well as visual reproductions of interiors or parts of it. As of 1895, the Stuttgart-based collector therefore began searching for Nasrid and Mamlūk plaster casts, as well as for original woodwork and stained glass windows from Cairo.30 Likewise, detailed sketches of the spectacular ceilings of Baudry’s Hôtel Saint-Maurice testify to its significance as reference building of the time. In fact, the ceilings of Karl’s Arab Rooms 1 and 2b were largely based on the examples from Saint-Maurice.31 4

The Availability of Islamic Reproductions—an International Business

Various hand-written letters and sales receipts preserved at the family legacy allow for a deeper insight into the international network of Karl von Urach.32 Exceeding first expectations, they reveal that he entertained relations to the most important institutions and illustrious persons of his time. Moreover, they also testify to the reproducibility and commercialization of Islamic architecture in the second half of the nineteenth century. Karl’s correspondence with London and Madrid is most interesting in this regard, as both cities were 30 31

32

HStAS GU 120 Bü. 316. The Stuttgarter Hauptstaatsarchiv holds various undated pencil drawings related to the vestibule ceiling at Saint-Maurice by Karl von Urach, as well as an ink sketch of two neo-Mamlūk rooms by Cairo-based architect Max Herz (fig. 7.4), with architectural details appropriated from the same building, HStAS GU 120 Bü. 316. For detailed sketches of the ceiling of Palais Urach’s neo-Mamlūk style room 2b, which follows the general outline of the central latern of the grand salon at Saint-Maurice, see Fürst Carl v. Urach, Plafond im Atelier, Karl Mayer, July 4, 1898, StAS Nachlass Mayer 32; Palais Urach, Maurischer Plafond, Karl Mayer, August 1898, StAS Nachlass Mayer 32. For a historic photograph of the mentioned ceiling, see StAS Nachlass Mayer 32. HStAS GU 120 Bü. 316.

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Figure 7.1 Stuttgart, Palais Urach, Arab Rooms, interior of a neo-Moorish style room, Karl Mayer, begun in 1893. HStAS GU 99 Bü. 557b.

Figure 7.2 Stuttgart, Palais Urach, Arab Rooms, interior of a neo-Mamlūk style room, Karl Mayer, begun in 1907. HStAS GU 99 Bü. 557b.

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Figure 7.3 Stuttgart, Palais Urach, Arab Rooms, floor plan of the first two building phases indicating the planned ceilings and domes, Karl Mayer, undated. HStAS GU 120 Bü. 316.

important centers of the Moorish Revival and at the same time internationally known for their cast collections.33 With contacts to Henry Gillman, the general manager of the Crystal Palace Company, Arthur B. Skinner, at that time assistant director of the South Kensington Museum, and Juan Facundo Riaño, the director of Madrid’s Museo de Reproduc33

The vast collection of Islamic casts at V&A has been studied only partially so far. The Mamlūk casts that ­primarily came from Cairene buildings are widely unpublished still, whereas the extensive collection of ­Alhambra casts and models have been the matter of various publications, see esp. Antonia Raquejo Grado, “El arte árabe : un aspecto de la visión romántica de España en la Inglaterra del siglo xix.” PhD diss., Universidad Complutense Madrid, 1987, 456–559; Fiona Leslie, “Inside Outside. Changing attitude towards architectural models in the Museums at South Kensington,” Architectural History 47 (2004): 159–200; Mariam Rosser-Owen, “Coleccionar la Alhambra : Owen Jones y la España Islámica en el South Kensington Museum,” in Owen Jones y la Alhambra, ed. Juan Calatrava, Mariam Rosser-Owen, Abraham Thomas, and Rémi Labrusse (London and Granada: Victoria and Albert Museum, Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife, 2011), 43–69. As for the mentioned cast courts, see Tanya Harrod, “The Cast Courts at the V. & A. London,” The Burlington Magazine 127, no. 983 (February 1985): 110–11.

ciones Artísticas and member of the Royal Spanish Academies of History, Language and Fine Arts, the key figures and collections of historical casts were at Karl’s disposal. From the mentioned documents we learn that the Stuttgart-based collector was not only interested in purchasing copies of Owen Jones’s Alhambra casts, which had been on display in a separate room of his 1854 Alhambra Court at Sydenham,34 but also of two Mamlūk plaster casts 34

Owen Jones, The Alhambra Court in the Crystal Palace (London: Crystal Palace Library and Bradbury & Evans, 1854), 86–8. For further reading see Kathryn Ferry, “Owen Jones and the Alhambra court at the Crystal Palace,” in Revisiting al-Andalus. Perspectives on the Material Culture of Islamic Iberia and Beyond, ed. Glaire Anderson and Mariam Rosser-Owen (Leiden: Brill, ­ 2007), 225–46; Juan Calatrava, “Owen Jones y el Alhambra Court de Sydenham, 1854,” in Owen Jones. El Patio Alhambra en el Crystal Palace. Con estudios introductorios de Juan Calatrava y José Tito (Granada and Madrid: Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife and Abada Ed., 2010), 7–40; Ariane Varela Braga, “How to Visit the Alhambra and ‘Be Home in Time for Tea.’ Owen Jones’s Alhambra Court in the Crystal Palace of Sydenham,” in A Fashionable Style. Carl von Diebitsch und das Maurische Revival, ed. Francine Giese and Ariane Varela Braga (Bern: Peter Lang, 2017), 71–83.

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kept at the South Kensington Museum, today the Victoria and Albert Museum. A hand-written l­ etter from Skinner, dated July 8, 1896, and a payment receipt from July 15, 1896, indicate that the two casts in question consisted of partial copies of a dome and a pendentive from a Cairene house with traces of original coloring.35 At a certain point, Karl seems to have wanted to design his neo-Moorish room after the model of Maximilian von Scherer’s Moorish Hall in Castell Castle in the Swiss town of Tägerwilen, executed in 1891–94 by Stuttgart architect Emil Otto Tafel (1838–1914).36 A telegram from November 2, 1896, sent by the painting and plaster workshop Schmidt & Söhne in Zurich to the studio of Royal Court Plasterer (Kgl. Hofstuckateur) Eugen Rau at Heusteigstrasse 15b, Stuttgart, states that Schmidt & Söhne, who executed the stucco decoration in Tägerwilen, had been asked to provide one general view of the interior and six close-ups of its neoNasrid stuccowork.37 In addition, the Swiss workshop agreed to provide one plaster cast of each Moorish mold (“maurische Modelle”), along with a corresponding license for a price of 600 Frs. ­According to Karl von Urach’s hand-written comment on the back of the telegram, the stucco decorations in Castell Castle had not appeared authentic enough to the demanding collector. This is where Juan Facundo Riaño comes into play, whom Karl contacted in 1898 and asked for

35 36

37

HStAS GU 120 Bü 316. On Tafel’s Moorish Hall see Johannes Meyer, “Geschichte des Schlosses Kastell,” Thurgauische Beiträge zur vaterländischen Geschichte 43 (1903): 70–191; Regine Abegg, Peter Erni, and Alfons Raimann, Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kantons Thurgau, vol. viii: Rund um Kreuzlingen (Bern: Gesellschaft für Schweizerische Kunstgeschichte gsk, 2014): 340–60; Francine Giese, “From al-Andalus to Germany—Artistic Transfer in 19th-century Europe,” in Asia and Europe Interconnected: Agents, Concepts, and Things, ed. Angelika Malinar and Simone Müller (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2018), 131–53. HStAS GU 120 Bü. 83.

original Alhambra casts. Unfortunately, Riaño was unable to satisfy Karl’s demand, since neither the Royal Academy of History, nor the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid possessed such casts. In a hand-written letter from February 17, 1898, Riaño therefore recommends Karl to try his luck in Granada and contact Mariano Contreras, the son of the famous Rafael Contreras Muñoz (1824–90), who was known for his casts and models of the Alhambra.38 From where exactly Karl eventually got his casts is difficult to say, for there are not any further letters related to the purchase of Alhambra casts in Spain. 5

Buying Mamlūk Reproductions and Furniture in Nineteenth-Century Cairo

In contrast, purchasing Mamlūk pieces proved less difficult. Thus Karl von Urach ordered the required items from Cairo directly, as is testified by various hand-written documents. We have notice of a first order from May 4, 1895, at L. Almendary & J. Jaladon’s entreprise de travaux publics that comprises of a total of 19 items, including plaster casts and original pieces of architecture.39 Three years later, on March 28, 1898, when works on the interior designs of phases 1 and 2 of the Arab Rooms were well underway, Karl bought from Jaladon again.40 This time we even have knowledge of the exact transportation route—the objects were shipped to Stuttgart via Trieste in June 1898.41 According to the above-mentioned description of the Arab Rooms, Karl this time only acquired a selection of original items, from which his architect Karl Mayer made faithful copies, “of all ceiling and wall 38 39

HStAS GU 120 Bü. 316. L. Almendary & J. Jaladon, Note des Moulages. Arabesques. et Vitraux anciens à Fournir à Monsieur de Steuffen [sic], Cairo, May 4, 1895, HStAS GU 120 Bü. 316. 40 Hand-written letter from J. Jaladon to Charles de Neuffen, Cairo, March 28, 1898, HStAS GU 120 Bü. 316. 41 Hand-written letter from J. Jaladon to Charles de Neuffen, Cairo, June 13, 1898, HStAS GU 120 Bü. 316.

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100 d­ecorations always one authentic piece was brought from the Orient to serve as sample; and these pieces were then copied in Stuttgart.”42 What we can observe here is the creation of assemblages of original pieces, contemporary replicas and plaster casts similar to those of Baudry’s neo-Mamlūk interiors in Cairo and France. The availability of casts and original pieces from Cairo’s historic monuments may surprise a present-day observer. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, however, there was a considerable demand for architectural remains coming from Mamlūk and Ottoman buildings. In fact, this can be regarded as a sell-out of Egypt’s Islamic heritage, which was an immediate result of Ismāʿīl Pasha’s (r. 1863–79) controversial remodeling of urban spaces.43 In this context, the involvement of Max Herz (1856–1919), the chief architect of Cairo’s Comité de Conservation des Monuments de l’Art Arabe and an authority of the Mamlūk Revival,44 is very significant as well. According to “Von allen Decken und Wandverzierungen ist immer ein echtes Stück als Muster vom Orient mitgebracht und es sind dann in Stuttgart die gleichen Stücke nachgeahmt worden,” English translation by Michael Conrad, Merkblatt für den Fremdenführer in den arabischen Räumen Neckarstrasse 68, HStAS, GU 120 Bü. 20. 43 Volait, Maisons de France au Caire, 39. On Cairo’s urban development and its nineteenth-century modernization, see Caroline Williams, “Transforming the Old: Cairo’s New Medieval City,” Middle East Journal 56, no. 3 (2002): 457–75; Nezar AlSayyad, Irene A. Bierman, and Nasser Rabbat, ed., Making Cairo Medieval (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2005); Paula Sanders, Creating Medieval Cairo, Empire, Religion, and Architectural Preservation in Nineteenth-Century Egypt (Cairo: American University of Cairo Press, 2008). 44 On the various activities of Max Herz, see István Ormos, “Max Herz (1856–1919): His Life and Activities in Egypt.” In Le Caire—Alexandrie. Architectures européennes, 1850–1950, edited by Mercedes Volait, 161–78. 2nd ed. Cairo : Institut français d’archéologie orientale, 2004; István Ormos, “The Cairo Street at the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893,” in L’Orientalisme architectural entre imaginaires et savoirs, ed. Nabila Oulebsir and Mercedes Volait (Paris: Picard, 2009),

Giese

Jaladon’s abovementioned letter from June 13, 1898,45 Herz played a crucial role in the trade with Mamlūk casts and original pieces of furniture. Moreover, he also worked for European patrons, including our collector from Stuttgart, a ­collaboration attested by the abovementioned ink sketch for two neo-Mamlūk rooms from March 1898 (fig. 7.4).46 Whereas the localization of the two rooms shown in the sketch remains difficult, the ceiling with a star-shaped central melon dome (“plafond lis avec la coquille”) depicted on the right side, can be regarded as direct model for the ceiling in Palais Urach’s neo-Moorish style room (fig. 7.1). Cooperations like the one between Karl von Urach and Max Herz were no exceptions; this becomes apparent when taking into account Henri Moser’s correspondence on the execution of his fumoir arabe which makes references to the same architect. 6

42

Henri Moser’s fumoir arabe—the Translocation of a Parisian Fashion

Even though Moser had an aversion to the neoMoorish style,47 his exhibition rooms and especially his fumoir arabe, which he considered integral parts of his private museum and were installed at Charlottenfels Castle between 1907 and 1909, bear witness to the same trend of presenting art objects in Orientalizing atmospheres. Similar to Karl von Urach, who was in close contact with his architect and provided numerous sketches for the interiors,48 Henri Moser himself took an active part in the designing process of the room,

45 46 47 48

195–214; Mercedes Volait, Fous du Caire. Excentriques, architectes & amateurs d’art en Égypte 1863–1914 (n.p.: L’Archange Minotaure, 2009), 193–96. See note 41. Croquis pour deux chambres en style arabe, Max Herz, 1898, HStAS GU 120 Bü. 316. See the contribution by Katrin Kaufmann in this volume. HStAS GU 120 Bü. 316.

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Figure 7.4 Croquis pour deux chambres en style arabe, Max Herz, March 1898. HStAS GU 120 Bü. 316.

supervised by the aforementioned architect Henri Saladin from January 1907 onwards.49 It is therefore no surprise that Moser’s fumoir shows even ­stronger ties to Paris, since this was where Moser had ­purchased original pieces from art dealers and ­private collectors, and it was here that contemporary replicas were manufactured by specialized workshops.50 Nevertheless, a hand-written letter from Moussa Arouani from the Damascus-based furniture manufacturer and antiquary Au Musée Oriental attests that the Swiss collector also “shopped” on an international scale.51 Likewise, he 49 50

51

NOTES des honoraires dûs à M. HENRI SALADIN, ARCHITECTE, January 15, 1908, bhm Inv. 1908.670.162. This aspect has been analyzed in detail elsewhere, see Giese, “From Style Room to Period Room,” 156–58. Giese and Varela Braga, “Translocating Metropolitan Display Strategies.” bhm Ethno Inv. 1922.670.0260.79.

may have followed Saladin’s advice and contacted Max Herz for the acquisition of the mašrabīya that was later incorporated into his style room (fig. 7.5).52 It is therefore justified to say that an assemblage of original pieces and nineteenth-century reproductions was applied to Moser’s fumoir that resembled Karl’s in many ways; this time, however, it was the collector’s eclectic taste that had motivated the creation of an equally eclectic interior (fig. 7.6). 7

Display and Orientalizing Scenography

Our two collectors not only played very active parts in the conception and execution of their style rooms; their scenographies also followed their personal tastes. Whereas Henri Moser’s touring exhibition on Central Asia gave him numerous 52

bhm Ethno Inv. 1922.670.0260.77.

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Figure 7.5 Neuhausen, Charlottenfels Castle, Henri Moser’s fumoir arabe. Bernisches Historisches Museum, Bern, bhm Ethno Ph1.240.07566.

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Figure 7.6 Mr. H. Moser à Charlottenfels, Fumoir arabe, coupé en long, Henri Saladin, Paris, 20 Décembre 1907. Bernisches Historisches Museum, bhm Ethno Inv. 1922.670.0260.55.

opportunities to elaborate a coherent display strategy,53 Karl von Urach was a rather unexperienced newcomer to the field. He nonetheless had very precise ideas as to how he wanted his ­collection to be presented, as is testified by various pencil drawings preserved at the Hauptstaatsarchiv in Stuttgart.54 Following the internationally accepted display strategies used at important exhibitions of Islamic art in Paris (1893), Stockholm (1897), Berlin (1899) or Algiers (1905),55 Karl hung 53

54 55

The touring exhibition was shown in Schaffhausen (1876/86), Geneva (1886), Bern (1886), Zurich (1887), as well as in Stuttgart and Paris, see Balsiger and Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan, 61, 169–74. HStAS GU 120 Bü. 316. On these exhibitions, see David J. Roxburgh, “Au Bonheur des Amateurs : Collecting and Exhibiting Islamic

Art, ca. 1880–1910,” Ars Orientalis 30 (2000): 9–38; Christine Peltre, Les arts de l’Islam. Itinéraires d’une redécouverte (Paris: Gallimard, 2006); Pflugradt-Abdel Aziz, Orientalism as an Economic Strategy, 80–2; Jens Kröger, “Early Islamic Art History in Germany and Concepts of Objects and Exhibitions,” in Islamic Art and the Museum: Approaches to Art and Archaeology of the Muslim World in the Twenty-First Century, ed. Benoît Junod, Georges Khalil, Stefan Weber, and Gerhard Wolf (London: Saqi, 2012), 173–82; Kive, “The Exhibitionary Construction of the ‘Islamic Interior.’” It is noteworthy that Edmond the Rothschild, who was one of the main representatives of the abovementioned “Rothschild taste,” also was a member of the organization committee of the 1893 exhibition in Paris. It therefore is likely that he also influenced its display strategy, see Labrusse, Purs Décors, 320. Moser contributed to the same exhibition as a private lender of loans, see Balsiger and Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan, 178.

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Figure 7.7 Stuttgart, Palais Urach, Arab Rooms, pencil drawing indicating the intended display in rooms 1a–b, Karl von Urach. HStAS GU 120 Bü. 316.

carpets and other textiles onto the walls and thereby created a tent-like scenery that stood in stark contrast to the architectural quality of the Arab Rooms at Palais Urach. In front of this Orientalizing installation he placed artworks on pedestals and surrounded them with small furniture pieces (fig. 7.7).56 While we possess comprehensive visual records of Henri Moser’s exhibition rooms at Charlottenfels Castle that document their scenography, ­including the papier mâché horses and mannequins he had ordered at the workshop of Georges

56

The family’s estate at Stuttgart’s Hauptstaatsarchiv holds various such sketches, with the lack of appropriate dating impeding the reconstruction of the original display, see HStAS GU 120 Bü. 316. As Karl’s Islamic art collection is largely lost, the current state of research does not allow any further clarification of this point.

Hallé Fils & Successeur on rue Boulard in Paris,57 this unfortunately is not the case for Karl’s Arab Rooms. Most photographs of the Orientalizing ­interiors at Palais Urach show them without the artworks on display. Nevertheless, due to the aforementioned descriptive document of the Arab Rooms we are at least well-informed as to what objects were on display in the exhibition rooms ­after the art collector had died.58 57 58

bhm Ethno Inv. 1922.670.0260.76. In the neo-Moorish style room (1), the following objects were on display: prayer rugs and dresses on the walls, a small table with a coffee set and writing ­utensils, as well as a Quran stand (kursi). In the neoMamlūk style rooms (2a–b), the following items were on d­ isplay: built-in Mamlūk wood carvings, stained glass windows, ceilings and inscriptions, as well as tapestries and floor carpets, see Merkblatt für den Fremdenführer in den arabischen Räumen Neckarstrasse 68, HStAS, GU 120 Bü. 20.

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8

Transnational Display Strategies and the Specific Signatures of Collectors

The integration of art collections into the domestic spaces of art collectors and their display in historicist style rooms are important features of the private museums discussed in this contribution. It has been shown that Karl von Urach and Henri Moser generally followed international display strategies established in the cultural centers of the time. However, their eccentric personalities were still tangible in their installations as they bore their personal signatures. Likewise, the restricted access to the exhibition rooms augmented their exclusiveness.59 It was only at the end of Karl and Henri’s lives that their collections were made accessible to a broader public. In Stuttgart, the Arab Rooms, which after Karl’s death came under the auspices of his brother Wilhelm, became a local attraction.60 Opening their doors on June 1, 1926, visitors were accompanied by a guide, who had to obey strict instructions as to how to behave, what itinerary to follow and what explanations to give.61 Henri Moser, on the other hand, was not that fortunate, for his collection could not remain in Charlottenfels Castle. After long negotiations with local authorities, the Swiss collector donated his entire collection and his style room to the Historical Museum in Bern,62 under the condition, that it would be presented in a proper exhibition space created especially for this purpose and executed between 59

60

61 62

According to Sven Kuhrau, the access to the private collections in Berlin was restricted in an equal manner during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There were only a few exceptions, cf. Kuhrau, Der Kunstsammler im Kaiserreich, 120–22. Claus Mohr, “Arabische Kunst in Stuttgart,” Deutsches Volksblatt, Stuttgart, no. 170, July 28, 1926, 6, HStAS, GU 120 Bü. 20; Walter Kast, “Ein Stück Orient in Stuttgart,” Stuttgarter Illustrierte—Das bunte Blatt, no. 23, 1933, 155, HStAS, GU 128 Bü. 364. Merkblatt für den Fremdenführer in den arabischen Räumen Neckarstrasse 68, HStAS, GU 120 Bü. 20. For more detailed information, see the contribution by Alban von Stockhausen in this volume.

1919 and 1921 by Stettler & Hunziker after plans by Henri Saladin.63 Even though the Moser collection lost its private “aura” through its relocation in a public museum, it nonetheless was perceived as the high achievement of this outstanding amateur, Orient traveller and private collector that had managed to bring the East to Switzerland.64 Acknowledgements My thanks go to Alban von Stockhausen (­Bernisches Historisches Museum), Eberhard Merk (Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Abteilung Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart), Barbara Six and Katharina ­Beiergrößlein (Stadtarchiv Stuttgart) for their precious help, as well as to Michael A. Conrad for proof-reading. Archival Abbreviations bhm HStAS StAS

Bernisches Historisches Museum Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, ­Abteilung Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart Stadtarchiv Stuttgart

Bibliography Abegg, Regine, Peter Erni, and Alfons Raimann. Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kantons Thurgau. Vol. viii: Rund um Kreuzlingen. Bern: Gesellschaft für Schweizerische Kunstgeschichte GSK, 2014. AlSayyad, Nezar, Irene A. Bierman, and Nasser Rabbat, ed. Making Cairo Medieval. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2005.

63

Balsiger and Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan, 190–97. On the mentioned exhibition space, see Katrin Kaufmann’s contribution in this volume. 64 Rudolf Zeller, “Die ethnographische Abteilung,” in Jahresbericht des Historischen Museums in Bern, ed. Historisches Museum Bern (Bern: K.J. Wyss, 1923), 147.

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106 Bacha, Myriam. “Henri Saladin (1851–1923). Un architecte ‘Beaux-Arts’ promoteur de l’art islamique tunisien.” In L’Orientalisme architectural entre imaginaires et savoirs, edited by Nabila Oulebsir and Mercedes Volait, 215–30. Paris: Picard, 2009. Balsiger, Roger N. and Ernst J. Kläy. Bei Schah, Emir und Khan. Henri Moser Charlottenfels 1844–1923. Schaffhausen: Meier, 1992. Calatrava, Juan. “Owen Jones y el Alhambra Court de Sydenham, 1854.” In Owen Jones. El Patio Alhambra en el Crystal Palace. Con estudios introductorios de Juan Calatrava y José Tito, 7–40. Granada and Madrid: Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife and Abada Ed., 2010. Casanovas, María Antonia. “De lo útil y lo bello. El coleccionismo de céramica.” Goya 345 (October–­ December 2013): 326–41. Crosnier Leconte, Marie-Laure, and M. Volait, ed. L’Égypte d’un architecte. Ambroise Baudry (1838– 1906). Paris: Somogy Éditions d’Art, 1998. Ferry, Kathryn. “Owen Jones and the Alhambra court at the Crystal Palace.” In Revisiting al-Andalus. Perspectives on the Material Culture of Islamic Iberia and ­Beyond, edited by Glaire Anderson and Mariam Rosser-Owen, 225–46. Leiden: Brill, 2007. Giese, Francine. “Theodor Zeerleder und Henri Moser— zwei Schweizer Orientreisende und ihre Fumoirs.” In Mythos Orient. Ein Berner Architekt in Kairo, edited by Stiftung Schloss Oberhofen, 41–4. Hünibach: Jost Druck, 2015. Giese, Francine. “From Style Room to Period Room: Henri Moser’s fumoir in Charlottenfels Castle.” In The Period rooms. Allestimenti storici tra arte, gusto e collezionismo, edited by Sandra Costa, Dominique Poulot, and Mercedes Volait, 153–60. Bologna, BPU, 2016. Giese, Francine. “Orientalisierende Fumoirs in der Schweiz. Islamische Architekturzitate zwischen Nachahmung, Abguss und Assemblage.” In Der ­Orient in der Schweiz. Neo-islamische Architektur und Interieurs des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, edited by Francine Giese, Leïla el-Wakil, and Ariane Varela Braga. Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 2019, 59–84. Giese, Francine. “From al-Andalus to Germany—­ Artistic Transfer in 19th-century Europe.” In Asia and

Giese Europe Interconnected: Agents, Concepts, and Things, edited by Angelika Malinar and Simone Müller. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2018, 131–53. Giese, Francine and Ariane Varela Braga. “Translocating Metropolitan Display Strategies in 19th-century ­Europe. Frederick Stibbert, Henri Moser and their Orientalist Style Rooms.” International Journal of Islamic Architecture 8:1 (2019): 115–40, , accessed March 28, 2019. Harris, Neil. “Period Rooms and the American Art Museum.” Winterthur Portfolio 46, no. 2/3 (Summer–Autumn 2012): 117–38. Harrod, Tanya. “The Cast Courts at the V. & A. London,” The Burlington Magazine 127, no. 983 (February 1985): 110–1. Jones, Owen. The Alhambra Court in the Crystal Palace. London: Crystal Palace Library and Bradbury & Evans, 1854. Kive, Solmaz Mohammadzadeh. “The Exhibitionary Construction of the ‘Islamic Interior’.” In Oriental Interiors. Design, Identity, Space, edited by John Potvin, 39−57. London and New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015. Kröger, Jens, ed. Islamische Kunst in Berliner Sammlungen, Berlin: Parthas, 2004. Kröger, Jens, ed. “Early Islamic Art History in Germany and Concepts of Objects and Exhibitions.” In Islamic Art and the Museum: Approaches to Art and Archaeology of the Muslim World in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Benoît Junod, Georges Khalil, Stefan Weber, and Gerhard Wolf, 173–82. London: Saqi, 2012. Kuhrau, Sven. Der Kunstsammler im Kaiserreich. Kunst und Repräsentation der Berliner Privatsammlerkultur. Kiel: Ludwig, 2005. Labrusse, Rémi, ed. Purs Décors? Arts de l’Islam, regards du xixe siècle. Collections des Arts Décoratifs. Paris: Les Arts Décoratifs et Musée du Louvre, 2007. Leben, Ulrich. “A High Victorian legacy at Waddesdon Manor: Baron Ferdinand’s smoking room and its contents since the creation of Waddesdon.” Journal of the History of Collections 27, no. 3 (November 2015): 335–45. Leslie, Fiona. “Inside Outside. Changing attitude towards architectural models in the Museums at South

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International Fashion and Personal Taste Kensington.” Architectural History 47 (2004): 159– 200. McSweeney, Anna. “Arthur von Gwinner und die Alhambra-Kuppel.” In Wie die Islamische Kunst nach Berlin kam. Der Sammler und Museumsdirektor Friedrich Sarre, edited by Julia Gonnella and Jens Kröger, 89–102. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 2015. Merk, Eberhard. “Karl Fürst von Urach. Ein Orientreisender aus dem Haus Württemberg.” Archivnachrichten 40 (2010): 10–2. Meyer, J. “Geschichte des Schlosses Kastell.” Thurgauische Beiträge zur vaterländischen Geschichte 43 (1903): 70–191. Navarro, Carlos G. “La historia domesticada. Fortuny y el coleccionismo de antigüedades.” In Fortuny (1838– 1874), edited by Javier Barón, 373–425. Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title, ­organized by and presented at the Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid : Museo Nacional del Prado, 2017. Ormos, István. “Max Herz (1856–1919): His Life and Activities in Egypt.” In Le Caire—Alexandrie. Architectures européennes, 1850–1950, edited by Mercedes Volait, 161–78. 2nd ed. Cairo : Institut français d’archéologie orientale, 2004. Ormos, István. “The Cairo Street at the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893.” In L’Orientalisme architectural entre imaginaires et savoirs, edited by Nabila Oulebsir and Mercedes Volait, 195–214. Paris : Picard, 2009. Peltre, Christine. Les arts de l’Islam. Itinéraires d’une redécouverte. Paris: Gallimard, 2006. Pflugradt-Abdel Aziz, Elke. “Islamisierte Architektur in Kairo: Carl von Diebitsch und der Hofarchitekt Julius Franz—Preußisches Unternehmertum im Ägypten des 19. Jahrhunderts,” PhD diss., Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University Bonn, 2003. Pflugradt-Abdel Aziz, Elke. “Orientalism as an Economic Strategy: The Architect Carl von Diebitsch in Cairo (1862–1869).” In Le Caire—Alexandrie: Architectures européennes, 1850–1950, edited by Mercedes Volait, 3–22. 2nd ed. Cairo: Institut français d’archéologie orientale, 2004. Pflugradt-Abdel Aziz, Elke. “Carl von Diebitsch: Moorish Style as State-of-the-Art Architecture in 19th-cen-

107 tury Cairo.” In The Myth of the Orient. Architecture and Ornament in the Age of Orientalism, edited by Francine Giese and Ariane Varela Braga, 63–77. Bern: Peter Lang, 2016. Pflugradt-Abdel Aziz, Elke. “Carl von Diebitsch und der maurische Stil als State-of-the-Art-Architektur im Ägypten des 19. Jahrhunderts.” In A Fashionable Style. Carl von Diebitsch und das Maurische Revival, edited by Francine Giese and Ariane Varela Braga, 199–210. Bern: Peter Lang, 2017. Prevost-Marcilhacy, Pauline, ed. Les Rothschild. Une dynastie de mécènes en France. 3 vols. Paris: Somogy, Bnf, Musée du Louvre éd., 2016. Ramon Navarro, Artur and Clara Beltrán Catalán. “Del coleccionismo privado a los museos. Una reflexión sobre la importancia del mecenazgo en tiempos ­turbulentos.” Goya 345 (October–December 2013): 285–303. Raquejo Grado, Antonia. “El arte árabe : un aspecto de la visión romántica de España en la Inglaterra del siglo xix.” PhD diss., Universidad Complutense Madrid, 1987. Rosser-Owen, Mariam. “Coleccionar la Alhambra : Owen Jones y la España Islámica en el South Kensington Museum.” In Owen Jones y la Alhambra, ­edited by Juan Calatrava, Mariam Rosser-Owen, Abraham Thomas, and Rémi Labrusse, 43–69. London and Granada: Victoria and Albert Museum, Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife, 2011. Roxburgh, David J. “Au Bonheur des Amateurs: Collecting and Exhibiting Islamic Art, ca. 1880–1910.” Ars Orientalis 30 (2000): 9–38. Sanders, Paula. Creating Medieval Cairo, Empire, Religion, and Architectural Preservation in NineteenthCentury Egypt. Cairo: American University of Cairo Press, 2008. Schmierer, Wolfgang. “Karl Fürst von Urach, Graf von Württemberg.” In Das Haus Württemberg. Ein biographisches Lexikon, edited by Sönke Lorenz, Dieter Mertens and Volker Press, 390. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1997. Schubiger, Benno. “‘Period Rooms’ als museog­ ra­ phische Gattung: ‘Historische Zimmer’ in Schweizer Museen.” Zeitschrift für Schweizerische Archäologie und Kunstgeschichte 66, no. 2–3 (2009): 81–112.

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108 Schukraft, Harald. Kleine Geschichte des Hauses Württemberg. 2nd ed. Tübingen: Silberburg-Verlag, 2007. Varela Braga, Ariane. “How to Visit the Alhambra and ‘Be Home in Time for Tea.’ Owen Jones’s Alhambra Court in the Crystal Palace of Sydenham.” In A Fashionable Style. Carl von Diebitsch und das Maurische Revival, edited by Francine Giese and Ariane Varela Braga, 71–83. Bern: Peter Lang, 2017. Volait, Mercedes. “Passions françaises pour les arts mamelouks et ottomans du Caire (1867–89).” In Rémi Labrusse (ed.), Purs Décors? Arts de l’Islam, regards du xixe siècle. Collections des Arts Décoratifs, 98–103. Paris : Les Arts Décoratifs and Musée du Louvre, 2007. Volait, Mercedes. Fous du Caire. Excentriques, architectes & amateurs d’art en Égypte 1863–1914. n.p.: L’Archange Minotaure, 2009. Volait, Mercedes. Maisons de France au Caire. Le remploi de grands décors mamelouks et ottomans dans une architecture modern. Cairo: Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 2012.

Giese Volait, Mercedes. “Les intérieurs orientalistes du comte de Saint-Maurice et d’Albert Goupil : des ‘Cluny arabes’ au Caire et à Paris à la fin du xixe siècle.” In The Period Rooms. Allestimenti storici tra arte, collezionismo e museologia, edited by Sandra Costa, Dominique Poulot and Mercedes Volait, 103–14. Bologna : Bononia University Press, 2016. Volait, Mercedes. “De l’usage du remploi et du moulage : l’hôtel particulier du comte de Saint-Maurice.” In Le Caire sur le vif. Beniamino Facchinelli photographe (1875–1895), edited by Maryse Bideault, Thomas Cazentre, Jérôme Delatour, et Mercedes Volait, 53–5. Paris : INHA, 2017. Williams, Caroline. “Transforming the Old: Cairo’s New Medieval City.” Middle East Journal 56, no. 3 (2002): 457–75. Zeller, Rudolf “Die ethnographische Abteilung.” In Jahresbericht des Historischen Museums in Bern, edited by Historisches Museum Bern, 142–59. Volume ii, 1922. Bern: K.J. Wyss, 1923.

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Part 3 Museums and International Exhibitions

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Chapter 8

Carpets and Empire: The 1891 Exhibition at the Handelsmuseum in Vienna Barbara Karl More often than not, exhibitions mirror not only the state of research but also the socio-economic and political landscape of their wider setting. This is especially true for a series of exhibitions that took place during the last quarter of the nineteenth century in imperial Vienna’s Handelsmuseum, originally founded in 1875 as the k. k. Orientalisches Museum and rebranded as the k. k. Österreichisches Handelsmuseum in 1887 in order to broaden its geographic field of action. These exhibitions were instrumental for the emerging field of art history, including the Islamic world, and accompanied by luxurious catalogs. The most notable of these series was an exhibition on carpets in 1891 that shaped the art-historical discourse of the time. The Handelsmuseum was an early example for the promotion of international economic development; it not only included a department for the arts and crafts (Sektion für Kunstgewerbe) but also offices for commercial and toll information, as well as the export club of the Habsburg Empire.1 The exhibitions at the Handelsmuseum were dedicated to the most promising sectors of art and industry (Kunstindustrie) from the Orient; the published catalogs mirrored the economic goals of the Habsburg state and placed scholarly research in the service of empire. This brief study is part of a larger research project on the carpet exhibition of 1891, with a special focus on its organization.

* The author wishes to thank Martina Dax, Branislav Djordjevic, Francine Giese, Edith Oberhumer, Georg Vasold and Angela Völker. 1 Franz S. Griesmayr, Das österr. Handelsmuseum in Wien 1874–1918 (unpubl. Diss., University of Vienna, 1968).

The Museum für angewandte Kunst2 in Vienna (hereafter referred to as the mak) today holds one of the most splendid carpet collections worldwide; ever since the Teppichausstellung (carpet exhibition) of 1891 it received much scholarly attention.3 At that time, however, the mak did not yet own a significant carpet collection, a situation that changed once the collection of the Handelsmuseum had become as much a matter of the past as Austria’s dream of empire. By integrating the collections of the Handelsmuseum and the imperial house the MAK included their histories as well. Whereas the carpets of the imperial household had been used for opulent courtly ceremonials and palatial furnishings for centuries, the carpet collection of the Handelsmuseum primarily served to open trade relations to the East, to give advice to buyers and models for the Empires producers.4 After their arrival at the mak, the carpets of both collections were on display at many exhibitions, the latest of which opened in 2014. The curatorial concept focused on global interactions in the arts during the early modern period and therefore showed carpets from the Islamic World side by side with French Savonnerie carpets.5 2 Founded in 1863/4, formerly the k. k. Museum für Kunst und Industrie, today the Museum für angewandte Kunst/ Gegenwartskunst. 3 Angela Völker, Die orientalischen Knüpftteppiche im mak (Vienna: Böhlau, 2001), who includes a detailed history and bibliography of the collection. 4 Völker, Die orientalischen Knüpftteppiche; Griesmayer, Das österr. Handelsmuseum. 5 Karl, Barbara, Angela Völker, and Michael Embacher, “A Sanctuary for Carpets: The New Installation at the

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi 10.1163/9789004412644_011

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112 The 1891 exhibition included many carpets today kept at the mak; it still is the largest carpet exhibition ever set up at a museum: it showed more than 450 items—in fact, nobody knows the exact number, since the information of the small exhibition catalog has always been incomplete.6 Apart from a few exhibits, the mak also engaged a curator capable of raising the study of carpets to a new level—Alois Riegl (1858–1905), also one of the founding fathers of the Vienna School of Art History, which has received a lot of scholarly attention in the last decades.7 In this context, the carpet exhibition has been addressed from various perspectives as well, including its significance for and influence on the formation of art history as a field of study, in particular, for the emergence of Islamic/ Islamicate art history.8 In light of this interest, this MAK-Museum für angewandte Kunst/Vienna, 2014,” International Journal of Islamic Architecture, vol. 7/2 (2018): 353–72. 6 Handelsmuseum, ed., Katalog der Ausstellung orientalischer Teppiche (Wien : Verlag des k. k. österreichischen Handelsmuseums, 1891). 7 Especially relevant are Georg Vasold, Alois Riegl und die Kunstgeschichte als Kulturgeschichte : Überlegungen zum Frühwerk des Wiener Gelehrten (Freiburg im Breisgau : Rombach, 2004); Mathew Rampley, The Vienna School of Art History: Empire and the Politics of Scholarship, 1847–1918 (University Park: Penn State Univ. Press, 2013); Diana Reynolds Cordileone, Alois Riegl in Vienna 1875–1905: An Institutional Biography (Farnham et al.: Ashgate, 2014). 8 Finbarr Barry Flood, “The Flaw in the Carpet: Disjunctive Continuities and Riegl’s Arabesque,” Histories of Ornament from Global to Local, ed. Gülru Necipoğlu and Alina Payne (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016), 82–93; Stephen Vernoit, “Islamic Art and Architecture: An overview of Scholarship and Collecting 1850–1950,” in Discovering Islamic Art: Scholars Collectors and Collections 1850–1950, ed. Stephen Vernoit (London: I. B. Tauris, 2000), 1–61; Eva Troelenberg, Eine Ausstellung wird besichtigt : Die Münchner “Ausstellung von Meisterwerken muhammedanischer Kunst” 1910 in kultur- und wissenschaftsgeschichtlicher Perspektive (Frankfurt am Main et al.: Lang, 2011); Birgitt Borkopp-Restle and Barbara Welzel, “Eines der wichtigsten Monumente unserer Zeit überhaupt.” Das Krematorium von Peter Behrens in Hagen (Essen : Klartext Verlag, 2014); ­Denise Marie Teece, “Through the Renaissance Frame:

Karl

article intends to fill a lacuna and discuss the carpet exhibition itself in relation to other means for promoting the economy of the Habsburg Empire during the late nineteenth century. Studying the Handelsmuseum and its exhibitions is a difficult endeavor, even though Franz S. Griesmayr and Johannes Wieninger have written important studies on the importance of this museum.9 A general problem is the scarcity of original documents that could shed more light on the institution’s history. The archive of the museum seems to be lost, which is why the information sources used in this study mostly rely on printed documentation. In addition, publications by the Handelsmuseum, such as its exhibition catalogues and periodicals, have turned out to be helpful sources on the subject as well. 1

The Handelsmuseum and its Exhibition Program

The Handelsmuseum was founded in the aftermath of the 1873 World Exhibition held in Vienna. Carpets and the Beginnings of ‘Islamic Art’ in NineteenthCentury Vienna and Berlin.” The Textile Museum Journal 44 (2017): 47–69; Cailah Jackson, “Persian Carpets and the South Kensington Museum: Design, Scholarship and Collecting in Late Nineteenth Century Britain,” Journal of Design History 30, no.3 (2017): 265–81; Moya Carey, Persian Art: Collecting the Arts of Iran in the Nineteenth Century (London: V&A Publishing, 2017); Celine ­Trautmann-Waller, “Etudier les tapis orientaux à Vienne en 1891. Les débuts d’Alois Riegl,” in Identités multiples. Mélanges offerts à Gerald Stieg, ed. Kerstin Hausbei and Alain Lattard (Paris : Presses de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2008), 211–19. 9 Griesmayr, Das österr. Handelsmuseum; Johannes Wieninger, “‘Er brachte viel Eigenartiges und Notwendiges mit.’ Arthur von Scala als Mittler zwischen Ost und West und die Grundlegung der Asiensammlung des heutigen Museums für angewandte Kunst 1868–1909,” in Kunst und Industrie—­ die Anfänge des Museums für angewandte Kunst, ed. Peter Noever (Ostfildern : Hatje Cantz, 2000), 164–72; Johannes Wieninger, “Das Orientalische Museum,” Vienne, porta Orientis. Austriaca. Cahiers universitaires ­ d’information sur l’Autriche 37 (2012): 113–60.

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The Austrian diplomat and politician Josef von Schwegel (1836–1914) was its main initiator and Arthur von Scala (1845–1909) its first director. An archduke was its patron, and its esteemed members included some of the Empire’s most influential business people. The establishment of an arts and crafts department was only one of the museum’s many concerns; its greatest objective was to promote international trade. In many ways, the Handelsmuseum followed the model of the Victoria and Albert Museum (hereafter referred to as the V&A), at the time still the South Kensington Museum. Equally expected to educate the public, the Handelsmuseum aspired to put on display what was considered good taste and models for local industries, which is why it was occasionally perceived as a rival of the mak.10 The periodical publications of this early institution for business development reflect different goals: while one dealt with practical trade information, the other provided scholarly articles on cultural topics. Despite its clear-cut focus on practical economic matters, Das Handelsmuseum also valued scholarly research into areas of culture and its art collections as being essential for business ­development. The Österreichische Monatsschrift für den Orient, edited by Scala, accordingly evolved into a remarkable scholarly journal that significantly contributed to the development of Vienna as a center of historical research. The series of exhibitions on Asian material culture was central to the Handelsmuseum’s agenda and doubtlessly Schwegel’s and Scala’s brainchild.11 A series of four exhibitions on the Orient showcased ceramics and other objects from East Asia, which at the time were considered an important

s­ ubdivision of trade,12 followed by the 1891 carpet exhibition, for which the Islamic world played the major role. Carpets from Iran had become profitable export goods by the time, and luxurious pieces of interior decoration were much coveted in Europe—a fashion promoted by the World Exhibitions, most notably the one that had taken place Vienna in 1873.13 Due to its long-standing trade contacts, Vienna developed into a center for carpet trade. Two other exhibitions were planned but never realized, leaving us only with the luxurious catalogs on Islamic glass and metalwork prepared for them.14 By integrating photographs, these publications set new standards for research and visual representation. By 1883 at the earliest, Scala had already started collecting carpets for the Handelsmuseum.15 During a trip to the Ottoman Empire in 1888, he bought a series of carpets in Istanbul and Thessaloniki. Among them were one of the most ­renowned ­Ottoman court carpets from the sixteenth century,16 along with a sixteenth-century Safavid carpet ­fragment17 and five nineteenthcentury A ­ natolian niche rugs.18 The most famous

10 Griesmayr, Das österr. Handelsmuseum; Wieninger “‘Er brachte viel Eigenartiges und Notwendiges mit,’” 164– 72; Wieninger, “Das Orientalische Museum,” 113–60. 11 Arthur von Scala, ed., Katalog der orientalisch keramischen Ausstellung im Orientalischen Museum (Vienna : Verlag des Orientalischen Museums, 1884), foreword.

15

12

13

14

16 17 18

Arthur von Scala, Katalog der orientalisch keramischen Ausstellung; Orientalisches Museum, ed., Sammlung von Abbildungen keramischer Objekte aus dem nahen und fernen Oriente, mit einleitenden Bemerkungen von O. du Sartel, L. Gonse, J. Karabacek (Vienna : Verlag des Orientalischen Museums, 1885). Leonard M. Helfgott, Ties that Bind: A Social History of the Iranian Carpet (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1984) Part three. Arthur von Scala, ed., Sammlung von Abbildungen türkischer, arabischer, persischer, centralasiatischer und indischer Metallobjecte (Vienna : Gerold, 1895); Gustav Schmoranz, Altorientalische Glas-Gefässe (Vienna : Verlag von Artaria, 1898). A carpet was purchased in 1883, see mak inv. nos. Or 301; cf. Völker, Die orientalischen Knüpftteppiche, 15–8, 176. mak inv. no. Or 374. mak inv. no. Or 312. On the niche rugs, see mak inv. nos. Or 358, Or 362, Or 357, Or 345, Or 310; on the carpets purchased during the

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carpet of the Handelsmuseum collection, however, was the Mughal Indian court carpet featuring bird couples; it had been ­created around 1600 and entered the collection in 1889 (fig. 8.1).19 In 1891, while already preparing the ­ exhibition, more carpets were bought in Istanbul on behalf of the Handelsmuseum.20 Well aware of their limitations in scholarship, Scala and Schwegel invited acknowledged international specialists to write articles for the catalogs. Alois Riegl, the curator for textiles at the mak from 1886 to 1897, contributed to all publications of the carpet exhibition, as were members of the Austrian international diplomatic corps and international experts, such as Wilhelm Bode (1845–1929), Vincent J. Robinson (1829–1910), Sidney J.A. Churchill (1862–1921), George Birdwood (1832–1917) and Caspar Purdon Clarke (1846–1911). At the time, Riegl, who had been giving talks on the subject since 1889, was already an established expert on carpets.21 His book on the subject matter, published several weeks before the show, was groundbreaking, as it, for the first time, analyzed carpets in the scope of cultural history.22 Apparently, the mak’s policy had come to fruition: from the very start, it had been hiring scholars as curators, some of which being students of the famous Institut für österreichische Geschichtsforschung ­(Institute for Austrian Historical Studies).

19 20

21

22

1881 trip see mak inv. nos. Or 374, Or 358, Or 362, Or 357, Or 345, Or 310, Or 312; also cf. Völker, Die orientalischen Knüpftteppiche, 15–8, 58–61, 144, 136, 148, 150, 152, 234. mak inv. no. Or 292, see: Völker, Die orientalischen Knüpftteppiche, 316–19. On the carpets purchased in 1891 see mak inv. nos. Or 311, Or 369, Or 347, Or 363, Or 368, Or Or 346, Or 320, Or, 294, see: Völker, Die orientalischen Knüpftteppiche, 15–8, 258, 274, 267, 330, 334, 336, 340. The anouncement was published in Das VaterlandZeitung für die österreichische Monarchie, no. 153, June 5, 1889, 5. Alois Riegl, Altorientalische Teppiche (Leipzig : Weigel, 1891).

2

The Carpet Exhibition—Organization and Objectives

The year 1891 does not mark the first time when carpets from the East were on display or used in Vienna—many inventories suggest that carpets from the Mamlūk, Ottoman or Safavid Empires had furnished representative buildings of Austria’s upper classes at least from the fifteenth century on.23 Eighteenth-century portraits prove that even though the Austrian court had never stopped to use oriental carpets, they were no longer regarded high fashion because by then ­European manufactures had already replaced expensive imports with their own carpets, which they were now able to produce for different tastes, thereby gradually widening their consumer base.24 However, during the second half of the nineteenth century the East was reactivated as the supplier of carpets, when these textiles caught the attention of those interested in the reformation of European design. The World Exhibitions in Vienna (1873) and Paris (1878) further raised the awareness of these traditional products.25 Artistic objects from the East on display at these world exhibitions ranked among the most sought-after goods of European buyers. Their handcrafted patterns contrasted with the industrial products, many of which were regarded as ugly by tastemakers of the upper classes. Carpets from regions dominated by Islamic rulers thus contributed to an ongoing movement concerned with reforming design, supported by museums of art and industry, such as the V&A and the mak. The Handelsmuseum was not the first ­Viennese museum to exhibit carpets. In fact, the mak that had been displaying some of the rarest and 23

Riegl, “Ältere orientalische Teppiche,” 326–31; Lhotsky, Festschrift des Kunsthistorischen Museums, 2nd vol, 1st half, 52. 24 Savonnerie carpets were among the most exclusive and most imitated products, see Pierre Verlet, The Savonnerie: its History (London: National Trust, 1982). 25 Carey, Persian Art, 195–99.

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Figure 8.1 Pictorial Carpet with Landscape and Pairs of Birds, Mughal Empire, Lahore, c. 1600; Measurements: 233 × 158 cm; warp/weft: Cotton, Knots: wool; Or 292, MAK-Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna © Georg Mayer, MAK-Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna

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most famous imperial carpets of Austria since 1864—a Safavid hunting ­carpet and a silk Mamlūk carpet, both from the sixteenth century (fig. 8.2).26 Their Habsburg provenance stressed their significance and augmented their overall appeal. Increasing groups of buyers demanded more of these goods than ever before, with the result that to satisfy a booming European market, more and more carpets had to be manufactured in the Orient, especially in Iran and Anatolia.27 The 1891 exhibition was a response to the growing orientalist fashions in Europe as related to the historicist revivals during the second half of the nineteenth century; although it of course did not initiate the fashion, it definitely supported its promotion. Considering that a large number of carpets from the so-called Orient, albeit with differing quality, had been imported since the 1870s, the show seemed somewhat overdue. On October 13, 1890, the arts and crafts section of the Handelsmuseum officially announced its plans to schedule a carpet exhibition to open on April 1, 1891 and close on June 15, 1891.28 These dates, however, were slightly modified later, with the r­ esult that the organizers had less than six months for putting together this ambitious project. Most carpets for the exhibition were international loans. For this purpose, the Handelsmuseum could draw its business contacts from the network of the Austrian diplomatic corps, which enabled it to receive relevant information on carpets from all over the world. Lenders were asked to submit their carpets at their own expense and risk between March 10 and March 20, 1891. However, this was a deadline that not everyone could meet: for instance, several newspapers confirm that the Shah of Persia had been forced to sell his carpets on the

market because they had arrived after the end of the exhibition.29 Others made it at the very last minute: Wilhelm von Bode, for example, decided to send more carpets as late as in March, and it is probably for this reason that none of these items appears in the catalogue. The arrangement of objects on display at the show was thus in a constant flux. Spaces had to be rearranged constantly to integrate new arrivals, even including a loom.30 Given the chaotic conditions, it is unlikely that we will ever know exactly how many and what carpets were on display during the 1891 exhibition. It is quite certain, however, that it was both a dream and a nightmare for the curators. Advertisements for the show had been launched before the exhibition, so that the names of the most important lenders and stories related to the famous carpets, especially the imperial Viennese hunting carpet, would already circulate in the press. On February 26, the Wiener Zeitung reported the registrations of the V&A/India Museum, the Shah of Persia and the Japanese embassy.31 The Austrian court enrolled at the beginning of March, followed by German museums, the mak, aristocratic lenders and dealers from London and Vienna. Many of the carpets from more distant places arrived in Vienna not before March 28.32 The exhibition catalog was published before the opening, which explains why it does not list all carpets on display. This did not limit its success, which was so overwhelming that a second edition had to be issued, which however still did not include all artworks either. The inauguration ceremony took place on Saturday April 4 and executed by Archduke Karl Ludwig (1833–96), who was attended by an exclusive

26 Völker, Die orientalischen Knüpfteppiche, 18–21. 27 Helfgott, Ties that Bind, Part three; Carey, Persian Art, 190–92. 28 Wiener Zeitung No. 239 (October 16, 1890), 3; Neue Freie Presse—Morgenblatt No. 9393 (Oktober 17, 1890), 4; Österr. Monatsschrift für den Orient Nos. 9 and 10 (September–­October, 1890), 160.

29

For example, Der Floh, xxii, vol. 45 (November 8, 1891); Montags-Zeitung—Wiener Vorstadt Presse 641, vol. xviii (December 7, 1891), 4. 30 Die Presse No. 93, vol. 44, (April 5, 1891), 14. 31 E.g., Wiener Zeitung No. 46 (February 26, 1891), 3. 32 E.g., Das Vaterland No. 86, vol. xxxii (March 28, 1891), 5.

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Figure 8.2 Vienna Hunting Carpet, Central Iran, probably Kashan, first half of sixteenth century; Measurements: 687 × 331 cm; warp/weft/knots: silk and silver; T 8336, MAK-Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna © Georg Mayer, MAK-Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna

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118 group of local grandees, industrialists and international experts. Among the international crowd, we find Sir Robert Murdoch Smith, director of the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, also an archaeologist and connoisseur of Iran, Caspar Purdon Clarke, Keeper of the India Museum at South Kensington and an editor of the Prachtwerk, as well as lenders from Iran and Japan.33 According to the organizers, a main objective of the exhibition was to explain how the market worked and to educate consumers so that the trade of imported and locally produced carpets could be improved and enlivened. Another objective was to establish standards for the quality of produce and of pricing in order to avoid fraud. For this purpose, a nomenclature was introduced that should instruct consumers on how to distinguish good products from bad imitations.34 The small descriptive exhibition catalog mirrors these goals, as it can be read like a manual for future buyers.35 Unsurprisingly, the largest part of the exhibition was dedicated to contemporary carpets from as many places between Vienna and Japan as possible. Many exhibitors in this section were dealers themselves eager to sell their carpets during the show, thereby combining education and commerce. Another intent had been to support the Austrian industry—Hungary had refused to participate and was therefore not covered—especially by providing templates for designers to improve their export goods. This echoed the overall objective of the exhibition series, namely, to create goods that could be exported to the East. In his foreword to the Katalog der orientalisch-keramischen Ausstellung im Orientalischen Museum 1884, Scala stated 33 E.g., Das Vaterland No. 76, xxxii (March 18, 1891), 4; Die Presse No. 93, vol. 44, (April 5, 1891), 14. 34 Österreichische Monatsschrift für den Orient (1), Jan 1891, 20; B. J., “Orientalische Teppiche,” Das Handelsmuseum 6, no. 14 (April 2, 1891): 177–78. 35 Handelsmuseum, Katalog der Ausstellung orientalischer Teppiche.

Karl

that the East was a “most natural sales market” for the Habsburg monarchy.36 Similar to other industrialized powers, foremost England, Austria-Hungary sought after new export markets, albeit quite belatedly. That is why Scala had been observing the cultural and economic developments in the British Empire. The Habsburg Empire had occupied Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1878, once an important economic region of the Ottoman Empire and an equally important producer of carpets, some of which had been on display during the 1891 exhibition. The mak and its attached school of arts and industry made considerable efforts to further develop the Bosnian carpet-production and adapt it to the market of the Empire. The e­ xhibition, especially the large catalog, could for instance introduce some new carpet patterns for this purpose.37 Finally, there were research efforts largely related to the antique carpets on display. Generally speaking, the research on the carpets was expected to supplement all aforementioned goals, and included lectures to the public.38 The collection and research on international specimens of various types were regarded an essential activity of the Kunstgewerbereform (arts and crafts reform), with the mak and its attached school being its center within the Habsburg Empire.39 Whereas dealers mostly supplied the contemporary carpets displayed at the exhibition, antique carpets were usually loaned from museums, members of the aristocracy and bourgeoisie, or even the emperor himself, whose engagement motivated others to lend objects as well.40 Not only did the lenders’ nobility augment the splendor of 36 Scala, Katalog der orientalisch keramischen Ausstellung; Orientalisches Museum, Sammlung von Abbildungen keramischer Objekte. 37 Vasold, Alois Riegl; Riegl, Volkskunst Hausfleiss und Hausindustrie. 38 There certainly was much more research activity going on; however, this will be the subject of another study. 39 Rampley, “Design Reform in the Habsburg Empire,” 247–64. 40 E.g., Die Presse No. 70, vol. 44, (March 12, 1891), 10.

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the event but also of the carpets and furthermore offered a role model for future buyers and collectors. Many of the famous pieces today kept at the mak were originally on display in the section on antique carpets, along with specimens from museums for the applied arts in Reichenberg/Liberec, Berlin, Leipzig and Budapest, from the collections of the Saxon court, of the aristocratic families Schwarzenberg, Liechtenstein, Rothschild and others. In contrast, the V&A only sent some contemporary Indian carpets. All these specimens were displayed in the largest room and represented the core of the show. They were not only exhibited and published but also used for marketing purposes to bestow the exhibition with an aura of exclusivity, thereby contributing to the creation of legends revolving around these masterworks, many of which became canonized in the aftermath of the show. Researchers from all over Europe were particularly interested in this part of the exhibition, as it gave them the opportunity to discuss related matters with their colleagues in person. The many publications that followed attest to this interest, which is especially true for the Prachtwerk, the large and luxurious exhibition catalog, as well as the articles by Alois Riegl, Julius Lessing (1843–1908), who had published a book on carpets in 1877 for providing designers with templates, and Wilhelm von Bode, another pioneer in the area of carpet history.41 The exhibition increased the reputation of the Viennese collections—so much so that even today most studies on carpets include at least one example from the mak collection. Moreover, the fame of this collection helped promote Vienna as an important center of carpet trade.

3

Apart from the archduke, the press commented on many other aristocratic visitors. The first person to mention is of course Emperor Franz Joseph i (1830–1916), who arrived on April 18, welcomed by a large committee; he stayed at the event for 30 to 45 minutes and was very pleased.42 A truly dedicated visitor was Crown Princess Stephanie (1864– 1945); recently widowed, she visited the exhibition on May 26 and stayed for two hours.43 Several other members of the imperial family turned up to see the exhibition, but also other members of the high aristocracy stopped at Vienna. The press mentioned most of them, with their prominence certainly adding to the popularity of the show. Aside from the high aristocracy, scholars from Vienna, such as Alois Riegl and Josef Karabacek (1845–1918), attended the exhibition, as did scholars from abroad, such as Wilhelm Bode and Julius Lessing. We can be certain that there were many others, although they are not mentioned in the sources.44 Scholarships were awarded to a considerable number of designers and artisans from different regions of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire to encourage them to attend. Apparently, even English designers visited the show.45 Moreover, members of the association (Verein) affiliated with the Handelsmuseum concluded their reunion with a visit to the exposition.46 It is not known how many people visited the exhibition altogether, but what can be gathered from newspaper articles so far is that it was a great success, which is also attested by the publication of the Prachtwerk.

42 41

Early articles on carpets inspired by the 1891 exhibition are found in Bode “Altorientalische Thierteppiche,” 61–72 (this article was published in the Prachtwerk) and Bode “Altorientalische Thierteppiche,” 26–49, 108–37.

The Visitors

43 44 45 46

Die Presse No. 107, vol. 44 (April 19, 1891), supplement of the Local Anzeiger der Presse, 1; Das Vaterland No. 107, vol. 32 (1891), 4. Die Presse No. 143, vol. 44, 3. For example, Die Presse 98, vol. 44 (April 10, 1891), 10. Wiener Zeitung 128, (June 7, 1891), 5. Wiener Zeitung 109, (May 14, 1891), 8.

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The Exhibition Space

Given how successful the exhibition was, it raises questions about the exact appearance of its visuals. The small catalog only informs us about how the space was arranged at the Vienna stock exchange (Wiener Börse) on Ringstrasse, the building that housed the museum and exhibition, but nothing else. A foldable floor plan had been added to its last page to guide visitors through the different rooms (fig. 8.3), along with descriptions of the carpets, many of which written by Riegl. Some of the offices of the stock exchange had to be cleared in advance to make space for the carpets. The catalog clearly shows that most rooms had been dedicated to contemporary carpets. Most of them were of Persian and Central Asian origin, which is little surprising, given that the intellectual climate at the time gave precedence to things regarded as Aryan, reflecting the racial prejudices of the time.47 The carpets were not organized according to their lenders, as had been the case for the ceramics show some years before, but in correspondence with geographic regions, which provided visitors with a better overview over the whole exposition. Numbers had been attached to the individual specimens that matched the numbers in the catalog; this way visitors could easily identify the respective descriptions, the names of the owners and often even of the dealers. This labeling method was one of the few points of criticism, ­because visitors found it too complicated—a common complaint even today.48 Prices were added to the contemporary carpets only for the second edition of the catalog, thus confirming that these items had actually been for sale. Moreover, a complete interior in Neo-Islamic style was added, as were the much-admired photographs of some of the carpets that would later be used for the Prachtwerk.

47 48

See, for example, Vernoit, “Islamic Art and Architecture,” 6. Die Presse No. 93, vol. 44, (April 5, 1891), 14.

The floor plan also indicates that antique carpets were on display in the largest and most splendid room. Due to the lack of adequate image sources, the visual appearance of its decoration is unknown. The press reports are not very detailed either. In his memoirs, Wilhelm Bode writes: “The exhibition was rather mixed and tasteless in its display. Modern items of little value hung next to wonderful old pieces like in an ordinary Turkish bazaar. However, the high number of valuable carpets and the catalogue published soon after the show encouraged the study of Islamite art.”49 The ethnologist Michael Haberlandt (1860–1940), notorious for his anti-Semitism, equally confirms the confusing quantity of carpets.50 Apart from the geographic distribution of different carpet groups, however, there was some sort of scenography, for which the historicist painter Hugo Charlemont (1850–1939) had been hired. Charlemont’s paintings in the Viennese Makart style provide a glimpse of his aesthetics.51 He reportedly presented the carpets like a “Bilderschau” (artworks on a wall), thereby establishing a precedent for later expositions at other museums—such as Bode’s presentations in Berlin.52 In this regard, he had probably been inspired by how distinguished private collectors had been presenting their valuable antique carpets, which they often hung from the walls of their apartments.53 However, this section of the exhibition included more than 120 carpets. As some of them were of a considerable size, it is difficult to imagine how they could have all

49 Bode, Mein Leben, vol. 2, 93. 50 Haberlandt “Orientalische Teppiche ii,” 1. 51 Handelsmuseum, Katalog der Ausstellung orientalischer Teppiche, 9. 52 Neue Freie Presse No. 9552 (March 31, 1891), 2; see also Teece 2017. 53 Carey, Persian Art, 199–202.

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Figure 8.3 Floor Plan of the 1891 Vienna Carpet Exhibition, supplement to the small exhibition catalog: Handelsmuseum, ed. Katalog der Ausstellung orientalischer Teppiche. Vienna: Verlag des k. k. österreichischen Handelsmuseums, 1891

­ ossibly fit onto the walls. Furthermore, there p seemingly were piles of carpets in the room as well, through which visitors could sift. Accordingly, the exhibition was called a “Schmaus für Auge und Fingerspitzen”—a treat for the eyes and fingertips—­suggesting that at least some of the objects could be touched.54 Journalists also voiced the ­notion of carpets as romanticized artworks who referred to the patterns as the “souls” of the carpets. The ethnologist Michael Haberlandt also promoted this attitude, which, however, is hardly 54

Neue Freie Presse No. 9561 (April 9, 1891), 1.

surprising:55 Dealers who economically profited from the artistic aura of individual pieces—­ especially of ancient carpets, which had become expensive collectibles—tended to promote the idea.56 Taken all the hints together one gets a notion of what the space might have looked like, however it is not possible to reconstruct it as a whole at least not at this stage, the accounts given so far are little more than clues.

55 56

Haberlandt, “Orientalische Teppiche i,” 2. Similar attitudes are described in Carey, Persian Art, 199–202, 204.

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122 5 Conclusion This article argued that the carpet exhibition at the Handelsmuseum was an integral part of a wider imperial program intended to promote the trade and industry of the Habsburg Empire. It communicated newly set standards for the quality and pricing of carpets, aesthetic standards for the tastes of consumers and designers, as well as standards for future exhibitions; it did so on various levels and in quite a paternalistic manner characteristic for the time. The exhibition achieved its objectives by stimulating buyers, dealers and designers, as well as researchers. Scholarly debate revolving around the exhibition was regarded an integral part of the economic advancement of the Empire and fostered serious research not only on carpets, but also on the emerging disciplines of European and Islamic art history.57 The significance of the exhibition in this context can thus hardly be overestimated. Bibliography Bode, Wilhelm von. “Altorientalische Thierteppiche.” Österreichische Monatsschrift für den Orient 5 (May 1892): 61–72. Bode, Wilhelm von. “Ein altpersischer Teppich im Besitz der Königlichen Museen zu Berlin.” Jahrbuch der Königlich Preussischen Kunstsammlungen 13 (1892): 26–49, 108–37. Bode, Wilhelm von. Mein Leben. 2 vols. Berlin: Hermann Reckendorf, 1930. Borkopp-Restle, Birgitt, and Welzel, Barbara. “Eines der wichtigsten Monumente unserer Zeit überhaupt” : Das Krematorium von Peter Behrens in Hagen. Essen : Klartext Verlag, 2014. Carey, Moya. Persian Art: Collecting the Arts of Iran in the Nineteenth Century. London: V&A Publishing, 2017. 57 See Rampley, “Design Reform in the Habsburg Empire.”

Karl Flood, Finbarr Barry. “The Flaw in the Carpet: Disjunctive Continuities and Riegl’s Arabesque.” In Histories of Ornament from Global to Local, edited by Gülru Necipoğlu and Alina Payne, 82–93. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016. Griesmayr, Franz S. “Das österr. Handelsmuseum in Wien 1874–1918.” PhD thesis, University of Vienna, 1968. Haberlandt, Michael. “Orientalische Teppiche i.” Neue Freie Presse, no. 9552, March 31, 1891, 2. Haberlandt, Michael. “Orientalische Teppiche ii.” Neue Freie Presse, no. 9562, April 10, 1891, 1, 2. Handelsmuseum, ed. Katalog der Ausstellung orientalischer Teppiche. Vienna : Verlag des k. k. österreichischen Handelsmuseums, 1891. Helfgott, Leonard M. Ties that Bind: A Social History of the Iranian Carpet. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1984. B., J., “Orientalische Teppiche.” Das Handelsmuseum 6, no. 14 (April 2, 1891): 177–78. Jackson, Cailah. “Persian Carpets and the South Kensington Museum: Design, Scholarship and Collecting in Late Nineteenth Century Britain.” Journal of ­Design History 30, no.3 (2017): 265–81. Karl, Barbara, Angela Völker, and Michael Embacher. “A Sanctuary for Carpets: The New Installation at the MAK-Museum für angewandte Kunst/Vienna, 2014” International Journal of Islamic Architecture, 7, no. 2 (2018): 353–72. Lhotsky, Alphons. Festschrift des Kunsthistorischen Museums in Wien. Die Geschichte der Sammlungen. 3 vols. Vienna: Verlag F. Berger, 1941–5. Noever, Peter, Rosenauer, Arthur, and Georg Vasold, eds. Alois Riegl Revisited: Beiträge zu Werk und Rezeption. Vienna: ÖAW/MAK, 2010. Orientalisches Museum, ed. Sammlung von Abbildungen keramischer Objekte aus dem nahen und fernen Oriente. Mit einleitenden Bemerkungen von O. du Sartel, L. Gonse, J. Karabacek. Vienna: Verlag des Orientalischen Museums, 1885. Rampley, Mathew. “Design Reform in the Habsburg Empire: Technology, Aesthetics and Ideology.” Journal of Design History 23, no. 3 (2010): 247– 64.

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Carpets and Empire Rampley, Mathew. The Vienna School of Art History: Empire and the Politics of Scholarship, 1847–1918. University Park: Penn State Univ. Press, 2013. Reynolds-Cordileone, Diana. Alois Riegl in Vienna 1875– 1905: An Institutional Biography. Farnham et al.: Ashgate, 2014. Riegl, Alois. Altorientalische Teppiche. Leipzig: Weigel, 1891. Riegl, Alois. “Die Ausstellung orientalischer Teppiche im k.k. Oesterr. Handelsmuseum.” Mittheilungen des k. k Österreichischen Museums für Kunst und Industrie, Monatsschrift für Kunstgewerbe, n.s., v (1890–91): 383–91, 405–14. Riegl, Alois. “Ältere orientalische Teppiche aus dem Besitze des allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses.” Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses 13 (1892), 326–31. Riegl, Alois. Volkskunst, Hausfleiss und Hausindustrie. Berlin : Siemens, 1894. Scala, Arthur von, ed. Katalog der orientalisch keramischen Ausstellung im Orientalischen Museum. Vienna : Verlag des Orientalischen Museums, 1884. Scala, Arthur von, ed. Sammlung von Abbildungen türkischer, arabischer, persischer, centralasiatischer und indischer Metallobjecte. Vienna: Gerold, 1895. Schmoranz, Gustav. Altorientalische Glas-Gefässe. Vienna: Verlag von Artaria, 1898. Teece, Denise Marie. “Through the Renaissance Frame: Carpets and the Beginnings of ‘Islamic Art’ in ­Nineteenth-Century Vienna and Berlin.” The Textile Museum Journal 44 (2017): 47–69. Trautmann-Waller, Celine. “Etudier les tapis orientaux à Vienne en 1891. Les débuts d’Alois Riegl.” In Identités multiples. Mélanges offerts à Gerald Stieg, edited

123 by Kerstin Hausbei and Alain Lattard, 211–19. Paris: Presses de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2008. Troelenberg, Eva. Eine Ausstellung wird besichtigt : Die Münchner “Ausstellung von Meisterwerken muhammedanischer Kunst” 1910 in kultur- und wissenschaftsgeschichtlicher Perspektive. Frankfurt am Main et al.: Lang, 2011. Vasold, Georg. Alois Riegl und die Kunstgeschichte als Kulturgeschichte : Überlegungen zum Frühwerk des Wiener Gelehrten. Freiburg im Breisgau : Rombach, 2004. Verlet, Pierre. The Savonnerie: Its History. London: National Trust, 1982. Vernoit, Stephen. “Islamic Art and Architecture: An overview of Scholarship and Collecting 1850–1950.” In Discovering Islamic Art: Scholars Collectors and Collections 1850–1950, edited by Stephen Vernoit, 1– 61. London: I. B. Tauris, 2000. Völker, Angela. Die orientalischen Knüpfteppiche im MAK. Vienna: Böhlau, 2001. Wieninger, Johannes. “Das Orientalische Museum.” Vienne, porta Orientis. Austriaca. Cahiers universitaires d’information sur l’Autriche 37 (2012): 113–60. Wieninger, Johannes. “‘Er brachte viel Eigenartiges und Notwendiges mit’. Arthur von Scala als Mittler zwischen Ost und West und die Grundlegung der Asiensammlung des heutigen Museums für angewandte Kunst 1868–1909.” In Kunst und Industrie— die Anfänge des Museums für angewandte Kunst, ­edited by Peter Noever, 164–72. Ostfildern : Hatje Cantz, 2000.

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Chapter 9

Henri Moser as Commissioner General of the Pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 1900 Universal Exposition in Paris Ágnes Sebestyén Leaning on the so far unpublished dissertation Displaying a “Peaceful” Colonization within Europe: The Austro-Hungarian Representation of Bosnia and Herzegovina at World Fairs and International Expositions, submitted to the University of Bern in 2017, this article will shed light on the involvement of the Swiss Henri Moser (1844–1923) in the ­implementation of the cultural policies of the Austro-Hungarian government of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the regime of Benjamin von Kállay (1839–1903). Von Kállay was the Joint Minister of Finance of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and in charge of the occupied territory between 1882 and 1903. The present article will focus on the ­accomplishments and circumstances that led to Moser’s appointment as secretary of the Paris ­office of the Austrian Handelsmuseum (Trade Museum), his consequent contribution to the implementation of the cultural policies and to the perpetuation of the ongoing self-representation of the new administration. 1

The Communication Strategies of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy

Recognizing international exhibitions as effective means for conveying ideas to large audiences, the Austro-Hungarian administration presented Bosnia and Herzegovina at a series of regional, national and international exhibitions throughout Europe1 as a newly discovered Oriental colony. The administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina hoped 1 1891: Vienna; 1891: Zagreb and Timisoara; 1896: Millennium Exhibition in Budapest; 1897: World Exhibition, Brussels;

to reach investors, traders and travelers alike to boost the industry, commerce and tourism of the underdeveloped provinces by commercializing their products and sights as Oriental at a time when exotic travels and products were en vogue. Besides such obvious economic reasons, these ­exhibitions served as important instruments for the self-representation of the Austro-Hungarian ­Monarchy as a benevolent guardian that pursued a civilizing mission by underlining the necessity of undertaken efforts and the significance of the achieved results. By the time Moser was appointed Commissioner General of the pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris (fig. 9.1), a complex set of communication tools, including the pavilion architecture and interior design, along with the exhibited artifacts and accompanying publications, was elaborated and tested on various national and international audiences. Responsible for this process was the commissioner Konstantin Hörmann (1850–1921),2 in

1898: Jubilee Exposition, Vienna; 1900: Universal Exposition, Paris. 2 Konstantin (Kosta) Hörmann (1850–1921) held various positions in the Austro-Hungarian administration: he was Regierungskommissar of Sarajevo (from 1884), Regierungsrat (from 1885), member of the Landesregierung (from 1886), eventually the first director of the Bosnischherzegowinisches Landesmuseum in Sarajevo until 1904, and its director (Museumsintendant) until his death. He was the founder and editor of the Museum’s Herald and of Nada magazine (until 1905). He also conducted research in the fields of ethnography and folklore and especially interested in Bosnian epic songs (Oliver Bagarić, “Museum und „     Please check the unpaired parenthesis in this sentence “Oliver Bagarić….”

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��20 | doi 10.1163/9789004412644_012

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Henri Moser and the Universal Exposition of 1900 in Paris

125

Figure 9.1 Paris, The Pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Exposition Universelle, 1900. Watercolor by Alfons Mucha, featured in Le Figaro Illustré (March 1, 1900) © Mucha Trust 2015

cooperation with Ćiro Truhelka (1865–1942),3 who were both supervised by Kállay himself. The nationale Identitäten. Eine Geschichte des Landesmuseums Sarajevo,” Südost-Forschungen 67 (2008): 144–67; Maximilian Hartmuth, “The Habsburg Landesmuseum in Sarajevo in its Ideological and Architectural Contexts: a Reinterpretation,” Centropa 12, no. 2 (2012): 194–205.; Aida Lipa, “Cultural Politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in Word and Image: The Creation of the Western Type of Art,” MA thesis, Central European University, Budapest, 2004. 3 Ćiro Truhelka (1865–1942) was an archeologist, the first custodian of the Bosnisch-herzegowinisches Landesmuseum in Sarajevo and its director as of 1904. His excavations and publications were widely recognized, and his investigations into the past of Bosnia and Herzegovina also ­contributed to the consolidation of the idea of its separate national identity. His key publication, Les Restes Ilyriens en

e­xhibition sections on Bosnia and Herzegovina were adapted to the context of other exhibitions, with their iconography evolving over time. For example, the 1896 Millennium Exhibition in ­ ­Budapest focused on the legitimacy of the state,4 Bosnie, Paris, 1900, was a supplement to the official catalog of the section of B&H at the Exposition Universelle in Paris (cf. Bagarić, “Museum und nationale Identitäten”; Hartmuth, “The Habsburg Landesmuseum in Sarajevo”; Lipa, “Cultural Politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina”). 4 Samuel D. Albert, “The Nation for Itself. The 1896 Hungarian Millennium and the 1906 Romanian National General Exhibition,” in Cultures of International Exhibitions 1840– 1940, ed. Marta Filipová (Farnham: Ashgate, 2015), 113–36; Katalin Sinkó, “A millenniumi kiállítás mint Gesamtkunstwerk,” in A historizmus művészete Magyarországon, ed. Anna Zádo (Budapest: mta, 1993), 132–47; Miklós Székely, “The Resetting of the Main Historical Group from the

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126 whereas the 1897 Kaiser Jubilee Exhibition in ­Vienna was part of an ongoing and expanding monarchical self-representation, whose purpose it was to present Emperor Franz Joseph i (1830–1916) as the binding force of the multiethnic state during a time of various national and social conflicts.5 Whereas the exhibitions in Budapest and in Vienna counted approximately two and three million visitors with origins in both nations, the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris attracted fifty million or more international visitors. The exhibition sections on Bosnia and Herzegovina were embodiments of the economic, cultural and identity politics of the Kállay regime. By the means of a carefully designed representational system, they clearly articulated the complex power relations between the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and Bosnia and Herzegovina in terms of ­relations of dependency.6 By using a reduced, easily understandable and—thanks to its picturesque details—quite appealing imagery, the Bosnian and Herzegovinian sections presented the occupied provinces as the Double Monarchy’s c­ ultural “Other,” and highlighted the moral imperative of the civilizing mission undertaken by its administration.7 In Budapest (1896) and Vienna (1897), the sections on Bosnia and Herzegovina (figs. 9.2 and 9.3) addressed a primarily national audience already sensitized and accustomed to the presence of

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the  Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in Bosnia and ­Herzegovina—a process intensified and promoted by publications, press articles, lectures and exhibitions. For these exhibitions, the organizers could utilize space and resources more freely, allowing for experiments and innovations. Thus, in Budapest, a complex of five exhibition pavilions— a ­so-called “Bosnian village”8—could be realized, whereas in Vienna three pavilions9 were installed. Their purpose was to secure that the invested resources would pay off, to strengthen the public trust in the government and promote the identification with the national ideas of Austria-Hungary. In many respects, the Parisian Bosnian pavilion from 1900 (fig. 9.4) can be regarded as a more refined and monumental version of the Bosnian house displayed at the Millennium Exhibition in Budapest (fig. 9.5). Both possessed two stories, a wooden structure with thatched and plastered walls, with balconies and verandas interrupting the plain facades, including small windows covered with latticework and wooden panels. The pavilion architecture, ­interior design and chosen exhibition sections ­represented a more concise, mature and refined version of the previously constructed imagery and perfectly adapted to the given context. Altogether, it was a true celebration of imperialism and the unquestioned belief in progress.10 Lacking oversea 8

­ illennium Exhibition to the Paris Universal Exhibition of M 1900,” in Ephemeral Architecture in Central Eastern Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries¸ ed. Miklós Székely (Budapest: L’Harmattan, 2015), 33–50. 5 Daniel L. Unowsky, The Pomp and Politics of Patriotism (West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 2005). 6 Terminology based on Tony Bennet’s reading of Discipline and Punish (Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish. The Birth of the Prison (London: Allen Lane, Penguin, 1977)), see Tony Bennett, The Birth of the Museum. History, Theory, Politics (New York: Routledge, 1995). 7 This terminology derived from Timothy Mitchell, “The World as Exhibition,” Comparative Studies in Society and History 31, no. 2 (1989): 218–19.

Bosnyákország és Herczegovina az 1896. évi Ezredéves Országos Kiállításon (Budapest: Pesti Könyvnyomda Rt, 1896); Kornél Szokolay, “Bosnyák diákok Budapesten,” Vasárnapi Újság 43, no. 34 (1896): 563–64; Zoltán Bálint, Az ezredéves kiállítás architektúrája, 1896 (Vienna: Schroll, 1897). 9 Unowsky, The Pomp and Politics of Patriotism. 10 The first public displays of Islamic items in Europe were an integral part of world exhibitions. Their significance cannot be overestimated, since they attracted a great number of visitors and promoted a new awareness of the commercial and aesthetic qualities of nonEuropean artifacts. Claiming scientific authority, they defined the Western perception of Oriental or “exotic” architecture (cf. Mitchell, “The World as Exhibition,” 218–19).

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Figure 9.2 Budapest, The industrial pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Millennium Exhibition, 1896. Fortepan and Budapest City Archives, HU.BFL.xv.19.d.1.09.049

colonies, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy seized the opportunity to present itself as a colonial power, to acquire international prestige. Underlining the exotic character of the showcased country, several of the elements tested in Budapest ­ were ­reused in Paris, but in a more mature form. There, the interior decoration had Orientalizing accents: just as before, it consisted of a historic ­reconstruction of a Bosnian haremluk,11 following Ćiro Truhelka’s designs, who directly supervised their execution.12 Aspiring to exceed the success of the Millennial exhibition, the pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina also served as a “human showcase,” where female workers affiliated with the government studios weaved carpets, while other

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The presentation of the harem, that is, the secluded women’s quarter, was a frequent strategy for staging the stereotype of a feminized Orient. Neues Wiener Tagblatt, April 15, 1900, 454.

artisans crafted and sold products in recreated dućani, traditional shops, in front of visitors. 2

Henri Moser in the Service of the AustroHungarian Monarchy

The celebration of imperialism was an omnipresent undertone in all of Henri Moser’s contributions to the implementation and dissemination of the Kállay regime’s cultural policies; but this was not the only reason that qualified him for this ­appointment. Due to rising export demands, the K. u. K. Österreichisches Handelsmuseum opened a representation in Paris and left Moser in charge of it as early as of 1893.13 Moser’s commercial experience as the head of his father’s Russian dependencies, the overall success of his travel accounts, the acknowledgement of his collection, the 13

Revue de commerce et de l’industrie, 1894, 118.

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Figure 9.3 Vienna, Façade of the pavilion of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 1898 Kaiser Jubilee Exhibition. Stereo photograph by Karl Möhls, 1898. Austrian National Library, Picture Archives and Graphics Department, 135657-STE

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Figure 9.4 Paris, Pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 1900 Paris World Fair, photograph, 1900. Brown University Archives, 3A87095

e­ xhibitions he organized, and his interest in boosting commerce all qualified him for this position. His family ties to the Austro-Hungarian aristocracy were certainly helpful as well. His brother-inlaw and husband of his sister Sophie (1839–1921), Benedek Mikes of Zabola in Transylvania (­1819– 78), introduced him to the higher society of ­Austria-Hungary, and thus to some of the leading figures of its administration.14 Moser was an ­imperialist, and his connoisseurship of CentralAsian art must have been especially attractive for Kállay. Coinciding with attempts of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina to construct an “Oriental” representation of the country leaning on Central Asian traditions rather than on those of

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Roger N. Balsiger and Ernst Johannes Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan. Henri Moser Charlottenfels 1844–1923 (Schaffhausen : Meier, 1992).

the Ottoman Empire,15 Moser’s collection of artefacts from that region16 must have seemed particularly valuable. Working for the Austro-Hungarian administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina until Kállay’s death in 1903, Henri Moser wrote travel guides and

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Iván Szántó, “Persian Art for the Balkans in AustroHungarian Cultural Policies,” in The Shaping of Persian Art, ed. Yuka Kadoi and Iván Szántó (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishers, 2013), 130–54. Moser built his collection counting several hundred pieces of artifacts (among others, oriental carpets, rugs and garments, jewelry, illustrated manuscripts, paintings, bronzes, gilded and enameled arms and armor, silver trays, coins, ivory objects, painted and varnished wooden objects), in the course of his four expeditions to Central Asia (1868/69, 1870, 1883/84, 1888/89) and at auctions in London and Paris.

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Figure 9.5 Budapest, The Bosnian house and coffee house, Millennium Exhibition, 1896. Fortepan and Budapest City Archive, HU.BFL.xv.19.d.1.09.063

newspaper articles on its provinces.17 He gave presentations at various conferences, organized visits and hunting expeditions for journalists and investors.18 In the introduction of a travel guide entitled

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Henri Moser, L’Orient inédit : à travers la Bosnie et l’Herzégovine (Paris : Compagnie internationale des wagons-lits et des grand express européens), 1895; Henri Moser, An Oriental Holiday: Bosnia and Herzegovina. A Handbook for the Tourist (London: Eustace Curzon, 1895); Henri Moser, “L’exposition du millénaire,” Journal de Genève, June 19, 1896, 2; Henri Moser, “L’exposition du millénaire,” Journal de Genève, June 23, 1896, 2. Henri Moser, La Bosnie-Herzégovine au seuil du xxe siècle (London: Eustace Curzon, 1895) and Henri Moser, Bosnie-Herzégovine : une ɶuvre de colonisation pacifique dans les Balkans (Paris: V. Goupy and G. Maurin), 1896.

An Oriental Holiday: Bosnia and Herzegovina,19 Moser justified the necessity of Austria-Hungary’s civilizing mission, basing his arguments on the dichotomy between East and West, which he identified with advancement and decay, enlightenment and backwardness, all of which were essential ­narrative elements of the Kállay regime’s selfrepresentation: “On the banks of the Save meet two great currents of civilization: the one setting in from the West, the other flowing from the East. […] We find in Bosnia and Herzegovina […] an example of what an indefatigable and enlightened Administration, 19

Henri Moser, An Oriental Holiday.

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Henri Moser and the Universal Exposition of 1900 in Paris

keeping its aim always in view, can do with a backward country whose inhabitants have been plunged in apathy induced by centuries of oppression. […] The merit of this great work is undoubtedly due to Mr. Benjamin de Kállay, the Prime ­Minister. […] Under his direction and encouragement, the advance of Western civilization […] must soon impregnate that virginal country with the international spirit. […] During the past sixteen years the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina have been leaving their fourteenth century to enter ours.”20 More importantly, Moser had participated in the Budapest Millennium Exhibition21 as a correspondent for the Journal de Genève before his appointment as the Commissioner General for the p ­ avilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Expositions Universelles in Brussels (1897)22 and Paris (1900). His reports deserve a closer look, as they betray his assessment of the role of the Austro-Hungarian government in Bosnia and Herzegovina; the accounts clearly demonstrate that he knew the exhibition section of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Budapest (1896) very well, the concept of which was later adapted to the Parisian context. His review of the Millenium Exhibition reproduced the official narrative, and a considerable percentage of his report is dedicated to the pavilions of Bosnia and Herzegovina; enthusiastically, he writes: “The ‘clou,’ to tell the truth, was the pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina with its annexes; it was a revelation and, curiously enough, in the two parts of the Monarchy one talks about annexing this region. In fact, this exhibition is not trivial; it has a very special effect, because we see the antediluvian Bosnia besides that of our days, that of the old 20 21 22

Henri Moser, An Oriental Holiday, 1–2. Henri Moser, L´Orient inédit and Henri Moser, An Oriental Holiday. Moser’s Brussels pavilion was awarded several prizes, including honorary diplomas and the cross of the Austrian Imperial Leopold Order.

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administration and the progress obtained by the Austrian administration […]. And all this transformation goes on.”23 Apparently, Moser here values the didactic juxtaposition of products apostrophized as “primitive” with modern ones attributed to the new administration, and he furthermore lists the flagship projects of the Kállay administration in the areas of mining, forestry and viticulture.24 The section of the exhibition dedicated to arts and crafts (Kunstgewerbe) receives praise as well:25 “The domestic industry (Hausindustrie) occupies one wing of the pavilion, neighboring the educational exhibition, which was a revelation […]. The woven and stitched Bosnian textiles call for a great future; they will have great success in Europe and become a new source of richness for the country.”26 Furthermore, in his review Moser attributes to Kállay the responsibility of organizing the exhibition and praises Commissioner General Hörmann for

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24 25

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“Le ‘clou,’ au dire de tous, a été le pavillon de BosnieHerzégovine avec ses annexes ; ça a été une révélation et, chose curieuse, dans les deux fractions de la monarchie on parle aujourd’hui de l’annexion de cette région. De fait, cette exposition n’est pas banale ; elle porte un cachet très spécial, car on y voit la Bosnie antédiluvienne à côté de celle de nos jours, celle de l’ancien ­régime et les progrès obtenus par l’administration autrichienne. […] Et tout cette transformation se poursuit.” Henri Moser, “L´exposition du millénaire,” June 23, 1896, 2. Henri Moser, “L´exposition du millénaire,” June 23, 1896, 2. The reforms introduced in the fields of household industries (Hausindustrie) and arts and crafts (Kunstgewerbe) were cornerstones of the cultural policies of the Kállay administration. “L’industrie domestique […] [a] été une révélation […]. Le tapis tissé et le tapis noué en Bosnie est appelé à un grand avenir; il aura grand succès en Europe et deviendra une nouvelle source de richesses pour le pays.” Henri Moser, “L´exposition du millénaire,” June 23, 1896, 2.

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c­ommanding the two hundred operating Bosnians at the exhibition.27 3

Henri Moser as Commissioner General of the Exhibition Section of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Exposition Universelle in Paris

As was mentioned previously, a main reason for why Kállay appointed Henri Moser the Commissioner General of the exhibition section of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris was his unquestioned recognition of the cultural policies of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, along with his connoisseurship of Central Asian arts and crafts. The account further below demonstrates that contemporary reviewers indeed perceived Moser as an expert of Central Asian arts and crafts, a region to which the ­attention of the administration turned for inspiration related to Islamic traditions that would be help to renew Bosnian arts and crafts while at the same time ­distancing them from Ottoman traditions. Moser’s expertise increased the credibility of these attempts: “Henri Moser had made himself known through his numerous expeditions in Central Asia, where he studied closely the decorative arts of the extreme Orient. However, traditions still in force in Bosnia and Herzegovina lean on Oriental arts, and this is where the present administration looked for inspiration for the newly opened art schools.”28

Nevertheless, the sources attest that Kállay, Hörmann and Truhelka continued to play a decisive role in the development and implementation of the Bosnia and Herzegovina section at the Paris World Exhibition: “Minister Kállay conceived the plan, brought it to maturity and gave it to his ­colleagues to be executed. Just as in Budapest and Vienna, Eduard Ritter von Horowitz, the section head, and Court Counselor Kosta Hörmann contributed their proven experience to the work.”29 Among other things, the pavilion architecture30 resembled the Bosnian house designed for the Millennium Exhibition. The dominating themes, the display strategies and techniques were similar to those of the Vienna and Budapest exhibitions. The sections were theme-oriented and exposed the growth and wealth induced by the AustroHungarian administration in as many details as possible.31 The exhibition halls were filled with several showcases and life-sized figures (fig. 9.6);

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31 27 28

Henri Moser, “L´exposition du millénaire,” June 23, 1896, 2. “M. Henri Moser s’est fait connaître par de nombreuses explorations dans l’Asie centrale, où il a étudié de près les arts décoratifs de l’Extrême Orient. Or, les traditions encore en vigueur en Bosnie-Herzégovine se rattachent aux arts orientaux, et c’est dans cette direction que les écoles d’art de la Bosnie, nouvellement ouvertes, ont cherché leurs inspirations.” Moynet, Georges. “Au Quai d’Orsay: La Pavillon de la Bosnie-Herzegovine,” Encyclopédie du siècle 66 (1900): n.p.

Neues Wiener Tagblatt 1900, 15: “[…] Minister Kállay […] [hat] den Plan ausgedacht, zur Reife gebracht und seinen Mitarbeitern zur Durchführung übergeben […]. Sectionsschef Eduard Ritter von Horowitz und Hofrath C. Hörmann haben, wie in Budapest und Wien, ihre bewährte Erfahrung dem Werke beigesteuert” (translation by author). See also Ágnes Sebestyén, “Displaying a “Peaceful” Colonization within Europe: The Pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Exposition Universelle in Paris,” in Ephemeral Architecture in Central Eastern Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries, ed. Miklós Székely, 123–42 (Budapest : L’Harmattan, 2015). The exhibits were organized in seventeen groups: (1) Education, (2) Fine arts and architecture, (3) Literature, (4) Science, (5) Liberal arts, (6) Public services and transport, (7) Agriculture, (8) Horticulture, (9) Forests, hunting, fishing, (10) Alimentary products, (11) Mining, metallurgy, (12) Interior decoration and furniture of public and private buildings, (13) Textile industry, (14) Chemical industry, (15) Diverse industries, (16) Public services, (17) Colonization. The seventeen groups were divided in altogether 113 classes. Each section was represented by the means that seemed most suitable in each case, see La Bosnie-Herzégovine a l’Exposition de Paris 1900, 117–35.

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Figure 9.6 Paris, The interior of the pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Exposition Universelle, 1900, colored lanternslide, 3.25 × 4 in. Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection, no. 13. ii.36

traditional and modern interiors had been reconstructed, including a haremluk and a Bosnian čaršija. Descriptions and photos prove that many objects and set pieces were identical to those on display in Budapest and Vienna. Although the exhibition and the interior decoration both clearly conveyed the overall narrative of growth and wealth, further means of communication were employed to maintain the desired ­interpretation of history. The official catalog provided further details, such as a considerable amount of statistics and case studies focusing

on subjects of primary interest for the Austro-­ Hungarian administration. There also were many other attractions for visitors:32 they could, for example, watch the work of the artisans while traditional bands were playing; included were ­ dance performances, guided tours and product tastings, and even a Bosnian restaurant. This—the dissemination of the complex imagery manifested through architecture, decoration and artifacts 32

For more details, see Sebestyén, “Displaying a ‘Peaceful’ Colonization within Europe.”

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showcased at the Bosnia and Herzegovina exhibition section—belonged to Moser’s main responsibilities as detailed by the following newspaper reports: “The commissioner-general of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Henri Moser, who is one of the most competent organizers and most skillful curators, apparently arranged the delights of his spectacles for the amusement of our eyes and the refreshment of our minds.33 / Mr. Henri Moser, the ­Bosnian-Herzegovinian exhibition commissioner, [who], among other things, contributed to the ­organization in a most fruitful way by providing life, motion, atmosphere and originality to the Parisians, understanding well how to meet their taste.”34 Moser’s efforts seemingly achieved the desired results; in fact, the press often copied his testimonials and statements. The cited article from the Neues Wiener Tagblatt from 1900 actually consists of little more than a long quote by Moser, who had contributed intensively to the impact of the architectural statement conveyed by the pavilion, its interior design, the exhibited artifacts and documentation, as well as the accompanying pub­ lications. Consequentially, many contemporary reviews interpreted the exhibition section of

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“Le commissaire général de la Bosnie-Herzégovine, M. Henri Moser, qui est le plus compétent des organisateurs et le plus habile des metteurs en scène, semble avoir combiné à ravir ses spectacles, pour l’amusement de nos yeux et la récréation de nos esprits.” Emil Berr, “L’Exposition de 1900: Bosnie-Herzégovine,” Le Figaro, January 26, 1900, 3. “Herr Henri Moser, der bosnisch-hercegovinische Ausstellungscomissär [, der zu der] Organisierung unter anderem auch dadurch höchst ersprießlich beigetragen hat, daß er im Pavillon Leben, Bewegung, Colorit und Originalität dem Pariser, dessen Geschmack entsprechend zu bieten verstand.” Neues Wiener Tagblatt 1900, 15.

­ osnia and Herzegovina as a manifestation of its B enlightened administration: “Due to their intense engagement, the executive bodies chosen by minister von Kállay had the greatest and most decisive influence on the realization and admirable arrangement of the Bosnian exhibition. They henceforth deserve acknowledgment for their clear and tasteful display of the ­cultural triumph of the Austrian occupation territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina in every area. Summarizing the numerous achievements of the Austro-Hungarian government in Bosnia and Herzegovina in every branch of social and economic life, the thriving progress of the occupied territories can be called nothing else than a cultural ­triumph in the truest meaning of the word. […] Bosnia and Herzegovina brilliantly passed the litmus test of its first-time participation at a World Fair. It doubtlessly moved to the front row of cultural nations, for its people do not only possess a proud, rich history, but also cultural works whose success at the Paris World Fair allow the country to look into the future with greatest confidence, as it is destined to find the respect and acknowledgment of the whole civilized world.”35 35

Fromm 1900, 455: “Auf das Zustandekommen und vortreffliche Arrangement der bosnisch-herzegovinischen Ausstellung haben die vom Minister von Kallay gewählten Organe durch ihre überaus rege Thätigkeit den grössten und entscheidenden Einfluss genommen. Ihnen gebührt daher die Anerkennung, in so übersichtlicher und geschmackvoller Weise den kulturellen Triumph der österreichischen Occupationsgebiete ­ Bosnien und Herzegovina auf allen seinen Gebieten zur Anschauung gebracht zu haben. Denn nicht anders als einen Kulturtriumph im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes kann man—wenn man die zahlreichen Erfolge der österreichisch-ungarischen Landesverwaltung in Bosnien und der Herzegovina auf allen Gebieten des sozialen und wirtschaftlichen Lebens zusammenfasst—das gedeihliche Fortschreiten der beiden Occupationsgebiete nennen […]. Bosnien-Herzegovina hat die Feuerprobe der erstmaligen Beteiligung an einer Weltausstellung glänzend bestanden und ist ohne Widerrede in die vorderste Reihe der Kulturländer

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Henri Moser and the Universal Exposition of 1900 in Paris

In his praise, Fromm36 explicitly appreciated the efforts of the experts Kállay had commissioned and the elegance of how the achievements of the Austro-Hungarian administration had been put on display, thereby promoting the triumphs of Austria-Hungary and placing it on the map of the leading European empires. 4 Conclusion The Kállay regime invested many human and financial resources for staging an elaborate apotheosis of a civilizing, imperialistic mission. The engagement of Henri Moser was a part of this political agenda, whose function was to help to promote cultural achievements on both national and international level in order to legitimize the authority of the regime. In this context, an extensive mediating apparatus was set in motion, which became more and more refined from exhibition to exhibition. In its further development it did not only include specific display techniques related to the pavilion architectures, interior designs, exhibits etc., but also to the applied communication and dissemination tools, such as accompanying publications, visitor programs, guided tours, dance and music shows, culinary offers, and special programs for the press. By the time Moser became Commissioner General, a complex image of Bosnia and Herzegovina had been designed and refined under the close supervision of Kállay himself. The multiple quoted sources suggest that Moser’s primary role was to contribute to the dissemination of this

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g­ etreten, denn sein Volk besitzt nicht nur eine stolze, bilderreiche Geschichte der Vergangenheit des Landes, sondern es kann solcher kulturellen Arbeit und einem solchen Erfolg wie auf der Pariser Weltausstellung getrost in die Zukunft blicken, in der es die Achtung und Anerkennung der ganzen civilisierten Welt finden wird” (translation by author). Fromm, Carl J., “Bosnien und Herzegovina auf der Pariser Weltausstellung,” in Die Pariser Weltausstellung in Wort und Bild, ed. Georg Malkowsky (Berlin : Kirchhoff, 1900), 455.

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complex image, to control its reception and ensure the desired interpretation. Bibliography Albert, Samuel D. “The Nation for Itself. The 1896 Hungarian Millennium and the 1906 Romanian National General Exhibition.” In Cultures of International Exhibitions 1840–1940, edited by Marta Filipová, 113–36. Farnham: Ashgate, 2015. Bagarić, Oliver. “Museum und nationale Identitäten. Eine Geschichte des Landesmuseums Sarajevo,” Südost-Forschungen 67 (2008): 144–67. Bálint, Zoltán. Az ezredéves kiállítás architektúrája, 1896. Vienna : Schroll, 1897. Balsiger, Roger N. and Ernst Johannes Kläy. Bei Schah, Emir und Khan. Henri Moser Charlottenfels 1844–1923. Schaffhausen : Meier, 1992. Bennett, Tony. The Birth of the Museum. History, Theory, Politics. New York: Routledge, 1995. Berr, Emil. “L’Exposition de 1900: Bosnie-Herzégovine.” Le Figaro, January 26, 1900. Bosnyákország és Herczegovina az 1896. évi Ezredéves Országos Kiállításon. Budapest: Pesti Könyvnyomda Rt, 1896. La Bosnie-Herzégovine a l’Exposition de Paris 1900. Vienna: Adolphe Holzhausen, 1900. Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish. The Birth of the Prison. London: Allen Lane, Penguin, 1977. Fromm, Carl J. “Bosnien und Herzegovina auf der Pariser Weltausstellung.” In Die Pariser Weltausstellung in Wort Und Bild, edited by Georg Malkowsky, 448–55. Berlin: Kirchhoff, 1900. Hartmuth, Maximilian. “The Habsburg Landesmuseum in Sarajevo in its ideological and architectural contexts: a reinterpretation.” Centropa 12, no. 2 (2012): 194–205. Lipa, Aida. “Cultural Politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in Word and Image: The Creation of the Western Type of Art.” MA thesis, Central European University, Budapest, 2004.

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136 Mitchell, Timothy. “The World as Exhibition.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 31, no. 2 (1989): 217–36. Moser, Henri. La Bosnie-Herzégovine au seuil du xxe siècle. London: Eustace Curzon, 1895. Moser, Henri. L’Orient inédit : à travers la Bosnie et l’Herzégovine. Paris : Compagnie internationale des wagons-lits et des grand express européens, 1895. Moser, Henri. An Oriental Holiday: Bosnia and Herzegovina. A Handbook for the Tourist. London: Eustace Curzon, 1895. Moser, Henri. Bosnie-Herzégovine : une ɶuvre de colonisation pacifique dans les Balkans. Paris : V. Goupy and G. Maurin, 1896. Moser, Henri. “L’exposition du millénaire.” Journal de Genève, June 19, 1896, 2. Moynet, Georges. “Au Quai d’Orsay : La Pavillon de la Bosnie-Herzegovine.” Encyclopédie du siècle 66 (1900): n.p. “Bosnien in Paris: Mittheilungen des bosnisch-herzegowinischen Generalcommissars Henri Moser.” Neues Wiener Tagblatt 34, no. 103, April 15, 1900, 15. Revue de commerce et de l’industrie, June 1894, 118. Sebestyén, Ágnes. “Displaying a ‘Peaceful’ Colonization within Europe: The Pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Exposition Universelle in Paris.” In

Sebestyén Ephemeral Architecture in Central Eastern Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries, edited by Miklós Székely, 123–42. Budapest: L’Harmattan, 2015. Sinkó, Katalin. “A millenniumi kiállítás mint Gesamtkunstwerk.” In A historizmus művészete Magyarországon, edited by Anna Zádor, 132–47. Budapest: MTA, 1993. Szántó, Iván. “Persian Art for the Balkans in AustroHungarian Cultural Policies.” In The shaping of Persian art, edited by Yuka Kadoi and Iván Szántó, 130– 54. Newcastle upon Tyne : Cambridge Scholars Publishers, 2013. Székely, Miklós. “The Resetting of the Main Historical Group from the Millennium Exhibition to the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1900.” In Ephemeral Architecture in Central Eastern Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries, edited by Miklós Székely, 33–50. Budapest  : L’Harmattan, 2015. Szokolay, Kornél. “Bosnyák diákok Budapesten.” Vasárnapi Újság 43, no. 34 (1896): 563–64. Unowsky, Daniel L. The Pomp and Politics of Patriotism. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 2005. “Wissenschaft, Kunst und Literatur. Jahresbericht des Präsidiums des K.K. österreichischen Handelsmuseums,” Wiener Zeitung 126, June 4, 1893, 7.

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Chapter 10

Samarcande au nord et à l’ouest

Appropriation(s) de l’architecture timouride à Saint-Pétersbourg et à Berne Katrin Kaufmann En Europe, de nombreux exemples d’architecture orientalisante témoignent de la fascination romantique pour les arts orientaux, avant tout au xixe siècle. Ces édifices ou ces intérieurs interprètent, par exemple, l’architecture mauresque de Grenade, l’architecture ottomane d’Istanbul ou l’architecture mamelouke du Caire. La culture bâtie de l’Asie centrale en revanche, dont l’architecture des Timourides à Samarcande représente une apogée, ne fut guère appropriée. L’architecture timouride se caractérise par sa monumentalité, ses imposants portails et coupoles ainsi que son décor somptueux, notamment les mosaïques de faïence aux glaçures colorées, utilisées pour le revêtement des édifices. Dans l’architecture occidentale, seuls quelques édifices ou intérieurs isolés révèlent des éléments inspirés directement de l’architecture ­timouride.1 Cet article porte sur les deux exemples connus de ce type : l’un se trouve en Russie, l’autre en Suisse. Les deux furent créés dans le premier quart du xxe siècle, dans des contextes et pour des objectifs différents. La mosquée de Saint-­ Pétersbourg présente les éléments les plus significatifs du style néo-timouride à l’extérieur de ­l’édifice. Elle fut construite entre 1909 et 1921 pour la communauté musulmane et fut l’unique mosquée de la ville durant le xxe siècle. Au Musée

1 Plus répandues sont les façades qui font une vague allusion à l’architecture persane (dont l’architecture timouride est considérablement dérivée) : Le Palais Voroncov du xixe siècle à Alupka (Crimée), le Château Kórnik près de Poznań (Pologne), l’usine “Zacherl” à Vienne, ou un ancien bain public du début du xxe siècle (Denisovskie bani) à Moscou, par exemple.

d’Histoire de Berne (bhm), des intérieurs évoquant ­l’architecture timouride—dont une salle existe encore—furent réalisés entre 1919 et 1922. Ils abritaient la “collection orientale” de l’explorateur Henri Moser (1844–1923). Après une brève description des deux lieux et de leur histoire, cet article aborde les différentes approches suivies dans leur conception et leur r­ éalisation. En second lieu, il tente d’expliquer pour quelles raisons le style néo-timouride fut choisi. 1

La première mosquée pour les musulmans de Saint-Pétersbourg

Depuis la fondation de la ville en 1703 et l’ouverture du chantier de la forteresse Pierre-et-Paul, qui employa des Tatars d’origines diverses, des musulmans vivaient à Saint-Pétersbourg.2 Vers la fin du xixe siècle, la communauté musulmane ne disposait toujours pas de lieux de culte propres. ­Plusieurs tentatives d’initier la construction d’une mosquée ayant échoué, les musulmans louaient des locaux pour les transformer en salles de prière.3 Ce n’est qu’en 1906, et grâce à la démocratisation de la vie 2 Voir Daud Aminov, Sankt-Peterburgskaja sobornaja kafedral’naja mečet : Istoričeskij očerk [Mosquée-cathédrale de Saint-Pétersbourg : abrégé historique]. Saint-Pétersbourg : Impaks, 1992, 3–4; Al’mira Tagirdžanova, Musul’mane v žizni i kul’ture Peterburga (xviii–xix vv.) [Les musulmans dans la vie et la culture de Saint-Pétersbourg (xviii–xix siècles)]. Saint-Pétersbourg : Poltorak, 2013, 3. 3 Voir Aminov, Mosquée-cathédrale, 6–8; Tagirdžanova, Les musulmans, 15, 49–51; Al’mira Tagirdžanova, Mečeti Peterburga, proekty, voploščenie, istorija musul’manskoj obščiny [Les mosquées de Saint-Pétersbourg, projets, réalisation,

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��20 | doi 10.1163/9789004412644_013

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Figure 10.1

Kaufmann

Saint-Pétersbourg, Mosquée, Nikolaj Vasil’ev, 1909–21 Photographie de katrin kaufmann, 2017

publique qui suivit les ­événements de la première révolution russe, que le m ­ inistère de l’Intérieur approuva la création du Comité pour la construction de la mosquée-cathédrale.4 Le ­comité fut autorisé h­istoire de la communauté musulmane]. Saint-Pétersbourg : Poltorak, 2014, 14–7. 4 Il existe plusieurs publications sur l’histoire de la construction de la mosquée. Elles s’appuient sur des sources qui se trouvent dans le cgia (Central’nyj gosudarstvennyj istoričeskij archiv Sankt Peterburga), le rgia (Rossijskij gosudarstvennyj istoričeskij archiv) et le gmir (Gosudarstvennyj muzej istorii religii), voir par exemple : Aminov, ­Mosquéecathédrale; Boris Kirikov, « Orientalistskie i nordičeskie čerty v architekture sobornoj mečeti S.-Peterburga [Traits orientalistes et nordiques dans l’architecture de la mosquée-cathédrale de Saint-Pétersbourg] », dans Peterburgskie čtenija 95, Saint-Pétersbourg, 1995, 181–84; B ­ oris

Kirikov, Pamjatniki architektury i istorii Sankt-­Peterburga, Petrogradskij rajon [Monuments architecturaux et historiques de Saint-Pétersbourg, district de ­ Petrogradskij]. Saint-Pétersbourg : Kolo, 2004, 347–51; Tat’jana Steckevič, « Peterburgskaja Sobornaja mečet’, kak pamjatnik architektury [La mosquée-cathédrale de Saint-Pétersbourg en tant que monument architectural] », dans Čužaja vešč v kul’ture, materialy naučnoj konferencii [Eléments étrangers à la culture, actes de la conférence], Oct.–Nov. 1995, Saint-Pétersbourg : ­Gosudarstvennyj muzej istorii religii und Rossijskij ėtnografičeskij muzej, 1995, 38–40; Vera Vitjazeva, « Peterburgskaja mečet’. K istorii stroitel’stva [La mosquée de Saint-Pétersbourg. Histoire de sa construction] », dans Pamjatniki stariny. Koncepcii. Otkrytija. Versii : Pamjati V.S. Beleckogo, 1919–1997 [Les anciens monuments. Concepts. Découvertes. Versions. À la ­mémoire de V.S. Beleckogo, 1919–1997], Saint-Pétersbourg P ­ skov : 1997, 147–62; Tagirdžanova, Les mosquées.

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à recueillir des dons dans tout l’Empire russe. Un promoteur majeur de la construction fut l’émir de Boukhara, ʿAbd al-Aḥad Khān (1857/59–1910) qui, en 1907, finança l’achat d’un terrain situé au centre de la ville (Kronverkskij prospekt 7), à proximité de la forteresse Pierre-et-Paul. Le projet de construction de Nikolaj Vasil’ev (1875–1958)—ingénieur et architecte-artiste russe—fut définitivement approuvé par l’administration municipale et le tsar Nicolas ii en 1909, et suivi des travaux la même année.5 En 1913, le gros œuvre de la construction fut achevé et la mosquée inaugurée avec un premier service religieux, en l’honneur du 300e anniversaire de la maison des Romanov. Les travaux d’ameublement et de décoration se poursuivirent jusqu’en 1921.6 Sur un plan rectangulaire, l’édifice se compose d’un corps principal surmonté d’un grand dôme et d’un avant-corps possédant trois portails et deux minarets latéraux (fig. 10.1). D’une part, la mosquée est considérée comme exemple de l’Art nouveau du Nord [Severnij modern], étant donné que ses murs sont revêtus de maçonnerie en granit gris (style romantique, en partie médiéval), allégés de quelques éléments tels que fenêtres à treillis métalliques décoratifs et médaillons avec des citations du Coran. D’autre part, la mosquée évoque l’architecture des Timourides, à travers ses portails, son dôme et les bulbes de ses minarets richement décorés de mosaïques de faïence, créant des motifs floraux et géométriques, dans lesquels dominent les tons bleus et turquoises (fig. 10.2).7

5 Issu d’une famille de Tatars polonais et membre de la communauté musulmane, l’ingénieur Stepan Kričinskij (1874– 1923) était responsable de la partie constructive du projet en tant que spécialiste en béton armé. 6 Voir Vitjazeva, Les anciens monuments, 156–62. 7 La mosquée fut restaurée plusieurs fois. Une intervention majeure fut le remplacement de la faïence du dôme à partir de 1985, voir Kirikov, Monuments architecturaux, 351. L’intérieur de la mosquée est plus modeste et ne peut pas être décrit ici.

2

Conception de la mosquée de SaintPétersbourg—directives, modèles et variantes

En 1907, dans le but de réaliser le projet de la ­mosquée, le Comité pour la construction de la ­mosquée-cathédrale chargea la Société impériale des architectes de Saint-Pétersbourg d’organiser un concours. Face à La Mecque et revêtue de pierre, la mosquée devait être construite dans le « style oriental », avec un ou deux minarets et un dôme de préférence.8 En avril 1908, parmi 45 projets ­soumis, quatre furent primés (trois premiers prix et un second).9 La préférence fut accordée au projet, sous la devise Timur, de Nikolaj Vasil’ev, diplômé de l’Institut des ingénieurs civils, nommé d’après le tsar Nicolas i (fig. 10.3). Vasil’ev, responsable du développement artistique de la mosquée, modifia sa conception.10 Il adopta la forme cubique de l’édifice de son projet Arabesques ­ (fig. 10.4), qui avait obtenu le second prix, tout en ­s’inspirant de l’architecture des Timourides, plus précisément du mausolée de Tamerlan (fondateur de la dynastie, d. 1405), le Gur-i Amir à Samarcande, construit au début du xve siècle. En examinant la construction réalisée à Saint-Pétersbourg, on constate que la cannelure nervurée et les ornements du dôme sont analogues au modèle de ­Samarcande. Le tambour, d’autre part—contrairement au projet initial—diffère complètement. 8 Voir Zodčij, 45, 1907, 467–68. Lors du concours, Gataulla Bajazitov (1846–1911)—chef du clergé musulman de Saint-Pétersbourg et du Comité pour la construction de la mosquée-cathédrale—, ajouta des recommandations pour la planification architecturale de la future mosquée. Il ne précisa toutefois pas dans quel style la mosquée devait être construite. Voir Zodčij, 51, 1907, 521–22. 9 Voir Zodčij, 11, 1908, 98–99; Zodčij, 15, 1908, 135–38 et planches 6–13. 10 Sur Nikolaj Vasil’ev voir Vladimir Lisovskij et Valerij Isačenko, Nikolaj Vasil’ev : Aleksej Bubyr’. Saint-Pétersbourg : Beloe i černoe, 1999; Vladimir Lisovskij et Ričard Gašo, Nikolaj Vasil’ev. Ot moderna k modernizmu. Saint-Pétersbourg : Kolo, 2011.

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Figure 10.2

Kaufmann

Saint-Pétersbourg, Mosquée, Portail principal, Nikolaj Vasil’ev, 1909–21 Photographie de katrin kaufmann, 2017

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Figure 10.3 La mosquée à Saint-Pétersbourg, Projets de concours, 1er prix, devise Timur, façade principale, architecte N. Vasil’ev, Zodčij, 15, 1908, pl. 10

Non décoré, il est muni de fenêtres pour illuminer l’intérieur. En sa forme et son décor, le portail qui fait face à l’avenue (fig. 10.2) ressemble au pištaq, avec niche voûtée de la madrasa qui intègre le Gur-i Amir.11 Il est tout à fait possible que les 11

Le revêtement du dôme et des portails avec des mosaïques de faïence fut très exigeant et coûteux. Sous la direction du célèbre céramiste Pjotr Vaulin, des maîtres de la fabrication céramique artistique Gel’dvejn et Vaulin, dans le village Kikerino près de Gatčina, durent d’abord développer cette technique inconnue en Russie. Voir V. Morozov, « Magometanskaja mečet’ v Peterburge [La mosquée mahométane à Saint-Pétersbourg] », Zodčij, 14, 1914, 163–64.

planches détaillées et coloriées d’une publication sur le Gur-i Amir, publiée en 1905 par la Commission Impériale Archéologique, furent utilisées comme modèle pour une partie de la faïence à Saint-Pétersbourg (fig. 10.8).12 En même temps, il 12

Voir Commission Impériale Archéologique, Les Mosquées de Samarcande : Fascicule i, Gour-Emir. Saint-­ Pétersbourg : Expédition pour la confection des p ­ apiers d’état, 1905. L’intérêt pour les monuments de Samarcande augmenta après l’occupation de la ville par les Russes en 1868. Les premières planches en couleur du Gur-i Amir furent publiées par l’artiste Nikolaj Simakov en 1883, (voir Nikolaj Simakov, Iskusstvo Srednej Azii : Sbornik sredne-aziatskoj ornamentacii [L’art de l’Asie centrale : Receuil de l’art décoratif de l’Asie centrale].

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Kaufmann

Figure 10.4 La mosquée à Saint-Pétersbourg, Projets de concours, 2ème prix, devise Arabesques, architecte N. Vasil’ev, Zodčij, 15, 1908, pl. 12

est évident, que le modèle de Samarcande ne fut  pas strictement copié. La forme des flèches des  minarets, par exemple, s’inspire davantage des  ­modèles persans,13 tandis que l’ornement

13

Saint-Pétersbourg : Imperatorskoe obščestvo pooščrenija chudožestv, 1883). L’exploration scientifique des monuments de Samarcande s’intensifia un an plus tard, lorsque l’archéologue et orientaliste Nikolaj Veselovskij (1848–1918) fut envoyé en Asie centrale par l’université de Saint-Pétersbourg et la Commission ­ ­Impériale Archéologique. Il dirigea des fouilles à Samarcande qui aboutirent à la publication Les Mosquées de Samarcande : Fascicule i, Gour-Emir (voir Commission Impériale Archéologique 1905). Voir Morozov, La mosquée, 162–63. Les minarets à Saint-Pétersbourg ressemblent par exemple à ceux de

sur  les  fûts évoque la sebka, un motif de losanges ­répétés, ­souvent utilisé dans l’architecture ibéro-islamique. 3

Les espaces d’exposition pour la collection Henri Moser au bhm à Berne

La « collection orientale » d’Henri Moser figure parmi les plus grandes collections d’arts et ­d’artisanat islamiques au monde. Moser, fils d’un la mosquée du Chah (Masjed-e Shāh) à Ispahan. Seule la partie centrale a été conçue différemment en ­omettant le balcon ouvert, probablement en raison des conditions climatiques locales.

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entrepreneur horloger suisse, a mené une vie souvent aventureuse en tant qu’explorateur, chasseur et diplomate, avant de se faire un nom comme collectionneur et organisateur d’expositions.14 En 1907, il installa sa collection à « Charlottenfels », la résidence familiale près de Schaffhouse, avant de l’offrir en 1914 au Musée d’Histoire de Berne, à condition qu’elle soit exposée de manière adéquate, dans des salles à déterminer.15 Dans le but d’abriter cette collection, il fut nécessaire d’agrandir le musée. Suite au déclenchement de la Première Guerre mondiale, ce n’est qu’en mai 1922 que l’exposition, répartie sur cinq salles, fut finalement inaugurée dans une nouvelle annexe. La grande Salle d’armes, sous verrière, représentait la pièce maîtresse de l’exposition (fig. 10.5). Cette

14

15

Pour la biographie de Moser voir Roger Balsiger et Ernst Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan : Henri Moser, Charlottenfels, 1844–1923. Schaffhouse : Meier, 1992, 11– 63, 203–20. Pour sa collection et son travail en tant qu’organisateur d’exposition voir Rudolf Zeller, Die orientalische Sammlung von Henri Moser auf Charlottenfels : Beschreibender Katalog der ­Waffensammlung. Bern : Wyss, 1915; Id., « Die orientalische Sammlung von Henri Moser auf Charlottenfels im Historischen Museum in Bern », Das Werk, 9, 10, 1922 : 189–204; id., ­Führer durch die Orientalische Sammlung Henri MoserCharlottenfels und die Völkerkundliche Abteilung des Bernischen Historischen Museums. Bern : Grunau, 1923; Robert Pfaff, « Henri Moser Charlottenfels und seine Orientalische Sammlung », Schaffhauser Beiträge zur Geschichte, 62, 1985, 117–56; Ernst Kläy, Orientalische Sammlung Henri Moser Charlottenfels (Bern). [Bern] : Bernisches Historisches Museum, 1991; Balsiger et Kläy, Bei Schah; Ernst Kläy, « “Unser Ziel ist es, ein Werk zu schaffen, das uns überlebt.” Zum wechselvollen Schicksal der Orientalischen Sammlung Henri Moser Charlottenfels », Berner Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Heimatkunde, 56, 3, 1994, 335–58. Voir l’acte de fondation Orientalische Sammlung Henri  Moser Charlottenfels im bernischen historischen ­Museum du 26.1.1914 (bhm, Inv. 1915.670.0159). Selon cet acte, Moser devait être consulté pour l’installation, au cas où elle aurait lieu de son vivant. Moser lui-même se contraignait à payer les frais pour la conception des intérieurs qui accueilleraient la collection.

salle est la seule à exister aujourd’hui dans sa conception architecturale originale.16 Les murs de la salle sont structurés par des arcs ogivaux, qui encadrent des niches peu apparentes. Les coins de la salle sont dissimulés par des pans inclinés. En face de l’entrée, une grande niche trapézoïdale est surmontée d’une voûte de brique à nervures blanches. Dans la partie supérieure des murs s’étend une frise ornée d’éléments prismatiques. La conception architecturale est complétée par un décor pittoresque non moins important. Les écoinçons entre les arcs et leur délimitation orthogonale sont décorés d’ornements végétaux. Des rectangles ornés d’inscriptions coufiques et un motif ovale, appliqué au-dessus de la frise, complètent le décor.17 Ces éléments évoquent ­l’architecture médiévale de l’Asie centrale ou de la Perse, soit la région explorée par Moser à l’occasion de plusieurs voyages.18 4

Conception de la Salle d’armes à Berne— directives, modèles et variantes

La correspondance, les procès-verbaux et les plans déposés dans les archives Moser, au Musée ­d’Histoire de Berne, révèlent les responsables de 16

17

18

Aujourd’hui, la salle est principalement utilisée comme lieu de réunion. Seule une petite partie de la collection de Moser est exposée en vitrines, le long des murs. Le sort de la collection et les salles d’exposition au bhm ont été décrits en détail, voir Balsiger et Kläy, Bei Schah, 197–202; Kläy, « ‘Unser Ziel ist es, ein Werk zu schaffen, das uns überlebt’ », 349–56. Les inscriptions décoratives reproduisent des versets du Coran et des bénédictions, voir Katrin Kaufmann, « Samarkand in der Bundeshauptstadt—ein Ausstellungssaal im neo-timuridischen Stil für die Sammlung Henri Mosers im Bernischen Historischen Museum », dans Francine Giese, Leïla el-Wakil et Ariane Varela Braga (éds.), Der Orient in der Schweiz : Neo-islamische Architektur und Interieurs im 19. und 20. Jh. Berlin : De Gruyter, 142–62. Moser a voyagé quatre fois en Asie centrale entre 1868 et 1890. Son récit À travers l’Asie centrale est basé sur le troisième voyage (1883–84).

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Kaufmann

Figure 10.5

Berne, Vue de la Salle d’armes de la collection Moser au bhm, vers 1925, Musée d’Histoire de Berne

certaines décisions créatives ainsi que les modèles destinés à concevoir les espaces.19 Moser influença considérablement l’architecture des salles qui allaient héberger sa collection. En 1916, il annonça son intention de présenter la collection dans un « cadre oriental ».20 Plus tard, on comprend que Moser se référa à un édifice spécifique pour ­décorer la salle : lui aussi choisit le Gur-i Amir

19

20

Voir Balsiger et Kläy, Bei Schah, 190–97. Les recherches récentes de l’auteur dans les archives du bhm ont permis de compléter les informations sur la conception des espaces de l’exposition. Pour la présentation détaillée des résultats, voir Kaufmann, « Samarkand in der Bundeshauptstadt ». « Ich beabsichtige, die Sammlungen in einen orientalischen Rahmen zu bringen […] »; voir la lettre de Moser à Rudolf Wegeli, directeur du musée, 26.12.1916 (bhm, Inv. 1916.670.184).

de Samarcande.21 Pour réaliser le projet et installer la collection, Moser fit appel à l’architecte ­français Henri Saladin (1851–1923).22 Saladin était 21

22

Voir la lettre de Moser à l’architecte Henri Saladin, 15.2.1918 (bhm). (Les documents désignés uniquement par (bhm) ne sont pas inventoriés.) Saladin avait déjà réalisé l’exposition et le Fumoir arabe à Charlottenfels. Pour le Fumoir arabe voir Francine Giese, « From Style Room to Period Room. Henri Moser’s Fumoir in Charlottenfels Castle », dans Sandra Costa, Dominique Poulot et Mercedes Volait (éds.), The Period Rooms : Allestimenti storici tra arte, gusto e collezionismo. Bologne : Bononia University Press, 2016, 153–60; Francine Giese et Ariane Varela Braga, « Translocating Metropolitan Display Strategies in Nineteenth-Century Europe : Frederick Stibbert, Henri Moser, and their Orientalist Style Rooms », International Journal of Islamic Architecture, 8, 1, 2019, 115–40. On ne sait pas grand-chose sur Saladin. Diplômé en études d’architecture à l’École des Beaux-Arts de Paris, en 1881,

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c­ onsidéré comme spécialiste de l’architecture islamique. Il avait publié plusieurs études à ce sujet, la plus célèbre étant certainement le premier volume du Manuel d’art musulman (L’Architecture, Paris, 1907). L’architecte n’avait jamais visité l’Asie centrale. Dans son manuel, il décrivit l’architecture timouride à l’aide de publications et de ­photographies. Pour la conception de la salle d’exposition, il reprit ce matériel, y compris les photographies de Moser (fig. 10.6).23 Structurée par des arcs ogivaux, la Salle d’armes évoque manifestement la cour d’une madrasa, institution d’enseignement islamique pour la théologie et le droit.24 Saladin désigna la grande niche voûtée comme mihrab, par analogie aux niches de prière dans les mosquées.25 Conformément à l’architecture de Samarcande, une voûte ornée de muqarnas (éléments en forme de nids d’abeilles) aurait été typique—cependant, pour des raisons pécuniaires, Saladin opta pour une « voûte à nervures persanes ».26 Pour la conception de la frise, l’architecte se réfère à une photographie de Paul Nadar (1856–1939). Elle montre la niche de muqarnas au-dessus du portail d’un mausolée timouride, dans la nécropole Shah-i Zindeh à Samarcande.27

23

24 25 26 27

il commence à s’intéresser à l’art et à l’architecture islamique, suite à une mission archéologique en Tunisie (1882–83); voir Myriam Bacha, « Henri Saladin (1851– 1923) : Un architecte “Beaux-Arts” promoteur de l’art ­ islamique tunisien », dans Nabila Oulebsir et Mercedes Volait (eds.), L’Orientalisme architectural entre ­imaginaires et savoirs. Paris : Picard (Collection D’une rive l’autre), 2009. (2.2.2017). Voir lettre de Saladin à Moser, 16.7.1917 (bhm). La photographie du Gur-i Amir de Moser fut publiée dans le Manuel d’art musulman, voir Henri Saladin, Manuel d’art musulman, [t. 1] : L’Architecture. Paris : Picard, 1907, 363. Voir lettre de Saladin à Moser, 28.3.1918 et Description du projet de Mr. Saladin, 5.5.1918, 2 (bhm). Voir Description du projet de Mr. Saladin, 5.5.1918, 2 (bhm). Voir lettre de Saladin à Moser, 19.1.1918 (bhm). Voir lettre de Saladin à Moser, 28.3.1918 (bhm); Description du projet de Mr. Saladin, 5.5.1918, 8 (bhm).

Figure 10.6

Henri Moser, Tour et dôme du Gour Emir, 1889/90

Photographie, 170 × 120 mm, Musée d’Histoire de Berne, Inv. PH1.240.06584.01

Le décor pittoresque imite le revêtement des façades en faïence, caractéristique de nombreux édifices à Samarcande, parmi eux le Gur-i Amir. Le motif aux ramages qui enlace la niche du miḥrāb bernois dans la partie supérieure, est emprunté à la porte d’entrée monumentale (pištaq) de la madrasa qui intègre le mausolée (fig. 10.5 et 10.7).28

28

Pour le voyage de Paul Nadar en Asie centrale voir Anne-Marie Bernard et Claude Malécot, L’Odyssée de Paul Nadar au Turkestan–1890. Paris : Éditions du patrimoine, 2007. La plupart des photographies de Nadar, prises en Asie centrale, sont en ligne sur le site de la map (Médiathèque de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, France). Voir Description du projet de Mr. Saladin, 5.5.1918, 9 (bhm).

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Figure 10.7 Henri Saladin, Écoinçon de la grande niche de la salle d’armes, Musée Moser, 29.4.1918, crayon et aquarelle. Musée d’Histoire de Berne

Figure 10.8 Commission Impériale Archéologique, Détails de la porte d’accès de la mosquée de Gour Emir, Les Mosquées de Samarcande : Fascicule i, Gour-Emir, 1905, pl. iii, The Cleveland Museum of Art

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Samarcande au nord et à l’ouest

À titre de modèle (fig. 10.8),29 Saladin utilisa une planche de la publication mentionnée plus haut— Les Mosquées de Samarcande : Gour-Emir (Saint-Pétersbourg, 1905). En effet, le Gur-i Amir ne servit de repère direct que pour le décor pittoresque de la salle à Berne.30 La conception architecturale, en revanche, se compose d’éléments ­stylisés de l’architecture timouride et persane. 5

Style néo-timouride à Berne et à SaintPétersbourg—motifs et intentions

Plusieurs raisons, sans doute, incitèrent Henri Moser à choisir un monument timouride pour le cadre architectural de son exposition à Berne. Premièrement, en évoquant l’architecture médiévale de l’Asie centrale, le décor des salles soulignait le thème et l’origine géographique de la collection, et constituait en même temps une réminiscence des quatre voyages de Moser qui avaient fortement influencé la vie du collectionneur. Deuxièmement, le choix témoigne de l’enthousiasme de Moser pour la ville de Samarcande et son patrimoine architectural, qui se reflète à plusieurs reprises dans son récit de voyage, par exemple lorsqu’il y décrit son arrivée31 : « Bientôt, des hauteurs, nous contemplons les splendides vestiges de l’antique ville de Timour qui s’étale à nos pieds : édifices ­majestueux, rehaussés par la couleur vive de leurs émaux multicolores, coupoles sans nombre aux formes admirables, minarets élancés qui font à cette ville une réputation confirmée par les 29

30

31

Moser lui avait prêté le livre, voir lettre de Saladin à Moser, 28.2.1918 (bhm). Selon la déclaration d’Henri Saladin de 1907, il s’agissait de « la publication la plus remarquable qui ait été faite jusqu’ici sur Samarcande » (Saladin, Manuel, 353, note 3). Comme, à Berne, les mosaïques de faïence du Gur-i Amir sont imitées par le biais de la peinture, l’effet visuel est néanmoins très différent de l’original. Voir Henri Moser, À travers l’Asie Centrale : La steppe Kirghize, le Turkestan Russe, Boukhara, Khiva, le pays des Turcomans et la Perse : Impressions de voyage. Paris : Plon, 1886 [1e éd. 1885], 110, 112–19.

147 siècles.32 » Troisièmement, Moser souhaitait se distancer du « style si vulgaire de l’Alhambra ».33 Dans l’Europe du xixe siècle, la réception architecturale des palais nasrides médiévaux de Grenade était une mode répandue dans le design d’intérieur, mais dépassée au moment du projet mené à Berne. Pour autant qu’on le sache, aucun projet soumis au concours pour la mosquée de Saint-Pétersbourg n’avait adopté le style des palais de l’Alhambra. Les projets primés reflètent les modèles utilisés : outre l’architecture timouride, il s’agissait de mosquées ottomanes (projet A, arch. Marian Ljalevič, 1er prix) et de mosquées et mausolées mamlouks (projets Mamelouk, arch. Marian Peretjatkovič, 1er prix et Arabesques, arch. Nikolaj Vasil’ev, 2ème prix (fig. 10.4)).34 Jusqu’à ce jour, il n’existe aucune trace écrite des discussions qui aboutirent au choix du lauréat. Quel motif incita le jury à opter en faveur du projet de Nikolaj Vasil’ev? Le fait qu’il soit le seul architecte à avoir remporté deux prix? L’aspect esthétique? Le fait crucial que Vasil’ev soit un représentant renommé de l’Art nouveau du Nord?35 Le fait que le modèle choisi se situe sur le territoire de l’Empire russe et ait été étudié par des scientifiques russes? Le choix représentait-il une concession à l’émir de Boukhara, qui entretenait des liens étroits avec Saint-Pétersbourg et soutenait financièrement, entre autre, la construction de la mosquée? On peut aussi envisager des raisons ­politiques. En 1908, lorsque le projet de Vasil’ev fut adopté, il était indispensable de construire une mosquée dans la capitale. Suite à l’expansion russe en Asie centrale, des millions de musulmans appartenaient à l’empire et devaient être représentés à Saint-Pétersbourg, notamment aussi par un lieu 32 Moser, À travers l’Asie Centrale, 110. 33 Moser à Saladin, 15.2.1918 (bhm). 34 Voir Zodčij, 15, 1908, 135–37. 35 Deux membres du jury avaient déjà construit des édifices dans ce style, à proximité du site prévu pour la mosquée : Alexander von Hohen (Villa von Mathilde Kšesinska, Rue Kujbyševa 2–4) et Fredrik Lidvall (Haus Lidvalja, Prospekt Kamennoostrovskij 1-3а). Indications d’Al’mira Tagirdžanova du 23.01.2018.

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148

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de culte. Dans ce sens, la construction d’une mosquée de style néo-timouride peut également être interprétée comme un geste bienveillant à l’égard des musulmans de l’empire. En 1909, un comité d’experts de l’Académie des arts critique le fait qu’il soit prévu d’édifier la mosquée à un endroit bien visible et à proximité des plus anciens monuments de la ville, notamment la forteresse Pierre-et-Paul et la première demeure du tsar Pierre i.36 Malgré cette objection, la décision fut maintenue. Aujourd’hui, la mosquée avec ses éléments de style néo-timouride est une destination touristique populaire (fig. 10.2) et fait partie intégrante du paysage urbain. 6

Un style rarement utilisé

était en outre—en tant que mausolée de Tamerlan, fondateur de la dynastie—un représentant idéal de l’acquis culturel des Timourides. En 1922, les salles d’exposition de la collection Moser furent inaugurées à Berne. La porte d’accès aux salles était parée d’une devise du poète perse Saadi (xiiie siècle) : « notre but est de produire une œuvre qui nous survive ».39 Avec l’œuvre de Moser, le Musée d’Histoire de Berne possédait désormais une extraordinaire collection d’objets d’art islamique, mais aussi les uniques intérieurs, en Suisse, présentant des éléments de style néo-­ timouride. De ces intérieurs, seule une salle est préservée à ce jour. Avec la mosquée de Saint-­ Pétersbourg, elle témoigne d’un chapitre bref, mais intéressant, de l’histoire de l’architecture en Europe.

Au cours du xixe siècle le style néo-mauresque s’était répandu dans toute l’Europe et au-delà, dû à Bibliographie l’enthousiasme pour l’Alhambra et son riche décor. En revanche, le style néo-timuride ne fut utilisé Aminov, Daud, Sankt-Peterburgskaja sobornaja kafequ’au début du xxe siècle, et dans des cas et pour dral’naja mečet : Istoričeskij očerk [Mosquée-­ des fonctions apparemment très spécifiques.37 cathédrale de Saint-Pétersbourg : abrégé historique]. Si certains édifices ou intérieurs en style néo-­ Saint-Pétersbourg : Impaks, 1992. mauresque se référaient moins directement à l’Al- Bacha, Myriam, « Henri Saladin (1851–1923) : Un archihambra médiévale qu’à d’autres structures tecte “Beaux-Arts” promoteur de l’art islamique néo-mauresques du xixe siècle, il n’y a aucun lien ­tunisien », dans Nabila Oulebsir et Mercedes Volait entre les deux œuvres en style néo-timouride à (eds.), L’Orientalisme architectural entre imagiBerne et à Saint-Pétersbourg. Le fait que tous les naires et saviors. Paris : Picard (Collection d’une rive deux citent le même monument timouride, le l’autre), 2009.  Gur-i Amir, peut s’expliquer pour deux raisons. (2.2.2017). D’une part, l’architecture islamique de l’Asie cen- Balsiger, Roger et Kläy, Ernst, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan : trale était encore peu connue à l’époque : ainsi, le Henri Moser, Charlottenfels, 1844–1923. Schaffhausen : matériel pictural sur l’architecture timuride étant Meier, 1992. limité, les reproductions en couleurs n’étaient disde l’Académie des Arts de Saint-Pétersbourg. Curieuseponibles que pour le Gur-i Amir.38 Le Gur-i Amir 36 37

38

Voir Tagirdžanova, Les Musulmans, 31. Les édifices temporaires, comme par exemple ceux des Expositions universelles, n’ont pas été pris en compte dans cette étude. Voir Commission Impériale Archéologique 1905. En outre, un album de Boris Litvinov (1872–1945 ?) avec des études détaillées du Gur-i Amir se trouve au Musée

ment, Litvinov, un soldat et artiste russe qui vécut au Turkestan de 1893 à 1914, fut invité à l’Académie en 1908, alors que la conception de la mosquée était en cours. 39 Voir Die Berner Woche in Wort und Bild, 14, 1924, 116. Moser avait déjà placé cette devise en tête du catalogue illustré de sa collection d’armes orientales, voir Henri Moser, Sammlung Henri Moser-Charlottenfels : Orientalische Waffen und Rüstungen. Leipzig : Hiersemann, 1912.

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Samarcande au nord et à l’ouest Bernard, Anne-Marie et Malécot, Claude, L’odyssée de Paul Nadar au Turkestan–1890, Paris : Éditions du ­patrimoine, 2007. Commission Impériale Archéologique, Les Mosquées de Samarcande : Fascicule i, Gour-Emir. Saint-­ Pétersbourg : Expédition pour la confection des papiers d’état, 1905. Giese, Francine, « From Style Room to Period Room. Henri Moser’s Fumoir in Charlottenfels Castle », dans Sandra Costa, Dominique Poulot et Mercedes Volait (éds.), The Period Rooms : Allestimenti storici tra arte, gusto e collezionismo. Bologne : Bononia University Press, 2016, 153–60. Giese, Francine et Varela Braga, Ariane, « Translocating Metropolitan Display Strategies in Nineteenth-­ Century Europe : Frederick Stibbert, Henri Moser, and their Orientalist Style Rooms », International Journal of Islamic Architecture, 8, 1, 2019, 115–40. Kaufmann, Katrin, « Samarkand in der Bundeshaupt­ stadt—ein Ausstellungssaal im neo-timuridischen Stil für die Sammlung Henri Mosers im Bernischen Historischen Museum ». In Francine Giese, Leïla el-Wakil et Ariane Varela Braga (éds.), Der Orient in der Schweiz : Neo-islamische Architektur und Interieurs im 19. und 20. Jh. Berlin : De Gruyter, 2019, 142–62. Kirikov, Boris, « Orientalistskie i nordičeskie čerty v architekture sobornoj mečeti S.-Peterburga [Traits orientalistes et nordiques dans l’architecture de la mosquée-cathédrale de Saint-Pétersbourg] », dans Peter­ burgskie čtenija 95, Saint-Pétersbourg : 1995, 181–84. Kirikov, Boris, Pamjatniki architektury i istorii Sankt-­ Peterburga, Petrogradskij rajon [Monuments architecturaux et historiques de Saint-Pétersbourg, ­district de Petrogradskij]. Saint-Pétersbourg : Kolo, 2004. Kläy, Ernst, Orientalische Sammlung Henri Moser Charlottenfels (Bern). [Berne] : Bernisches Historisches Museum, 1991. Kläy, Ernst, « ‘Unser Ziel ist es, ein Werk zu schaffen, das uns überlebt.’ Zum wechselvollen Schicksal der ­Ori­entalischen Sammlung Henri Moser Charlottenfels », Berner Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Heimatkunde, 56, 3, 1994, 335–58.

149 Lisovskij, Vladimir et Isačenko, Valerij, Nikolaj Vasil’ev : Aleksej Bubyr’. Saint-Pétersbourg : Beloe i černoe, 1999. Lisovskij, Vladimir et Gašo, Ričard, Nikolaj Vasil’ev. Ot ­moderna k modernizmu. Saint-Pétersbourg : Kolo, 2011. Morozov, V. « Magometanskaja mečet’ v Peterburge [La mosquée mahométane à Saint-Pétersbourg] », Zodčij, 14, 1914, 161–64. Moser, Henri, À travers l’Asie Centrale : La steppe Kirghize, le Turkestan Russe, Boukhara, Khiva, le pays des Turcomans et la Perse : Impressions de voyage. ­Paris : Plon, 1886 [première édition 1885]. Moser, Henri, Sammlung Henri Moser-Charlottenfels : Orientalische Waffen und Rüstungen. Leipzig : Hiersemann, 1912. Pfaff, Robert, « Henri Moser Charlottenfels und seine Orientalische Sammlung », Schaffhauser Beiträge zur Geschichte, 62, 1985, 117–56. Saladin, Henri, Manuel d’art musulman, [t. 1] : L’architecture. Paris : Picard, 1907. Simakov, Nikolaj, Iskusstvo Srednej Azii : Sbornik ­sredne-aziatskoj ornamentacii [L’art de l’Asie centrale : Receuil de l’art décoratif de l’Asie centrale], Saint-Pétersbourg : Imperatorskoe obščestvo pooščrenija chudožestv, 1883. Steckevič, Tat’jana, « Peterburgskaja Sobornaja mečet’, kak pamjatnik architektury [La mosquée-cathédrale en tant que monument architectural] », dans Čužaja vešč v kul’ture, materialy naučnoj konferencii [Eléments étrangers à la culture, actes de la conférence], Oct.–Nov. 1995, Saint-Pétersbourg : Gosudarstvennyj muzej istorii religii und Rossijskij ėtnografičeskij muzej, 1995, 38–40. Tagirdžanova, Al’mira, Musul’mane v žizni i kul’ture Peterburga (xviii–xix vv.) [Les musulmans dans la vie et la culture de Saint-Pétersbourg (xviii–xix siècles)]. Saint-Pétersbourg : Poltorak, 2013. Tagirdžanova, Al’mira, Mečeti Peterburga, proekty, voploščenie, istorija musul’manskoj obščiny [Les mosquées de Saint-Pétersbourg, projets, réalisation, histoire  ­ de la communauté musulmane]. SaintPétersbourg : Poltorak, 2014. Vitjazeva, Vera, « Peterburgskaja mečet’. K istorii stroitel’stva [La mosquée de Saint-Pétersbourg. Histoire

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150 de sa construction] », dans Pamjatniki stariny. Koncepcii. Otkrytija. Versii : Pamjati V.S. Beleckogo, 1919–1997 [Les ancien monuments. Concepts. Découvertes. Versions. En mémoire de V.S. Beleckogo, 1919– 1997], Saint-Pétersbourg/Pskov : 1997, 147–62. Zeller, Rudolf, Die orientalische Sammlung von Henri Moser auf Charlottenfels : Beschreibender Katalog der Waffensammlung. Berne : Wyss, 1915.

Kaufmann Zeller, Rudolf, « Die orientalische Sammlung von Henri Moser auf Charlottenfels im Historischen Museum in Bern », Das Werk, 9, 10, 1922, 189–204. Zeller, Rudolf, Führer durch die Orientalische Sammlung Henri Moser-Charlottenfels und die Völkerkundliche Abteilung des Bernischen Historischen Museums. Berne : Grunau, 1923.

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Chapter 11

Tashkent in St. Petersburg

The Constructed Image of Central Asia in Russia’s Nineteenth-Century Ethnographic Exhibitions Inessa Kouteinikova “Whoever imitates a people becomes one of them.” A saying ascribed to the Prophet.1

“There was no room for colonists in the Fergana Valley or the other densely populated oases of Central Asia,”2 as Domenic Lieven, a historian of Russian and international history, once wrote. During a stay in Central Asia Russians were able to encounter “another face of Russian empire,” whose strangeness was the reason why they mostly ­neglected the region.3 Such experience of the “Other,” however, turned out to be much more ambivalent, since the strangeness of the “many faces,” that is, the ethnic diversity of the peoples living there was something that could be exploited. Consequently, members of these ethnic groups were put on public display as early as the 1860s, with the effect of reproducing stereotypes based on extrapolations and exaggerations of the impressions Russians had after some real encounters with these peoples. 1

The Apex of Colonial Exhibitions in Russia

More than any other institution of the nineteenth century with its belief in technological and c­ ultural progress, the industry of World Exhibitions propagated ideas of modernity, but also ­colonialism.

1 Bernard Lewis, The Muslim Discovery of Europe (New York and London: W.W. Norton, 2001), 224. 2 Dominic Lieven, The Russian Empire and Its Rivals (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2000), 216. 3 Lieven, The Russian Empire and Its Rivals, 216.

Due to their great popularity, these ­exhibitions were able to reach out to wide audiences and nourish notions of national identity, of the dominance of European civilization against other— “primitive” or “less developed”—cultures, facilitated by the use of media channels that triggered the visitors’ sensitivities, their curiosity, their hunger for experience and even voyeurism. For many, these shows were the first and often only opportunity to get into touch with the overwhelming impact of colonialism by means of tangible, real encounters with those “uncivilized” people under European control. In this regard, the World Exhibitions were stages for displaying and fostering the notion of Europe’s cultural, commercial and scientific superiority. The presentation of the “colonies” therefore always implied—more or less subtle—ideas of conquest and dominance, while at the same time keeping the atrocities related to the reorganization of the colonies and often brutal consequences for the local population from sight. However, judging from today’s standpoint, and especially since the establishment of postcolonial studies has changed the mindset of many academic writers on questions of empire, it is difficult to reconstruct how contemporaries actually perceived such ethnographic exhibitions. The intention of wanting to create something spectacular was met by enormous organizational efforts for creating the needed environments. Many times, whole districts were reorganized or even vacated, natural and other physical barriers eliminated, and new, monumental structures built on site. These at times brutal interventions ­followed the basic principle to bring the latest

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��20 | doi 10.1163/9789004412644_014

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152 c­ ultural, artistic and technological achievements to urban centers. The incisive nature of these ­changes cannot be underestimated. Hosting cities, such as Paris, London, Manchester, Berlin, Brussels or Antwerp, were completely reshaped in the course of establishing the required fairgrounds: broad avenues were built, subway and tram lines constructed with the objective to guide the incoming flux of visitors through the cities, with these state-of-the-art structures nourishing national pride. A large exhibition could employ well over one thousand people for a period of two to four months. In fact, the exhibition grounds often were “gates to the city” not only in a metaphorical but in a very literal sense: from the 1850s to the First World War, most visitors would enter the cities through said exhibition areas and thus experience the urban space through the lens of the monumentality and splendor of the exhibition architecture. Hence, the World Exhibitions directly formed the self-image of the involved metropoles, nations, and even entire Empires. Given the importance of World and Universal Exhibitions for the history of nineteenth-century Europe and their promoted image of the Orient, it is rather astonishing to find that among the many publications on the matter, only few discuss how ruthless Russia treated its own colonies while at the same time taking pride in their display at ethnographic exhibitions.4 Between 1867 and 1910, several important expositions with ethnographic and Orientalist themes took place at different locations across Russia and Central Asia, the Empire’s largest colony, all guided by the intention of presenting something unfamiliar and uncommon to the audience. At the same time, they ­encouraged visitors to engage with the cultures of the newly 4 Elizabeth Gilmore Holt, The Expanding World of Art 1874– 1902, vol. 1 (New Haven and London: Yale University Press), 1988; Andrea Lermer and Avinoam Shalem, ed., After One Hundred Years. The 1910 Exhibition “Meisterwerke mohammedanischer Kunst” reconstructed (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2010); Giles Waterfield, The People’s Galleries, Art Museums and Exhibitions in Britain, 1800–1914 (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2015).

Kouteinikova

joined territories that, now under Russia’s wings, would soon face a promising scientific, ­cultural, social, and economic future. Russian journalists were surprised by the size of the crowds that these exhibitions drew, especially given that there had been as good as no public advertisements and the organizers had no experience. Between May 30 and September 1, 1872, several thousand people had visited the Moscow Polytechnic Exposition at the Manezh building in front of the Kremlin, with altogether eighty-six temporary pavilions at the Aleksandrov Gardens, the Kremlin embankment and the Varvarka square.5 Journalists highlighted the immense popularity of the Turkestan pavilion: its guidebooks were sold out within a week, which forced the organizers to directly answer questions from the public “from morning to night.”6 A contemporary description of this memorable event has survived from a report on the Turkestan and Caucasian pavilions assembled in 1873 by V.E. Iversen, a member of the St. Petersburg Society for Scientific Experiments and of the imperial Free Economic Society: “Of all the exhibition’s pavilions, the two of the Caucasus and Turkestan are the most impressive. Both demonstrate the uncanny side effects of technology and knowledge, and both regions are the most recent addition of the Russian Empire, differing from others by their originality, nature and youthful economy. Everyone longs to learn more about them, and whether they are worthy of Russia […].”7 Obviously, this 5 In the same year 1872, two Moscow museums (the Historic and the Polytechnic Museum) were inaugurated. Initiated and supported by wealthy patrons, their collections included objects from the exhibition, thereby responding to an ever-growing interest in the Orient. 6 Yuri Nikitin, Vystavochnaya Arkhitektura Rossii xix-­ nachala xx v. [Russia’s Exhibition Architecture, nineteenth–­early twentieth century] (St. Petersburg: Kolo, 2014), 85. 7 V. Iversen, Otchet o poezdke na Moskovskuy Politekhnicheskuy Vystavku [Report on the trip to the Moscow Polytechnic Exhibition], Kavkaz I Turkestan na Politekhnicheskoi Vystavke 1872 goda. Russkii Turkestan. Istoriya. ­Liudi. Nravy [The Caucasus and Turkestan on the 1872

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153

Tashkent in St. Petersburg

statement by the Russian authorities has patronizing undertone. From 1865 to 1917, many of Russia’s political measures implemented in Turkestan added to the modernization of Central Asia in general. The image of an essentially Muslim Khanate promoted during the exhibition helped to slowly reshape the image of Turkestan as an essentially Russian part of Central Asia. It was due to the exhibition’s technological focus that it featured altogether more than twelve thousand exponents, including photos yet excluding paintings; photography was considered a ­mechanical medium that well represented the modernity of the era. Neither the committees nor the juries of these first exhibitions had been international until the 1867 Moscow ethnographic exhibition set new standards (fig. 11.1): any territory newly acquired by the Russian Empire and that wished to attend was now required to first identify the specifics of a “national style.” Prizes were awarded to those regions whose presentations were regarded the most convincing and that offered a great number of attractions to highlight their uniqueness and independence. Russia’s colonies were encouraged to become the first hosts of these exhibitions so that in 1890, the capital of Turkestan saw the inauguration of the First International Exhibition, which celebrated the crafts and ornaments, the culture and architecture of Central Asia’s past and present, while also paving the way for its cultural and political assimilation into the Russian motherland. 2

Viva Tashkent!8

The same year, the famous French photographer Paul Tournachon, best known by his pseudonym ­ xhibition. Russian Turkestan. History. People. ­Attitudes], E Trudy Imperatorskogo Vol’nogo Ekonomicheskogo Obschestva [Works of the imperial Free Economic ­Society], (St. Petersburg, 1873), vol. 1. 8 Alexander Morrison, Russian Bureaucracy and the State. Officialdom from Alexander iii to Vladimir Putin (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2009).

Paul Nadar (1856–1939), arrived in Tashkent at what one could call “the court” of Baron Aleksandr B. Vrevsky (1834–1910), the fourth Russian Governor of Turkestan (1889–98). With the exception of General Konstantin von Kaufman (1818–82), Vrevsky was a more refined version of his predecessors, Mikhail Cherniayev (1882–84) and Nikolai Rosenbach (1884–89). A skilled self-promoter, he knew how to shape his public image by the means of his works and was memorialized in literature written before and even long after his death.9 He followed a clear-cut political agenda, according to which Turkestan should echo Russia’s greatness, to the envy of its enemies.10 Vresky, on the other hand, was inspired by von Kaufman’s ideas and equally devoted to put Central Asia on Europe’s political, economic and the cultural map. The Russian colonial office loved celebrations, especially anniversaries. With the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of Turkestan came the declaration of the “inclusion of Central Asia under Russian rule”11 in 1888 by General-Adjutant N.O. Rosenbach, who recommended Tashkent as venue for the occasion. The official decree for nominating the exhibition committee was issued September 15, 1889,12 as N. Maev, the editor-in-chief of the Tursktanskie Vedomosti, informs us. 9

Konstantin P. von Kaufman, Proekt vsepoddaneishego otcheta Gen.-Adiutanta K.P. fon Kaufmana po grazhdanskomu upravleniu I ustroistvu v oblastiakh Turkestanskogo general-gubernatorstva, 7 noyabria 1867 po 25 marta 1881g. [Project of the Report on the Public Management and Organization in the Regions of Turkestan Government-General, from November 7 to March 25, 1881] (St. Petersburg: Izd. Voenno-uchenogo komiteta Glav. Shtaba, 1885) is one of the many meticulous official documentations by the first Governor-General. 10 Vrevsky received many awards for his efforts to prevent the British presence in the Pamir region and the British Crown from turning it into an anti-Russian territory received: on 17 March 1898, he became a general and appointed member of the prestigious War Committee. 11 N. Maev, Turkstanskaya Vuystavka 1890g. Putevoditel [Turkestan Exhibition of 1890, a guide] (Tashkent, 1890). 12 Maev, Turkstanskaya Vuystavka 1890g.

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Figure 11.1 Map of the Khanates of Bukhara, Khiva and Kokand and part of Russian Turkestan for the year 1873 © Collection of the State Historical Museum, Cartographic Department, Moscow

Since taking office in October 1889, the era of Aleksandr Vrevsky had seen a remarkable increase of economic and cultural activities in Turkestan. Especially Tashkent attracted flocks of talented engineers, architects and scholars, who arrived to this Central Asian hub from as far as Saint Petersburg, London, Stockholm, or Paris. Among them, we find the French geographer Edouard Blanc (1858– 1923), the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin (1865– 1952), and the Russian architect Aleksey Benois (1838–1902). Vrevsky had also been able to persuade Paul Nadar to leave Istanbul and travel to the city to document the enormous leap that Russia’s leading colony had performed in little more than twenty-five years. Traveling to a region as remote as Central Asia during the nineteenth century did not come without certain challenges or dangers, and Nadar’s passage to Turkestan was no exception. In his L’Odysee du Turkestan he gives a vivid account of the troubles he encountered on the way, a travelogue that shares many traits of a picaresque novel: Nadar left Paris on August 18, 1890, where he took the famous Orient Express to Istanbul. From there, he crossed the Caucasus through Tbilisi and Baku, eventually

reaching Turkestan, where he spent two months and traveled across the country, both with the Trans-Caspian Railway and in horse carriages. The vast amount of negatives he brought back to Paris allow us to reconstruct his itinerary, including the visited monuments and landscapes. The photos furthermore document the economic development of those days, particularly with regard to the cutting-edge technology that Russia had imposed upon Central Asia for its general modernization. Besides, Nadar portrayed local people and authorities, who believed that his work would help promote the image of a modern Russian Empire that was equal to other great European powers even in its outermost regions. Nadar’s photography was very present in Tashkent, and his arrival was ­announced in advertisement and on billboards, since the organizers hoped that his fame would help to turn the whole enterprise into a great success. Even though a casual work, Nadar’s ethnographic photography became extremely popular throughout Europe, especially due to its striking realism. From his Central Asian journey, he brought more than 1,200 negatives back to France,

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Tashkent in St. Petersburg

many of which are on display in museums even today, especially in Russia, France and Uzbekistan (fig. 11.2).13 Previous exhibitions, particularly those with a reformist approach, had mainly focused on Central Asia’s clash with and lack of “modernity,”14 while at the same time revealing a profound interest and fascination for its cultural heritage, which they promoted through means that targeted broader audiences.15 By analyzing a few of these examples, I would like to highlight the significance of commercial aspects for the organization and conception of these ethnological exhibitions, which is exactly the place where orientalism enters the stage, since said exhibitions used Orientalizing environments as frameworks for displaying pottery, metalwork, textiles, jewelry and glassworks. Even real people from Central Asia and the Caucasus were employed for live demonstrations of their traditional crafts, including carpet weaving, embroidery, the making of yurts. By such means, visitors were invited to immerse into a comprehensive experience of Central Asia, for which the exhibition committee often met years in advance and applied statistical data for anticipating the possible reactions of visitors. 13 , accessed on March 15, 2018. 14 Modernity is a highly problematic analytical category, which usually includes the implicit or explicit assumption that Islamic cultures and societies were somehow “non-modern,” stagnant or unchanging, until western modernizers appeared on the scene, bringing with them enlightenment, progress and reform. 15 The Russian press praised the rich ethnic diversity that corresponded with popularized notions of the Orient. However, they often conveyed stereotypes whose origins can be traced back to the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, often reducing Islamic culture to a superficial beauty devoid of any deeper meaning. As stated by many scholars, the notion of “Islamic culture” as the product of one homogenous Muslim civilization is a modernist and Western construct. In Russia, Islamic objects had been collected unsystematically for centuries. Objects from the East entered Imperial collections in the late eighteenth century, together with

Figure 11.2 Paul Nadar at the Tashkent Exhibition, September 19, 1890

According to Myriam Boussahba-Bravard and Rebecca Rogers, the “World fairs […] were sites of spectacular displays that highlighted the nation’s achievements in technology and its increase in agricultural and industrial productivity.”16 The German philosopher Walter Benjamin, a historical materialist and critical voice of commercialism, was concerned about these developments and noted that the exhibitions “allowed visitors to discover exotic architectural and material displays, which frequently featured indigenous people engaged in artisanal or artistic work.”17 Following



16

17

western paintings. Without being categorized as “Islamic” or even “art,” objects from the Crimea, Caucasus or Central Asia, including the Russian colonies, were collected by ethnographic and anthropological museums. Departments devoted to “Islamic arts” alone were not founded before the twentieth century. Myriam Boussahba-Bravard and Rebecca Rogers, “Introduction.” In Positioning Women in the World’s Fairs, 1876–1937, Women in International and Universal Exhibitions, 1876–1937, ed. Myriam Boussahba-Bravard and Rebecca Rogers (New York: Routledge, 2018), 4. Boussahba and Robergs, “Introduction,” 1.

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156 French historian Hippolyte Taine (1828–93),18 he famously described them as “pilgrimage sites of the commodity fetish.”19 In a similar vein, Benjamin attacked them for glorifying “the exchange value of commodities, creating frameworks wherein their use value ­recede into the background, opening phantasmagorias that people enter in order to be distracted.”20 Many features of the Tashkent Exhibition indeed shared phantasmagoric qualities, yet for other reasons than those described by Benjamin and mostly connected with Baron Vrevsky’s ideas. A cultivated military officer with a good instinct for new trends, Vrevsky had traveled across Europe and visited universal exhibitions. Inspired by the national pavilions, Vresky’s basic idea was to bring together all ethnic and religious groups of the Russian Empire to celebrate its unity in diversity while at the same time ignoring all cultural differences, such as between Orthodox Christians and Muslims, between Sunni and Shia. Vrevsky delegated most of his responsibilities for the exhibition to the architect Aleksey Leontievich Benois (1852–1937). Benois had arrived in Tashkent in 1879 after having been recommended by the director of the Imperial Art Academy. Described as “an honest person and minor architect,”21 he soon entered the higher ranks of Turkestan’s society. At that time, Tashkent was characterized by military architecture whose hybridity could be labeled “Russian Asian.”22 Moreover, the new colony had seen the emergence of a number of significant military, artistic and literature protagonists, including the renowned Russian architect ­Wilhelm 18

Hyppolyt Taine, Notes on England, translated by William Fraser Rae (London: Thames and Hudson, 1957), 11. 19 Boussahba and Robergs, “Introduction,” 1. 20 Walter Benjamin, Paris, Capital of the Nineteenth Century (Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press, 1999), 7. 21 Benjamin, Paris, Capital of the Nineteenth Century, 2. 22 Jeff Sahadeo, Russian Colonial Society in Tashkent, 1865– 1923 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007).

Kouteinikova

S. Heizelman,23 as well as famous merchants and patrons, such as Nikolai Ivanov (1836–1906), Ivan Pervushin (1842–71) and Duke Nikolai Romanov (fig. 11.3). It was also home to several scientific and scholarly organizations, with Tashkent’s town committee being very influential for Benois’s work, apart from his contacts to St. Petersburg. His fascination for Orientalism was formed by the people of his social network, beginning with his early enthusiasm for the style, which was maintained and further developed by engagements in the many artistic, scholarly and scientific circles of St. Petersburg and Moscow, where his family had once lived. He came from a well-established family of liberal artists and architects, through which he was able to discover Russian and Western European high culture from an early stage onward.24 He graduated in architecture at the Imperial Art Academy in St Petersburg, where he had launched his first architectural projects, with exhibition architecture being his major specialization, which is why he is considered Russia’s first exhibition architect, renowned for his experiments in display techniques. His works demonstrate that he was no pure functionalist, but also cared for decorative aspects, something to be gathered from his model for an Islamic courtyard that explores the potentiality of the ornament system. Benois was a skillful draughtsman, and his legacy provides us with many drafts for exhibition pavilions.25 The 1890 Tashkent Exhibition lasted from summer to autumn and took place in the renovated

23

24 25

Prince Romanov asked Heizelman and Benois to design his Tashkent Residency, which also housed the city’s first art museum with a magnificent collection of Western European, Russian and Central Asian artworks. Eduard Zhdanov, Turkestansky Benua [Benois of Turkestan] (Moscow: Nashe Naslediye, 2011). Anthony Hamber explored the phenomenon of drawing for exhibitions during the 19th century, stating that this art “could mediate the unprecedented flow of information and knowledge,” Hamber, Photography and the 1851 Great Exhibition, Introduction, xix.

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Tashkent in St. Petersburg

Figure 11.3 W. Heizelman and A. Benois, Prince Romanov’s Tashkent Residency, 1891 © The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbeksitan

Konstantinovsky Park.26 In many ways, the event was more than a simple exhibition; it was an ­experiment on how Utopian ideas, reality, politics and economics could be crammed into one single

26

Although not the first exhibition in Turkestan, the Tashkent fair was the first to receive national and international recognition. The first, much more modest industrial and agricultural exhibition had been set up in Samarkand in September 1876 and supervised by V.V. Samolevsky, a Russian agricultural engineer who had gathered his professional experience in the cotton industry of America. The exhibition focused on the display of various cultures and agricultural products, with prizes including honorary diplomas for local khanates, see the Turkestan News (Turkestanskie Vedomosti, September 1876).

space. Samarkand, Khiva and Bukhara were historic places on display in two pavilions, dedicated to either Persian or Turkish culture (figs. 11.4–11.5). The intention of this division was to highlight two cultural roots of Central Asia whose hybridizations had resulted in the birth of its rich artistic traditions. On a much more practical note, the Tashkent Exhibition followed economic objectives involving the engagement of public administrations on local, regional and national levels, making the exhibition the perfect platform for promoting Turkestan and Central Asia in general. Accordingly, the exhibition catalog discussed and advertised tours across Central Asia, as well as the different exotic pavilions in order to pique the interest of business people.

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Figure 11.4 Gate to the Khiva Pavilion

Figure 11.5 View of the Bukhara Pavilion

However, not everyone was convinced. Especially members of the foreign press corps expressed their skepticism. Captain A.C. Yate, a ­representative of the Royal Geographic Society, wrote that

This was not just the arrogant opinion of someone fueled by ideas of the superiority of western civilization. There really were factors that weakened the quality of the colonial exhibitions, and especially two are noteworthy here: First, there was a lack of harmonization between national policies and commerce as it had become a common standard for the World Fairs, which by the time had developed into commercial platforms for promoting national and regional goods for the world market. Although Russian policy-makers aspired to imitate the same concept, their implementations were far less successful. Secondly, there were not any sufficiently trained experts for Central Asian art at the time; the subject still was the realm of passionate dilatants and aficionados with romanticizing tendencies. The result was that ­ ­Russian orientalists copied the vocabulary of the ­international fairs, but not of contemporary orient museums or private collections. The growing commercial activities in Turkestan secured the presence of merchants, art dealers and traders, who henceforth became indispensable for the foundation of Russian museums,

Tashkent Exhibition, 1890. Albumen print. Private collection

“[t]he first Exhibition ever held in Asia (India excepted) has been held at Tashkent, the capital of Russian Turkestan […]. Its first Exhibition is interesting, as indicative of the progress Russia is making in Central Asia, where attention is now being paid mainly to the internal development of the country. Internal development may be but a prelude to external extension: but in the meantime, it is obvious that every nation is bound to make its annexation pay. Turkestan and Trans-Caspia have long been, and still are, a burden on the finances of Russia, a country which, from the civilised European point of view, cannot even provide satisfactorily for its own administrative wants, far less afford to maintain a number of impecunious dependencies. Central Asia must be made to pay, and therefore serious efforts are being made to develop its agricultural, manufacturing, pastoral, and mining industries.”27 27

A.C. Yate, “The Tashkent Exhibition 1890.” In Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly

Albumen print, 1890. Private collection

­ ecord of Geography (London: Royal Geographical SoR ciety, 1891), 21.

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Tashkent in St. Petersburg

e­specially those including ethnographic and ­archeological collections. Their goal was to display the development and change of Islamic culture in parallel to the emergence of academic disciplines dedicated to its study. 3

The Ideology Behind the Popularization of Islamic Art and Culture in Russia

The history of collecting in nineteenth-century Russia thus maintained close ties to the simultaneous emergence of Islamic art history as a scholarly discipline, paralleled by the formation of ­pan-Islamism and pan-Turkism as important nationalist ideologies. Liberal tendencies among the Muslim intelligentsia of the Russian Empire promoted the merger of both movements during the 1880s, with the creation of a reformist program known as Jadadism, whose ideas were further developed by a Crimean-Tartar thinker, Ismail Gasprinsky (1851–1914). Gasprinsky’s political concept can be summed up by the four key words dilde, fikirde, iste, birlik, propagating unity, language, faith, and labor. His major work Russia’s Muslim World. Thoughts, Notes and Memoirs of a Muslim explores the possibilities of how to blend Russian and Islamic culture. “In the future,” he writes, “Russia will become one of the most noticeable Muslim nations.” This did not imply an exclusion of Christianity. Instead, Gasprinsky propagated a form of coexistence without “evil, jealousy or unkindness,” which he viewed as an essential precondition for political stability in Tsarist Russia.28 Integrating Muslim history into Russian identity justified Gasprinsky’s proposal to include Islamic artifacts, especially from Central Asia and the Crimea, into the museums of Saint Petersburg and to define Kazan, Crimean and Baku as cultures independent from the Ottoman Empire. A striking 28

Ismail Gasprinsky, The Russian Muslimdom (Simferopol: Spiro Publishing House, 1881); also see , accessed on April 15, 2017.

aspect is that he openly admitted the unhistorical character of his approach, writing that it had never been his intention to provide readers with a historically accurate chronology of Muslim culture all along. Instead, his book was conceived as a political manifesto to offer a highly idiosyncratic and subjective perspective on Russian Orientalism. Contemporary historians of the Muslim communities in nineteenth-century Russia, such as Mustafa Tuna, Paolo Sartori or Danielle Ross, solve the conundrum of the Jadid ideology by ignoring “earlier patterns and cycles of change” within the Islamic world of Central Asia, and by focusing on its “reformers” instead.29 In his Imperial Russia’s Muslims: Islam, Empire, and European Modernity, 1788–1914 Mustafa Tuna hence offers a much more theoretical reflection on Jadidism, with one crucial question mostly absent from his book being how Jadid ideas had actually developed into a reformist program in the first place. Devin DeWeese, on the other hand, argues that modernity is a category that can be used to cover both hidden and exposed structures of Muslim communities, thereby avoiding the assumption that they had been “stagnant, unchanging” until they were eventually “awakened” by Russian colonizers.30 It therefore seems that Gasprinsky and, more currently, Mustafa Tuna entertained a very positive attitude toward modernism, as both stressed the advantages of Western enlightenment and reformist programs for transforming Muslim communities, thereby ignoring the sig­ nif­ i­ cance and persistence of Islamic traditions. Their ­political agendas were thus based on a modernistic idea that DeWeese has labeled the “proto-­ fundamentalist” desire to establish homogenous societies, stressing the “narrow adherence” of 29

30

Alexander Morrison, “Review: Muslims and Modernity in Russian Empire,” The Slavonic and East European review, 94, 4 (2016): 715–24, 716. Devin DeWeese, “It was a Dark and Stagnant Night (‘til the Jadids Brought the Light): Clichés, Biases, and False Dichotomies in the Intellectual History of Central Asia,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 59, 1–2 (2006): 37–92.

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Figure 11.6 View of the Central Asian Pavilion in Moorish style

aleksander n. pomerantzev, Nizhniy Novgorod Ethnographic Exhibition, 1896, Kunavino district. rgali, fond 60, file 680, Moscow

r­eformers and “their disdain for centuries of Islamic theological and juridical scholarship and their hostility to Sufism and to the traditional ­social practices (feasting, singing, dancing) associated with life-cycle celebrations among CentralAsian Muslims.”31 4 Conclusion Scholarly research on Russia’s early colonial exhibitions, the emergence of colonial museums and the presence of Central Asia on said exhibitions32 31 32

Devin DeWeese, “It was a Dark and Stagnant Night.” The most recent publications on international exhibitions and natural history, colonial and ethnographic museums in Europe omit Russia and its colonies, see Anthony Hamber, Photography and the 1851 Great exhibition, (Newcastle, Delaware and London, 2018);

is still in its infancy and has not yet sufficiently dealt with the period when Islamic art from this region reached St. Petersburg and its display. What is clear so far, however, is that Russian collections of ethnographic specimens and Islamic artworks were important agents for the transmission of knowledge, culture and history. More and more expeditions into Central Asia provided more and more objects that helped broaden the knowledge and understanding of this cultural region altogether. Accordingly, the nature of these collections became more complex with every new object and involved scholar. ­Kathleen Davidson, Photography, Natural Science and nineteenth century Museum (London: Routledge, 2017); also the now classical study Anne Maxwell, Colonial Photography and Exhibitions: representations of the “Native” and the Making of European Identities (London and New York: Leicester University Press, 2000).

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Tashkent in St. Petersburg

For a long time, the existence of Russian museums depended on the Russian Academy of Science, whose members were important patrons of orientalist collections. Apart from that, the Academy funded expeditions of people such as Nikolai Veselovsky and Vasilii Bartold, who brought large collections of naturalia and cultural artefacts to Saint Petersburg, which would later become the material foundation of several ­ important exhibitions, including the one at ­ Tavrichesky Palace. The example of the Tashkent Exhibition underscores how much the display of Islamic art changed between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, mostly because organizers wanted to cater to the changing tastes of the visitors (fig. 11.6). Whereas the late nineteenth century focused on antiquities and archeological findings, these would soon after be banished from display and moved to the archives. This, of course, also had to do with the rise of the Soviet Union and its anti-religious agenda. In many ways, this process thus marked a backlash in the positive perception and evaluation of Islamic art, which seems even more regrettable after one realizes that with its over fifty million Muslims the Russian Empire had once been the world’s largest Muslim empire. Bibliography Alder, Lory, and Richard Dalby. The Dervish of Windsor Castle: the life of Arminius Vambery. London: Bachman and Turner, 1979. Benjamin, Walter. Paris, Capital of the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press, 1999. Boussahba-Bravard, Myriam, and Rebecca Rogers, “Introduction.” In Positioning Women in the World’s Fairs, 1876–1937, Women in International and Universal Exhibitions, 1876–1937, edited by Myriam Boussahba-Bravard and Rebecca Rogers. New York: Routledge, 2018, 1–24. DeWeese, Devin, “It was a Dark and Stagnant Night (‘til the jadids Brought the Light): Cliches, Biases, and

161 False Dichotomies in the Intellectual History of Central Asia,” JESHO, 59, 2016, 1–2, 37–92. Gasprinsky, Ismail. The Russian Muslimdom. Simferopol: Spiro Publishing House, 1881. Gilmore Holt, Elizabeth. The Expanding World of Art 1874–1902. Vol. 1. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1988. Kaufmansky Sbornik, izdannyi v pamiat 25 let, istekshikh so dniq smerti pokoritelia i ustroiteliq Turkestanskogo kraya general-adiutanta K.P. fon Kaufmana i-go [The Kaufman Compendium, published on occasion of the 25th anniversary of von Kaufman i’s death], Moscow: Topigrafiya tov. I.N. Kushnerev, 1910. See http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/Dokumenty/M.Asien/ XX/1900-1920/Kaufmann_sbornik/index.htm. Lermer, Andrea and Avinoam Shalem, ed., After One Hundred Years. The 1910 Exhibition “Meisterwerke mohammedanischer Kunst” reconstructed. Leiden ­ and Boston: Brill, 2010. Lewis, Bernard. The Muslim Discovery of Europe. New York and London: W.W. Norton, 2001. Lieven, Dominic. The Russian Empire and Its Rivals. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2000. Morrison, Alexander. Russian Bureaucracy and the State. Officialdom from Alexander iii to Vladimir Putin, edited by Don K. Rowney and Eugene Huskey. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2009. Nikitin, Yuri. Vystavochnaya Arkhitektura Rossii xixnachala xx v. [Russia’s Exhibition Architecture, nineteenth–early twentieth century]. St. Petersburg: Kolo, 2014. Sahadeo, Jeff. Russian Colonial Society in Tashkent, 1865– 1923. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007. Taine, Hyppolyt. Notes on England, translated by ­William Fraser Rae. London: Thames and Hudson, 1957. Von Dreier, Vladimir. Na Zzakate Imperii [At the Twilight of Empire]. Madrid: Izdanie Russkogo Zarubezhya, 1965. Von Kaufman, Konstantin P. Proekt vsepoddaneishego otcheta Gen.-Adiutanta K.P. fon Kaufmana po grazhdanskomu upravleniu I ustroistvu v oblastiakh Turkestanskogo general-gubernatorstva, 7 noyabria 1867 po 25 marta 1881g. [Project of the Report on the Public Management and Organization in the Regions of Turkestan Government-General, from Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait and Ariane Varela Braga - 978-90-04-41264-4 Downloaded from Brill.com04/22/2020 08:55:17AM via McGill University

162 November 7 to March 25, 1881]. St. Petersburg : Izd. Voenno-­ uchenogo komiteta Glav. Shtaba, 1885. Waterfield, Giles. The People’s Galleries, Art Museums and Exhibitions in Britain, 1800–1914. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2015. Yate, A.C. “The Tashkent Exhibition 1890.” In Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly

Kouteinikova record of Geography, 21–27. London: Royal Geographical Society, 1891. Zhdanov, Eduard. Turkestansky Benua [Benois of Turkestan, towards the 170th anniversary]. Moscow : Nashe Naslediye, 2011.

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Part 4 Collectors and Networks

∵

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Chapter 12

“Troppo amanti degli oggetti orientali”?

Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, a Collector of Islamic Art in Nineteenth-Century Florence Ariane Varela Braga Once the cradle of the Renaissance, in the second half of the nineteenth century Florence became an important center for oriental studies, thanks to scholars such as Michele Amari (1806–89) or An­ gelo De Gubernatis (1840–1913). The city’s rele­ vance in this area was confirmed when it hosted the Fourth International Congress of Orientalists in 1878. However, this interest in the Orient was not limited to the sphere of scholars, it also be­ came tangible through exhibitions, popular festi­ vals, the arts and architecture, as well as private collections.1 Provided that the presence of Islamic artefacts in the city can be traced back to the times of the Medici, during the second half of the nine­ teenth century Florence became the home of sev­ eral public and private collections,2 thus partaking 1 See Franco Cardini, “Toscana moresca. Ovvero il Turco in Toscana e qualche altra curiosità orientalistica dell’­ Ottocento,” Museo Stibbert Firenze (Turcherie) (2001): 5–8. Giovanna Damiani and Mario Scalini, ed., Islam specchio d’Oriente, rarità e preziosi nelle collezioni statali fiorentine, published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title, organized by and presented at Palazzo Pitti, Florence, April 23–September 1, 2002 (Florence: Sillabe, 2002). Cris­ tiano Guarneri, “El Alhambra de Florencia : un ‘país de los juguetes,’ burgués a caballo entro los siglos xix y xx,” in Orientalismo, arte y arquitectura entre Granada y Venecia, ed. Juan Calatrava and Guido Zucconi. Madrid: Abada, 2012, 303–25. Filipa Lowndes Vicente, Altri Orientalismi. L’India a Firenze 1860–1900 (Florence: Florence University Press, 2012). Maria Giovanna Stasolla, “The ‘Orient’ in Flor­ ence (19th century). From Oriental Studies to the Collec­ tion of Islamic Art, from a Reconstruction of the ‘Orient’ to the Exotic Dream of the Rising Middle Class,” Oriente Moderno, n.s., 1 (2013): 3–31. 2 Particularly noteworthy are Frederick Stibbert’s collec­ tion at the Stibbert Museum, as well as Costantino ­Ressman, Louis and Jean-Baptiste Carrand or Baron Giulio

in the internationally shared interest in the Orient. This article3 is devoted to a little remembered and now dispersed collection of Islamic art: the collection of Marquis Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona (1813–97).4 Nowadays, his name is mainly associated with his spectacular Villa of Sammezzano (figs. 12.1–12.2).5 Among the F­ ranchetti’s collections at the National Museum of Bargel­ lo. On the Islamic collections in Florence in particular, see Giovanni Curatola, “Il collezionismo ottocentesco di arte islamica a Firenze,” Studi e ricerche di collezionismo e museografia, Firenze 1820–1920 (Quaderni del Seminario di Storia della critica d’arte della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa) 2 (1985): 379–90; Daniela Cecutti, “Commercio di opera d’arte islamica. Note sul mercato a Firenze tra Otto e Novecento,” mdccc 1800, no. 2 (2013), ; Daniela Cecutti, Una miniera inesauribile. Collezionisti e antiquari di arte islamica. L’Italia e il contesto internazionale tra Ottocento e Novecento, (Flor­ ence : Maschietto Editore, 2013). Alessandro Diana, “Il col­ lezionismo d’arte islamica a Firenze fra Otto e Novecento,” in Islam e Firenze. Arte e collezionismo dai Medici al Novecento, ed. Giovanni Curatola (Florence : Giunti, 2018): 170–185. 3 The Italian quotation in the chapter title is based on a statement made by Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona in 1867, see Alessandro Foresi and Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, La Galleria degli Uffizi e il Museo nazionale del Palazzo del Potestà Controversia fra il dottore Alessandro Foresi e il marchese Ferdinando Panciatichi (Florence : 1867), 9. 4 The only reference to Panciatichi’s collection I could find was Cecutti, Una miniera inesauribile, 251–52. 5 See Maria Cristina Tonelli, “Alhambra Anastatica,” fmr 4 (1982): 31–60; Claudia Cerelli, “Il Marchese Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona e la Villa neomoresca di Sanmezzano,” Master thesis, University of Florence, 2000– 1; Emanuele Masiello and Ethel Santacroce, ed., Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, Sammezzano e il Sogno

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��20 | doi 10.1163/9789004412644_015

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Figure 12.1

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Regello, Villa of Sammezzano, exterior view, Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, mid-1840s–early 1900s © Bildarchiv Foto Marburg/Rabatti & Domingie Photography

richest aristocrats of his time, Panciatichi was a very active protagonist of Florence’s political life during the 1860s. A liberal, anticlerical, and true amateur, his broad interests ranged from chemis­ try to botany, optics, esotericism, architecture, and the arts. A typical gentleman of the nineteenth century, his taste was eclectic. His private gallery and museum at Palazzo Panciatichi-Ximenes in Borgo Pinti6 displayed a large collection of Renais­ sance paintings and sculptures, several objects of d’Oriente 1813–2013, proceedings of the conference of the same title at Castello di Sammezzano, May 31–June 1, 2013 (Livorno : Sillabe, 2014); Ariane Varela Braga, “Building a Dream: the Alhambra in the Villa of Sammezzano,” in The Power of Symbols. The Alhambra in a Global Perspective, ed. Francine Giese and Ariane Varela Braga (Bern: Peter Lang, 2018): 335–53. 6 After 1850, Panciatichi chose Palazzo Ximenes as his main residence, to which he transferred the painting collection he had inherited from his family, which had previously been kept at Palazzo Panciatichi in Via Larga. See Cerelli,

the decorative arts, including ceramics, textiles, Chinese and Japanese porcelains and bronzes, as well as European and Islamic weapons. Based on original and unpublished archive ma­ terial, an first overview of Panciatichi’s collection of Islamic art will be given in the following, with a focus on his Islamic weapons. The article will offer preliminary insights into his strategies of acquisi­ tion and network-building, while also briefly ad­ dressing nineteenth-century restoration practices. 1

The “Orient” at the Palazzo del Podestà in 1865

1865 was an important year for Florence. From the capital of the former Grand Duchy of Tuscany it

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Figure 12.2

Regello, Villa of Sammezzano, Sala delle Stelle (Hall of Stars), Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, early 1860s © Bildarchiv Foto Marburg/Rabatti & Domingie Photography

had been promoted to the capital of the new-born Kingdom of Italy. The city had hosted the first ma­ jor National Exhibition in September 1861 and now was the protagonist of two important events orga­ nized in the renovated Palazzo del Podestà. These events were part of celebrations for the sixth cen­ tenary of Dante’s birth: the Mostra Dantesca (Exhi­ bition on Dante) and the Mostra dei Tempi di Mezzo e del Risorgimento (Exhibition of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance). Both carried strong cultural and political messages that emphasized the city’s glorious past and its promising future.7 7 On the 1865 exhibitions, see the groundbreaking work by Paola Barocchi and Giovanna Gaeta Bertelà, “Ipotesi per un museo nel Palazzo del Podestà tra il 1858 e il 1865,” Studi e ricerche di collezionismo e museografia, Firenze 1820–1920 (Quaderni del Seminario di Storia della critica d’arte della

The Mostra dei Tempi di Mezzo was dedicated to the decorative and applied arts and relied on pub­ lic and private loans. It opened on May 22, with the presence of King Vittorio Emanuele ii (r. 1861–78), who for this occasion had arrived from Turin. It is reported that the King “for a long time examined the collection of weapons” in the first room and expressed his satisfaction when seeing the objects that belonged to “Panciatichi, Stibbert, Toscanelli,

Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa) 2 (1985): 211–378 and Barbara Bertelli, “Un museo in divenire. Il Bargello, le sue collezioni e il mercato antiquario fiorentino : protagonisti e circolazioni delle opere d’arte,” in Il Medioevo in viaggio, ed. Benedetta Chiesi, Illaria Ciseri and Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi, (Florence: Giunti, 2015): 41–63. Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait and Ariane Varela Braga - 978-90-04-41264-4 Downloaded from Brill.com04/22/2020 08:55:17AM via McGill University

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Spence [and] La Roche Pouchin.”8 The display of weapons had a long tradition among the nobility. In 1833, the Royal Armory of Turin was assembled after models in Madrid and Vienna. Benefiting from the admiration of Romanticism for the ­Middle Ages, the interest for historical weapons increased during the second half of the nineteenth century, and private collections emerged all over Europe, including Italy, which the examples of Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan or Frederick Stibbert in Florence clearly attest. The Englishman had presented some of his weapons at the Mostra dei Tempi di Mezzo together with Panciatichi. At that time however, Stibbert’s collection of Islamic weapons was still in its infancy,9 and he thus loaned German, Italian, French and Spanish—but apparently no oriental—pieces to the exhibition.10 In contrast, Panciatichi, known for his “beau­ tiful collection of oriental weapons, bronzes and terracotta,”11 offered several oriental blades,

i­ncluding thirty-one Turkish, Persian, Moroccan, Kurdish and Circassian knives and daggers, nine­ teen Turkish and Persian sabers as well as nine In­ dian swords.12 The exhibition represented a decisive step to­ wards the foundation of a national museum.13 This idea had been discussed for several years and fol­ lowed role models in other countries, particularly the Musée de Cluny in Paris and the South Kens­ ington Museum in London.14 During his visit, King Vittorio Emanuele had publicly “manifested the desire that [the exhibition] could become per­ manent.”15 Thus, loans from Panciatichi, Stibbert and other collectors resulted in the initial and pro­ visional nucleus of the new Museo Nazionale del Bargello (founded in June 1865). To supervise the institution’s organization, a council of six mem­ bers, including Panciatichi,16 was established.

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“[S]i trattiene lungamente ad esaminare la raccolta delle armi”, in An. 1865, 2, this and all subsequent trans­ lations in this article are by the author. Stibbert acquired his first Islamic weapons in 1860 and 1861. After that, it took him almost 10 years until he pur­ chased new objects of this type, as Becattini has shown in her thorough analysis of the collection’s early stages. See Martina Becattini, “La nascita della collezione isl­ amica di Frederick Stibbert,” in Islam, armi e armature della collezione di Frederick Stibbert, ed. Francesco Ci­ vita (Florence: Centro Di, 2014): 20 and Martina Becat­ tini, “La collezione Stibbert,” in Cavalieri, Mamelucchi e Samurai. Armature di guerrieri d’Oriente e d’Occidente delle collezione del Museo Stibbert di Firenze, ed. Enrico Colle (Livorno : Sillabe, 2014): 25. Cf. the “Nota degli oggetti di proprietà del Signor Federigo Stibbert che fanno parte della pubblica mostra della Esposizione,” dated May 12 1865 (asmb, Filza 6, Posizione 69). This exhibition had no catalog nor any list of exhibited objects. The museum archive, however, keeps a list of items intended for it. “[B]ella collezione di armi orientali, di bei bronzi e di terracotta,” from a letter of the “Presidenza della Com­ missione Conservatrice degli oggetti d’arte e monu­ menti storici al Ministro della Pubblica Istruzione, ­Proposta per una esposizione nel Palazzo del Podestà,”

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dated March 18, 1865 and mentioned in Barocchi and Gaeta Bertelà, “Ipotesi per un museo,” 252; a transcrip­ tion is found in there as well (appendix lx, 356). Cf. the “Nota di Armi Orientali che si consegnano alla Deputazione per l’Esposizione di Oggetti del ­Medioevo, Armi e curiosità nel Palazzo del Potestà, nel mese di Maggio 1865” (asmb, Filza 6, Posizione 254). Panciatichi was directly involved in the organization of the exhibition. In June 1864, when the president of the Società Promotrice di Belle Arti had asked to use the rooms of the Palazzo di Podestà, he became part of its organizing council, along with Frederick Stibbert and six others. See Barocchi and Gaeta Bertelà, “Ipotesi per un museo,” 250–52. A precedent was the 1861 Mostra di Casa Guastalla, or­ ganized by the antiquarian Marco Guastalla. On the first years of the Museum of Bargello: Barocchi and Gaeta Bertelà, “Ipotesi per un museo.” On the impor­ tance of the transnational perspective, see Luca Giaco­ melli, “Il Medieoevo al Bargello. Il percorso di un’idea tra storia, collezioni e allestimenti,” in Il Medioevo in viaggio, ed. Benedetta Chiesi, Illaria Ciseri, and Bea­ trice Paolozzi Strozzi (Florence: Giunti 2015): 26–39. “[M]anifestatò il desiderio che questa bella esposizione potesse diventare permanente”, in An., “Mostra dei Tempi di Mezzo”, La Nazione, May 14 1865, 2. The council consisted of the Marquis Ferdinando di Breme, Senator Sartirano, William Blundell Spence, cav. (cavaliere) Giuseppe Toscanelli, cav. Aurelio Gotti

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However, the initial phase of the museum was somewhat chaotic, and there was no lack of disac­ cord. Alessandro Foresi (1814–88), a surgeon, wellknown local art amateur and occasional art dealer, was a member of the museum’s committee and therefore an important figure during its first years. He was involved in the organization of the Mostra and launched a fierce attack in the newspaper Il Diritto of February 1867, asking “why [is there] so much oriental trinkets, which with its quantity and obese forms smothers the sublime parts of Italian intelligence?”17 Foresi criticized the compe­ tence of the museum’s council and questioned its ability to choose and select the proper objects to be included to the national museum, in particular since the “Marquis Panciatichi [was] too fond of oriental objects.”18 A few days later, Panciatichi re­ sponded in a public letter to the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, stressing the importance of the Orient for Tuscan art and architecture. For this purpose, he referred to the commercial trade that had long united Florence and Pisa with the East, adding that “[…] more specifically, if I sent oriental objects to the museum this was because some studies are unknown to us, and it seemed that in some way I could raise the awareness of the public by sending little known and less studied objects.”19

Nonetheless, the controversy was soon settled, for Panciatichi had already announced the with­ drawal of his collections from the museum.20 It would not be before 1888 that the museum would again welcome Islamic objects with Louis Car­ rand’s (1827–88) donations. Foresi’s complaint raised the question of Italy’s Islamic heritage and whether to include or exclude it from the process of nation-building. Even though this is a subject certainly worth of further investigation, it however exceeds the focus of this contribution by far. 2

Whereas Panciatichi’s later life was marked by a preference for solitude and objection to public life, during the 1860s, when Florence was still Italy’s capital, he became a vivid protagonist of the local cultural scene.21 As mentioned above, he had met Stibbert at the Palazzo del Podestà in 1865, al­ though it seems they had never been very close,22

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and Marquis Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Ara­ gona. It was seconded by a committee; among its ­members were Passerini, Garriod, Foresi and others. See Barocchi and Gaeta Bertelà, “Ipotesi per un museo,” 255. “[P]erché tanta robuccia orientale, che schiaccia con la sua quantità e con le sue forme obesi I parti sublimi dell’ingegno italiano?”, Foresi and Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, La Galleria degli Uffizi e il Museo nazionale, 12. “[M]archese Panciatichi troppo amante degli oggetti orientali”, Foresi and Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, La Galleria degli Uffizi e il Museo nazionale, 9. “[…] se più specialmente ho inviato oggetti orientali al museo egli è perché certi studi sono affatto ignoti fra noi, e mi sembrava che a qualche titolo potessi merita­ re la riconoscenza del pubblico inviando oggetti poco conosciuti e meno studiati”, Foresi and Panciatichi

Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, a Collector of Islamic Arms in Florence in the 1860s

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Ximenes d’Aragona, La Galleria degli Uffizi e il Museo nazionale, 19. Foresi and Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, La Galleria degli Uffizi e il Museo nazionale, 22. The reasons for his withdrawal are unknown. On this subject, see the con­ troversy documented in Foresi and Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, La Galleria degli Uffizi e il Museo nazionale. Foresi’s complaint raised the issue of Italy’s Islamic heritage and whether to include or exclude it from nation-building. For a list of academies and societies he belonged to or was associated with, see Ethel Santacroce, “Ferdinando Panciatchi Ximenes d’Aragona e il suo archivio tra pub­ blico e private,” in Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, Sammezzano e il Sogno d’Oriente 1813–2013, ed. Emanuele Masiello and Ethel Santacroce (Livorno : Sillabe, 2014): 48. Kirsten Aschengreen Piacenti, “Panciatichi e Stibbert : due orientalisti a confronto,” in Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, Sammezzano e il Sogno d’Oriente 1813–2013, ed. Emanuele Masiello and Ethel Santacroce (Livorno: Sillabe, 2014), 81.

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and also encountered the British painter and art dealer William Blundell Spence (1814–1900), who belonged to an international network of art collec­ tors. Spence worked as an agent for the South Kensington Museum and provided it with Italian paintings and sculptures, but also with majolica and Hispano-Islamic wares.23 Panciatichi’s art ­collection was not unknown to the world of inter­ national collectors: In 1861, the South Kensington Museum had apparently bought a Della Robbia terracotta displayed in his gardens in Borgo Pinti,24 and Charles Lock Eastlake (1793–1865), the direc­ tor of the National Gallery in London, did not miss to visit Palazzo Panciatichi while in Florence.25 But what about Panciatichi’s Islamic collection? A note dating from July and August 1864 mentions a short list of “objects purchased in Paris for the Armory.”26 That summer, Panciatichi traveled to Paris and London, where he visited the Tower and the Crystal Palace at Sydenham.27 The only surviv­ ing receipt from his purchases in Paris indicates that he bought “an Indian sword and an Indian dagger” as well as “an axe”28 from the shop of the 23

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John Fleming, “Art Dealing in the Risorgimento ii,” The Burlington Magazine, 121, no. 918 (1979): 571. On Spence, also see John Fleming, “Art Dealing in the Risorgimento ii,” The Burlington Magazine 121, no. 917 (1979): 492–4, 497–500, 502–8 and Donata Levi, “William Blundel Spence a Firenze.” Studi e ricerche di collezionismo e museografia, Firenze 1820–1920 (Quaderni del Seminar­ io di Storia della critica d’arte della Scuola Normale Su­ periore di Pisa) 2 (1985): 85–149. Il Giornale Universale, February 23, 1861, 127. It has not been possible to identity the item in the V&A collections. See Susanna Avery-Quash, “The Travel Notebooks of Sir Charles Eastlake.” The Volume of the Walpole Society, n°73, 2 vols., 2011, 56–9 and 68. On Panciatichi and Ber­ nard Berenson, see Santacroce, “Ferdinando Panci­ atichi Ximenes d’Aragona”, 50–1. “[O]ggetti acquistati a Parigi per l’Armeria dall’Illmo Signore Mar. Ferdinando Panciatichi, nel mese di luglio e agosto 1864” (asfi, pxa 160, n. 56). asfi, pxa 160, n. 59. “[U]n sabre indien et poignard indien” and “une hache” (asfi, pxa 160, n. 56).

armorer Salmon, 6 quai de la Mégisserie, who was the same dealer for modern and antique armory from whom Frederick Stibbert had purchased Is­ lamic weapons three years earlier.29 Contrary to Stibbert, however, who was a constant traveler and purchased great parts of his collection on the in­ ternational market, it is believed that Panciatichi spent most of his life in Florence, where he bought artworks from local merchants and antiquarians. It is not clear when exactly his passion for Islamic weaponry began, but it certainly developed in close relation to the restoration of his Villa of ­Sammezzano, since there is a receipt from May 10, 1845, stating that he paid 53.68 lire for “a Turkish saber with golden letters marked on its blade” at Stefano Torri’s shop in Via Rondini.30 Fifteen years later, he became more ambitious and sought after larger pieces: On November 16, 1860, he purchased a complete “Persian armor composed of a jacket with iron mesh, helmet, lance, mace, axe and ham­ mer, and a scimitar with an inlaid silver handle” from the Florentine art dealer Jean Freppa for alto­ gether 1,000 Lire.31 His interest in antique weapons seems to have increased notably during the early 1860s, for as of 1864 we find annual reports on “Money for Armory (Capitali d’Ameria),” which re­ veals that Panciatichi purchased oriental knives, swords, and Persian armors on a regular basis.32 Whenever pieces were not available in Flor­ ence, he engaged agents. For July 15, 1866, a refund “to Scarletti” is mentioned, concerning “8 pieces or oriental weapons sold for L[ire] 1,400 by the French 29 30

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Becattini, “La collezione Stibbert,” 25. “[U]na sciabola Turca con lama marcata a lettere d’oro” (asfi, pxa 230, n.n.). The works on Sammezzano start­ ed in the early 1840s. “[A]rmature persiana composta di una giacchetta con maglia di ferro, elmo, lancia, mazza d’arma, accetta e martello, ed una scimitarra con manico intarsiato d’argento” (asfi, pxa 156, n. 133). Jean Freppa is the same person from whom Stibbert had purchased some of his first Islamic weapons (see Becattini, “La collezi­ one Stibbert,”25). See, for instance, the “Capitali d’Ameria” in asfi, pxa 160, n. 51 or pxa 161, n. 498.

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Minister,” whereas on July 22 of the same year, Gi­ useppe Sartori received a reimbursement of 540 lire for “weapons bought from Signore Micchetti in Venice.”33 An exchange of correspondence between Count Stanislao Bentivoglio d’Aragona (1821–89) and Panciatichi brings further light into his net­ work as well as his practice as an art collector. In a letter from Smyrna from November 28, 1862, Count Bentivoglio, who was General Consul of France and had been an art collector for a long time,34 brought a Persian armor to the Marquis’s attention that he believed would be of great interest for him: “I thought of you, for I do not want to buy oriental weapons anymore […]. I was brought a helmet, a bracelet, two spears, and a chainmail. All very splendid and in perfect condition, all pieces en­ crusted with gold. The helmet is of an extraordi­ nary beauty; I’ve seen nothing like it before. I ­immediately thought of you and asked for the price. They want 10,000 Turkish piasters for every­ thing, which would be 2,000 francs, but I think that you could [already] have everything for a thou­ sand five hundred francs. The individual who sells all the armor is a Persian from a good family based here; I asked him to leave me all for two months and that I might buy everything at a reasonable price later. […] [It would be] at the expense of the enchantment of Paris, since for this item I would estimate a price of at least 3,000 [.] You know that I am a connoisseur of the art, and if he turned it over for 1,500 francs, I would not hesitate for a mo­ ment to take it. I don’t want it for myself now; I have spent a lot of money in Europe and do not possess the [necessary] funds[.] And therefore, as I said, I do not wish to take any more armory, for 33

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one acquisition brings forth another, and thus one is [eventually] buried in mountains of expenses. But you listen to me and take it; you certainly do not have anything this beautiful in your armory.”35 Panciatichi replied on December 7, 1862, thanking Bentivoglio for his kindness of remembering “my desires and contributing to satisfy them,”36 but also explaining that he could easily find something similar elsewhere. Instead, he would be much more interested in obtaining a complete armor: “[…] You added that the helmet is beautiful, but in truth I possess already three helmets; I would not care for a fourth. […] I would have preferred if there were a steel bow with golden inlays […]. I do not want a simple-knitted coat of gold […], but would instead like there to be a breastplate made of one piece with golden inlays on the front and back […]. In fact, the armor I saw in Paris that ­costed 2,000 francs was wrought with a similar 35

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“Ho pensato a Lei io non volendo più comprare armi orientali […] Mi è stato portato un’elmo, un bracciale, due lance ed una cotta di maglia. Il tutto splendississi­ mo [sic] ed in perfetto stato, tutti i pezzi incrostati in oro. L’Elmo [sic] poi è di una bellezza straordinaria, non ne ho mai veduti cosi. Ho subito pensato a Lei e ne ho dimandato [sic] il prezzo. Mi hanno chiesti di tutto assieme 10,000 piastre turche, il che farebbe 2,000 fchi, ma credo che con mille cinquecento franchi si potreb­ be portare via tutto. L’individuo che vende quest’­ armatura completa è un persiano di buona famiglia stabilito qua; gli ho dimandato [sic] di lasciarmi tutto per due mesi e che forse dopo avrei comperato tutto assieme ad un prezzo ragionevole. […] Io stimo questa roba ai prezzi degli incanti di Parigi per lo meno a 3,000 fchi sa se sono conoscitore in questo genere e se me la dessero per 1,500 fchi non esiterei un momento a pren­ derla. Per me adesso non la voglio, ho speso molti de­ nari in Europa e non sono in fondi e poi come dicevo non voglio più prendere armi, perché una compra trascina l’altra e ci si sotterra in monte di denari. Ma mi ascolti e la prenda Lei e certamente non ha nulla di cosi bella nella sua armeria,” (asfi, pxa 160, n.n.). “[M]iei desideri e prestando l’opera sua per soddisfarli,” (asfi, pxa 160, n.n.)

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­ recision[…], that is to say, a beautiful golden p breastplate […], two bracelets as well, a helmet, plus a very large and very beautiful shield; all this had belonged to Soltikoff [sic] […and] was of great beauty.”37 Not only does this quote prove how demanding Panciatichi was as a collector—he had very clear ideas about how he wanted to develop his collec­ tion—but, even more importantly, that for imple­ menting his ideas he had to rely on his contacts abroad. Moreover, it indicates that he seemingly spent more time abroad than commonly believed. The name “Stoltikoff” [sic] refers to Russian art collector Prince Alexei Soltykoff (1804–89), whose ­collection oriental armors had been sold by his brother Prince Petr Soltykoff (1804–89) in March 1861.38 These auctions had taken place at the Hôtel Drouot and been important events that attracted

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The draft of the response has survived: “[…] Ella mi ag­ giunge che l’elmo è bellissimo ma per la verità degli elmi ne ho già tre, per me poco mi importerebbe di avere il quarto. […] avrei più gradito se ci fosse stato un arco di acciaio in intarsiato in oro […] non voglio una semplice cotta di maglia quanto dorata […] ma invece vorrei che ci fosse un pettorale fatto di un pezzo intar­ siato in oro d’avanti come dietro […]. Infatti, l’armatura che vidi a Parigi e che costava franchi 2000 era fatta precisamente come questo […] vale a dire un pettorale bellissimo di […] in oro, due bracciali idem e un elmo più uno scudo assai grande e molto bello e tutto questo era appartenuto al Soltikoff [sic] […ed] era di prima bellezza.” (asfi, pxa 160, n.n.). Collection Soltykoff, Catalogue des armes orientales […] dont la vente aux enchères publiques aura lieu Hôtel des ventes, rue Drouot, 5 […] les lundi 25, mardi 26, mercredi 27 et jeudi 28 mars 1861 (Paris : A. Pillet Fils Ainé, 1861). See Alfred Darcel, “La collection Soltykoff”, Gazette des beaux-arts : courrier européen de l’art et de la curiosité, no. 10 (1861): 169–78 (first part); 212–26 (second part) and Richard R. Walding et al., “The Russian Prince and the Maharajah of Travancore,” Journal of Kerala Studies, no. 36 (2009): 10–87. I would like to thank Mercedes Volait for the information on Alexei Soltykoff and these two references.

numerous art collectors, amongst which we appar­ ently also find Panciatichi. 3

Between Old and New: Some Notes on Panciatichi’s Restoration Practice

The dynamic art market of the second half of the nineteenth century is known for having nourished an abundance of practices for copying, restoring and forging Islamic objects. To draw a line between these different practices is often very difficult, and any designation aspiring to accuracy much de­ pends on the inherent degree of intended decep­ tion.39 This subject was already delicate back then and stirred the passions of amateurs, artists, and collectors alike. In this regard, aforementioned Alessandro Foresi, whose international network included Adolphe de Rothschild (1823–1900) and Charles Davillier (1823–83), was considered a true nightmare for art dealers.40 In 1868, he published his Tour de Babel ou objets d’art faux pris pour vrais et vice-versa, in which he attacked the French art market for its lack of standards. The previous year he had already heavily criticized the authenticity and dubious quality of objects displayed by Panci­ atichi, Stibbert, Spence and their colleagues at Palazzo del Podestà : “[W]hen one buys an ancient object for a museum it is necessary that it is [in the state] as it was born, not mended nor patched up with fragments of a hundred other objects.”41 Even though this remark might not have been intended to directly address Panciatichi’s collection of 39

40

41

See, for instance, Carol Helstosky, “Giovanni Bastianini, Art Forgery, and the Market in Nineteenth-Century Ita­ ly,” The Journal of Modern History 81, no. 4 (2009): 818. Jeremy Warren, “Foregery in Risorgimento Florence: Bastianini’s ‘Giovanni delle Bande Nere’ in the Wallace Collection,” The Burlington Magazine 147, no. 1232 (2005): 729–41. “[Q]uando si compra un oggetto antico per un Museo è mestieri che sia tal quale nacque, e non rabberciato o messo su con frammenti di cento altri oggetti […],” in Foresi and Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, La Galleria degli Uffizi e il Museo nazionale, 10.

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o­riental weapons, it nonetheless raises a more general question relating to the quality of artwork ­restorations in the nineteenth century. For the years 1865–67, the Capitali d’Armeria in­ dicate that Panciatichi used the services of a cer­ tain Enrico Leoni on a very regular basis, therein identified as a cesellatore (chaser). Leoni was em­ ployed for various “works executed on the weapons,”42 European and oriental ones alike. Sev­ eral original receipts of these “works” still exist, some of which refer to unspecified restoration works, whereas others relate to more substantial interventions, including the integration or substi­ tution of whole elements. As the list is long, only a few examples shall be given: on October 31, 1864, one Leoni was paid 39.20 lire for crafting “a scab­ bard for an oriental sword of iron, silver and velvet silk”;43 on October 17 1864, L 49.80 were spent for a “scabbard of iron, gold and velvet silk for a Turkish sword and [for] changing the handle”;44 on Janu­ ary 22 1866, 45 lire were devoted to a new “iron scabbard for an oriental dagger, with silver-inlays, covered with silk velvet, and with a handle com­ pletely carved from ivory.”45 Finally, 60 Lire were invested for the restoration of “the bracelets of an oriental armor” and for lining “all iron meshes […] with leather and velvet.”46 These receipts testify some of the common restoration practices in­ spired by Historicism, which is why they rarely show any signs of a consciousness relating to the problem of the possible falsification of artworks; 42 43 44

45

46

“[P]er lavori fatti alle armi […],” (asfi, pxa 161, n. 498). “[F]atto un fodero per una spada orientale in ferro, ar­ gento e velluto di seta […],” (asfi, pxa 160, n. 107). “[P]er avere fatto un fodero in ferro e oro e velluto in seta ad una spada turca e avere cambiato l’impugnatura […],” (asfi, pxa 160, n. 100). “[P]er aver fatto tutto di nuovo il fodero, in ferro intar­ siato in argento e coperto di velluto di seta, ad un pug­ nale orientale e intagliato tutto il manico in arvorio […],” (asfi, pxa 161, n. 273). “[R]estaurato i bracciali di un’armatura orientale e ri­ fatto tutto di nuovo le maglie di ferro foderato di pelle e velluto […],” (asfi, pxa 161, n.n.). The date is unintelligible.

instead they were the result of an underlying de­ sire to recompose and reconstitute what was con­ sidered their lost historical integrity.47 This was certainly characteristic for Stibbert, but also for the Catalan painter and art collector Mariano ­Fortuny y Marsal (1838–74), another famous ‘cre­ ative’ restorer, although today his work is usually described as belonging to the realm of “artistic interventions.”48 The continuous changing of Panciatichi’s col­ lections and their assigned purpose as investment objects complicate things even further, blurring the lines between restoration and recreation, be­ tween intended and unintended forgery, which is a subject worthy of further investigation. 4

Panciatichi’s Islamic Collection Dispersed

The history of Panciatichi’s Islamic collections ends in 1901, that is, four years after Ferdinando’s death, when his daughter Marianna Panciatichi Paolucci (1835–1919) entrusted the sale of her fa­ ther’s collections to the Florentine auctioneers Galardelli & Mazzoni and the antiquary Vincenzo Ciampolini.49 The auction took place from April 3 to 16, 1902, and lasted not less than twelve days. 47

48 49

The artistic practices of historicist interiors corre­ sponds with these ideas. See, for instance, Mercedes Volait, “Les intérieurs orientalistes du comte de SaintMaurice et d’Albert Goupil : des ‘Cluny arabe’ au Caire et à Paris à la fin du xixe siècle,” in The Period Rooms. Allestimenti storici tra arte, collezionismo e museologia, ed. Sandra Costa, Dominique Poulot, and Mercedes Volait (Bologna: Bononia University Press, 2016: 103– 14). Such practices were also used by Stibbert for his reconstructions. Another famous ‘creative restorer’ was Mariano Fortuny y Marsal; his interventions, however, are nowadays normally described as “artistic interven­ tions,” Carlos G. Navarro, “La historia domesticada. For­ tuny y el coleccionismo de antigüedades,” in Fortuny (1838–1874), ed. by Javier Baón (Madrid : Museo Nacio­ nal del Prado, 2017), 383. Navarro 2017, 383. asfi, pxa 68, n.n.

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The auction catalog provides a view of the collec­ tions’ scope: the armory was sold in 227 lots, with 161 of them characterized as “oriental”50 and con­ sisting of about 350 pieces. In comparison to Stib­ bert’s large collection, Panciatichi’s appears to have been much more limited. To estimate its orig­ inal extent and composition, however, is not an easy task, as they seem to have varied much over time, since Panciatichi regularly sold and bought new pieces throughout his life. A note from the po­ lice, authorizing him to keep weapons in his pri­ vate residence in terms of historical showpieces, stresses that their number was “continuously vari­ able due to the sales and purchases that [he] fre­ quently makes of such ancient weapons in the ­interest of his own museum.”51 We know for in­ stance that the Paris-based collector William H. Riggs (1837–1924) purchased many weapons from him, some of which are today preserved at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.52 Daniela Ce­ cutti, on the other hand, has been able to trace some Islamic armors at the Museum of Saint Louis back to the New York art collector and archaeo­ logist Daniel Z. Noorian (1865–1929), who had 50

51

52

Catalogue des tableaux anciens et objets d’art. Armes, bronzes, porcelaines de Chine et du Japon, miniatures, jades, cristaux de roche, marbres, meubles, etc. composant la Galerie et Musée Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona dans le palais Borgo Pinti, 68. Florence : Galardelli & Mazzoni, 1902: 47–58 (asfi, pxa 70). “[C]ontinuamente variabile per le cessioni e nuovi ac­ quisti che frequentemente fa di tali armi antiche nell’interesse del proprio Museo,” English translation by the author, in “Armi diverse esistenti nel Museo di Famiglia. Constatazione fattane dalla Polizia” (asfi, pxa 53, folio 7). At the time, the (European and Orien­ tal) armory consisted of six bronze cannon models, 58 rifles, 36 guns, 106 swords, 70 sabers, 179 daggers, 36 axes, eight javelins, nine spears, and one knife. Bashford Dean, “Mr. Riggs as Collector of Armor,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 9, no. 3 (1914): 68. Some of these items were shown at the 1878 Paris Inter­ national Exhibition; for example, see , ­accessed on 12.12.2018.

a­ cquired them during the Panciatichi auction of 1902.53 The given information so far only provides a small glimpse into Panciatichi’s activity as a collec­ tor of Islamic art. The history of his—European and oriental—art collections still await to be re­ constructed and studied more thoroughly and in more detail. As this article tried to demonstrate, Panciatichi was a key figure for raising the public awareness for and the reception of Islamic art in Italy—not only in terms of architecture, as his Vil­ la of Sammezzano attests, but also in terms of the history of Islamic art collections in Europe in gen­ eral. His lifelong engagement was an important contribution to the history of Florence as the ­vibrant center of the Italian market for Islamic art­ works during the second half of the nineteenth century. Archival Abbreviations asfi, pxa Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona asmb Archivio Storico Museo del Bargello

Bibliography Aschengreen Piacenti, Kirsten. “Panciatichi e Stibbert: due orientalisti a confronto.” In Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, Sammezzano e il Sogno d’Oriente 1813–2013, edited by Emanuele Masiello and Ethel Santacroce, 81–5. Proceedings of the confer­ ence of the same title at Castello di Sammezzano, May 31–June 1, 2013. Livorno: Sillabe, 2014. Avery-Quash, Susanna ed. The Travel Notebooks of Sir Charles Eastlake. The Volume of the Walpole Society 73. 2 vols. London: The Walpole Society, 2011. 53 Cecutti, Una miniera inesauribile, 252. She mentions that even smaller items were purchased by Stibbert at the 1902 auction, which is not confirmed by Becattini, “la collezione Stibbert,” 26.

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Troppo amanti degli oggetti orientali Barocchi, Paola and Giovanna Gaeta Bertelà. “Ipotesi per un museo nel Palazzo del Podestà tra il 1858 e il 1865.” Studi e ricerche di collezionismo e museografia, Firenze 1820–1920 (Quaderni del Seminario di Storia della critica d’arte della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa) 2 (1985): 211–378. Becattini, Martina. “La nascita della collezione islamica di Frederick Stibbert.” In Islam, armi e armature della collezione di Frederick Stibbert, edited by Francesco Civita, 18–23. Published in conjunction with an exhi­ bition of the same title, organized by and presented at the Museo Stibbert, Florence, April 16, 2014–Janu­ ary 6, 2015. Florence: Centro Di, 2014. Becattini, Martina. “La collezione Stibbert.” In Cavalieri, Mamelucchi e Samurai. Armature di guerrieri d’Oriente e d’Occidente delle collezione del Museo Stibbert di Firenze, edited by Enrico Colle, 25–31. Pub­ lished in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title, organized by and presented at Venaria Reale, Reggia di Venaria, October 26, 2014–February 8, 2015. Livorno : Sillabe, 2014. Bertelli, Barbara. “Un museo in divenire. Il Bargello, le sue collezioni e il mercato antiquario fiorentino : protagonisti e circolazioni delle opere d’arte.” In Il Medioevo in viaggio, edited by Benedetta Chiesi, Il­ laria Ciseri and Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi, 41–63. ­Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title, organized by and presented at Museo Na­ zionale del Bargello, Florence, March 20–June 21, 2015. Florence: Giunti, 2015. Bertolaso, Bertolo. Il conte Stanislao Bentivolgio d’Aragona : Firenze 1821–1889, console generale francese nell’Imperio Ottomano. Florence : Leo S. Olschki, 2004. Cardini, Franco. “Toscana moresca. Ovvero il Turco in Toscana e qualche altra curiosità orientalistica dell’Ottocento.” Museo Stibbert Firenze (Turcherie) (2001): 5–8. Catalogue des tableaux anciens et objets d’art. Armes, bronzes, porcelaines de Chine et du Japon, miniatures, jades, cristaux de roche, marbres, meubles, etc. composant la Galerie et Musée Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona dans le palais Borgo Pinti, 68. Florence : Galardelli & Mazzoni, 1902.

175 Cecutti, Daniela. “Commercio di opera d’arte islamica. Note sul mercato a Firenze tra Otto e Novecento.” mdccc 1800, no. 2 (2013). , accessed on Nov 9, 2018. Cecutti, Daniela. Una miniera inesauribile. Collezionisti e antiquari di arte islamica. L’Italia e il contesto internazionale tra Ottocento e Novecento. Florence : Mas­ chietto Editore, 2013. Cerelli, Claudia. “Il Marchese Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona e la Villa neomoresca di Sanmez­ zano.” Master thesis, University of Florence, 2000–1. Collection Soltykoff, Catalogue des armes orientales […] dont la vente aux enchères publiques aura lieu Hôtel des ventes, rue Drouot, 5 […] les lundi 25, mardi 26, mercredi 27 et jeudi 28 mars 1861. Paris : A. Pillet Fils Ainé, 1861. Curatola, Giovanni. “Il collezionismo ottocentesco di arte islamica a Firenze.” Studi e ricerche di collezionismo e museografia, Firenze 1820–1920 (Quaderni del Seminario di Storia della critica d’arte della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa) 2 (1985): 379–90. Damiani, Giovanna and Mario Scalini, ed., Islam specchio d’Oriente, rarità e preziosi nelle collezioni statali fiorentine. Published in conjunction with an exhibi­ tion of the same title, organized by and presented at Palazzo Pitti, Florence, April 23–September 1, 2002. Florence : Sillabe, 2002. Darcel, Alfred. “La collection Soltykoff”, Gazette des beaux-arts: courrier européen de l’art et de la curiosité, no. 10 (1861): 169–78 (first part); 212–26 (second part). Dean, Bashford. “Mr. Riggs as Collector of Armor.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 9, no. 3 (1914): 57–66. Diana, Alessandro. “Il collezionismo d’arte islamica a Firenze fra Otto e Novecento.” In Islam e Firenze. Arte e collezionismo dai Medici al Novecento, edited by Giovanni Curatola, 170–185. Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title, organized by and presented at the Uffizi Galleries and the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, June–Septembre 2018. Florence: Giunti, 2018. Fleming, John. “Art Dealing in the Risorgimento ii.” The Burlington Magazine 121, no. 917 (1979): 492–94, 497– 500, 502–08.

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176 Fleming, John. “Art Dealing in the Risorgimento II.” The Burlington Magazine, 121, no. 918 (1979): 568–73, 575–80. Foresi, Alessandro and Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona. La Galleria degli Uffizi e il Museo nazionale del Palazzo del Potestà Controversia fra il dottore Alessandro Foresi e il marchese Ferdinando Panciatichi, Florence, 1867. Giacomelli, Luca. “Il Medieoevo al Bargello. Il percorso di un’idea tra storia, collezioni e allestimenti.” In Il Medioevo in viaggio, edited by Benedetta Chiesi, Il­ laria Ciseri and Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi, 26–39. Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title, organized by and presented at Museo Na­ zionale del Bargello, Florence, March 20–June 21, 2015. Florence : Giunti, 2015. Guarneri, Cristiano. “El Alhambra de Florencia: un ‘país de los juguetes,’ burgués a caballo entro los siglos xix y xx.” In Orientalismo, arte y arquitectura entre Granada y Venecia, edited by Juan Calatrava and ­ Guido Zucconi, 303–25. Madrid: Abada, 2012. Helstosky, Carol. “Giovanni Bastianini, Art Forgery, and the Market in Nineteenth-Century Italy.” The Journal of Modern History 81, no. 4 (2009): 793–823. Levi, Donata. “William Blundel Spence a Firenze.” Studi e ricerche di collezionismo e museografia, Firenze 1820–1920 (Quaderni del Seminario di Storia della critica d’arte della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa) 2 (1985): 85–149. Lowndes Vicente, Filipa. Altri Orientalismi. L’India a Firenze 1860–1900. Florence : Florence University Press, 2012. Masiello, Emanuele and Ethel Santacroce, ed. Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, Sammezzano e il Sogno d’Oriente 1813–2013. Proceedings of the confer­ ence of the same title at Castello di Sammezzano, May 31–June 1, 2013. Livorno : Sillabe, 2014. “Mostra dei Tempi di Mezzo.” La Nazione, May 14, 1865, 2. Navarro, Carlos G. “La historia domesticada. Fortuny y el coleccionismo de antigüedades.” In Fortuny (1838– 1874), edited by Javier Baón, 373–97. Published in

Varela Braga conjunction with an exhibition of the same title, or­ ganized by and presented at Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, November 21, 2017 March 18, 2018. Madrid : Museo Nacional del Prado, 2017. Santacroce, Ethel. “Ferdinando Panciatchi Ximenes d’Aragona e il suo archivio tra pubblico e private.” In Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, Sammezzano e il Sogno d’Oriente 1813–2013, edited by Emanu­ ele Masiello and Ethel Santacroce, 45–63. Proceed­ ings of the conference of the same title at Castello di Sammezzano, May 31–June 1, 2013. Livorno: Sillabe, 2014. Stasolla, Maria Giovanna. “The ‘Orient’ in Florence (19th Century). From Oriental Studies to the Collec­ tion of Islamic Art, from a Reconstruction of the ‘Orient’ to the Exotic Dream of the Rising Middle Class.” Oriente Moderno, n.s., 1 (2013): 3–31. Tonelli, Maria Cristina. “Alhambra Anastatica.” FMR 4 (1982): 31–60. Togneri Dowd, Carol and Jaynie Anderson, ed. The Travel Diaries of Otto Mündler 1855–1858. The Volume of the Walpole Society 51. London: Walpole Society, 1985. Varela Braga, Ariane. “Building a Dream: the Alhambra in the Villa of Sammezzano.” In The Power of Symbols. The Alhambra in a Global Perspective, edited by Francine Giese and Ariane Varela Braga, 335–53. Bern: Peter Lang, 2018. Volait, Mercedes. “Les intérieurs orientalistes du comte de Saint-Maurice et d’Albert Goupil: des ‘Cluny arabe’ au Caire et à Paris à la fin du xixe siècle.” In The Period Rooms. Allestimenti storici tra arte, collezionismo e museologia, edited by Sandra Costa, Domi­ nique Poulot, and Mercedes Volait, 103–14. Bologna : Bononia University Press, 2016. Walding, Richard R. et al. “The Russian Prince and the Maharajah of Travancore”, Journal of Kerala Studies, no. 36 (2009): 10–87. Warren, Jeremy. “Forgery in Risorgimento Florence : Bastianini’s ‘Giovanni delle Bande Nere’ in the Wal­ lace Collection.” The Burlington Magazine 147, no. 1232 (2005): 729–41.

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Chapter 13

The Arab Room of Achille Vertunni Islamic Art in the Streets of Rome Valentina Colonna Orientalism, Islamophilia, exotic revival, and new artistic languages: throughout the nineteenth century, each European country “appropriated” the Orient in its own specific way creating stereotypes and new genres, which then spread through similar channels, including travelogues engravings, printed matters, collections of decorative arts, and pavilions presented at the Universal Expositions.1 Italy cultivated a special version of the Orient associated with the Mediterranean Islamic countries. This idea was rooted in Italy’s exposure to Islamic culture since the Middle Ages; during this period, certain cities, such as Venice, Florence or Genoa, excelled in commercial and cultural exchange with the Islamic world. Thanks to the ­activity of noble families, such as the Medici in Florence or the Gonzaga in Mantua, and of missionary orders, the import and collection of Islamic objects continued during the modern era, that is, from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century.2 While at the Collegio Romano in Rome, the Jesuit Athanasius Kircher (1602–80), would found the first significant systematic collection of Islamic material.3 In any case, it would however not be before the nineteenth century that Eastern fashions 1 Rémi Labrusse, Islamophilies. L’Europe moderne et les arts de l’Islam, published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title, organized and presented at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, April–July, 2011 (Lyon: Somogy ed., 2011). 2 Giovanni Curatola, Eredità dell’Islam. Arte islamica in Italia (Venice : Silvana Ed., 1993). 3 Maristella Casciato, Maria Grazia Iannello, and Maria Vitale, Enciclopedismo in Roma Barocca, Athanasius Kircher e il Museo del collegio Romano tra Wunderkammern e Museo Scientifico (Venice : Marsilio, 1986).

would receive a renewed significance in Italy in connection with endeavors to reproduce exotic atmospheres. Oriental fashion began to enter the scene and became mandatory for Europe’s elites, as attested by the decorations at stylish banquets, the collections of artefacts in decorative art museums, or lectures on the Moorish and Persian styles at institutes for the applied arts.4 This article is based on the author’s PhD thesis.5 Despite the fact that there has always been a tendency to associate Rome with classical arts and culture, during the period between the second half of the nineteenth century and the 1920 the general awareness of the Islamic arts increased tangibily and would, eventually even conquer Rome. R ­ oman orientalism emerged as a phenomenon that would soon permeate entire sectors of public and private life, resulting in the creation of an image of the Orient that was both exhilarating and short-lived. Rome’s Orientalism can be characterized as urban, collective and popular, often including decontextualizing and deceptive aspects. It was a special brand of orientalism that “domesticated” the Orient for the purposes of everyday life.6 We 4 Nadine Beautheac and Françoise Xavier Bouchart, L’Europe Exotique (Paris : Chêne, 1985). Stephen Vernoit, Discovering Islamic Art: Scholars, Collectors and Collections 1850–1950 (London: I. B. Tauris, 2000), 13–5. 5 The author’s PhD thesis in Culture and Territory at the University of Tor Vergata in Rome deals with the collection of Islamic art in Rome between the eighteenth and nineteenth century, including private antique dealers and public museums. A publication of the text is forthcoming. 6 Anna Maria Damigella, “Presenze, memorie, caratteri dell’­ orientalismo a Roma dalla metà dell’Ottocento ai primi del Novecento,” in L’orientalismo nell’architettura italiana tra

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi 10.1163/9789004412644_016

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178 should briefly recall how this came about. The movement goes back to the phantasmagorical constructions once used for the fireworks during secular or religious anniversaries, such as Saint Peter and Paul or the annual festival at Castel Sant’Angelo. These pyrotechnic devices often imitated buildings from faraway places or a distant past and usually designed by professional architects, who copied existing monuments or created montages of various buildings. Sometimes they would even create their own imaginative versions of Chinese pagodas, Moorish houses or oriental nymphaea.7 In addition, amusement parks emerged all over Rome, such as the neo-Moorish Teatro Alhambra (1880) at Lungotevere dei Mellini, a structure that D’Annunzio (1863–1938) once described as an ugly wooden sideshow booth.8 The interior designs of Roman villas is also worth mentioning here such as the “Turkish” kiosk (1788) that Francesco Bettini (1737–1815?) created for the Villetta Doria, a part of Villa Borghese, or the neo-Moorish greenhouse of Villa Torlonia (1842) by Giuseppe Jappelli (1783– 1852). The small neo-Moorish villa in Rome’s Parioli area where the Spanish painter Josè Villegas y Cordero (1844–1921) lived, is also noteworthy,9 wich was inspired by the Alhambra and executed by Ernesto Basile (1857–1932) between 1887 and 1890. With its cupolas, intertwining arches, muqarnas, ceramic wall facings, this villino became the perfect stage for oriental banquets, during wich celebrities of the world of artists and intellectuals Ottocento e Novecento, ed. Maria Adriana Giusti and Ezio Godoli (Florence : Maschietto e Musolino, 1999), 108. 7 Nicola Lupu, “Le ricostruzioni di monumenti antichi nelle girandole Vespignani,” Capitolium, (September 1935): 327– 42; Damigella, “Presenze, memorie, caratteri,” 109. 8 Gabriele D’Annunzio, Roma senza lupa. Cronache mondane 1844–1888 (Milan : Baldini-Trompeo, 1948), 88–91; Damigella, “Presenze, memorie, caratteri,” 110–13. 9 Paul Bourget, Cosmopolis, Paris : Lemerre, 1983, 179–81; Rosario De Simone, “Il villino Villegas,” in L’orientalismo nell’architettura italiana tra Ottocento e Novecento, ed. Maria Adriana Giusti and Ezio Godoli (Florence : Maschietto e Musolino, 1999), 117–26.

Colonna

would gather, including no one less than Prince Baldassarre Odescalchi (1844–1909). Apart from isolated experiments, the appropriation and materialization of the Orient took place in a more elaborate manner within Rome’s artistic milieu, especially within clubs and associations. Antiquarians were the main protagonists here who had various biographical backgrounds: whereas some were Romans, many others were foreigners who invigorated the city’s cultural life.10 An article by Caroline Juler examines exactly these persons among Rome’s so-called “lost orientalists,”11 that is, orientalist painters with tendencies to experiment with exotic subjects. Among them, we find Attilio Simonetti (1843–1925), Achille Vertunni (1826–1897), Gustavo Simoni (1846–1926), Giuseppe Signorini (1857–1932), Enrico Tarenghi (1848–1938), Salvatore Valeri (1856–1946), Michele Cammarano (1835–1920), Cesare Biseo (1843–1909), and Ettore Ximenes (1855–1926), a famous illustrator. The center of this circle was the Catalan artist Mariano Fortuny Marsal (1838–1874), who lived in Rome as of 1858.12 Thanks to him and the “colonies”13 of other Spanish painters in Rome, such as José Gallegos (1859–1917) and Josè Villegas y Cordero 10

11 12

13

Maria Giovanna Stasolla, “Il collezionismo di arte islamica tra Italia e Spagna nel xix secolo. Il caso di Mariano Fortuny y Marsal,” in Arqueologìa, colleccionismo y antigüedad. España e Italia en el siglo xix, ed. José Beltrán, Beatrice Cacciotti and Beatrice Palma Venetucci (Sevilla : Universidad de Sevilla, 2006), 661–85. Caroline Juler, “Gli orientalisti perduti di Roma,” Urbe xlix, no. 1–2 (1986): 17–9. Charles Daviller, Fortùny, sa vie, son ouvre, sa correspondance, (Paris, 1875), 80–1; Andrea De Angelis, “La vita romana di Mariano Fortùny nel primo centenario della sua nascita,” Le vie d’Italia, xliv, (1938):719–22; Mercé Donate, Cristina Mendoza, and Francesc Quìlez i Corella, Fortuny (1838–1874), published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title, organized and ­presented at Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya in Barcelona, October, 2002–January, 2003 (Barcelona : MuseuNacional d’Art de Catalunya, 2003), 419–32. Walter Fol, “Fortuny,” Gazette des Beaux-Arts xi (1875): 352.

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(1844–1921), the city saw the rise of a notable community of artistic Orient admirers.14 There were many occasions for these artists to meet, especially at oriental-themed banquets and masquerades,15 for example, during the 1862 Carnival “alla turca” in Tor Cervara,16 or the 1881 Arab Carnival at the Circolo Artistico Internazionale on Via Margutta. Magazines of the time attest the existence of this phenomenon, such as the Illustrazione Italiana, which reported a ball at Villegas’s villa in 1887,17 the same place where the neoMoorish patio would be set up later. In 1892, the Tribuna Illustrata mentioned an Arab Café in the Circolo Artistico.18 During this period, the studios of artists, which had a high density within an area of Rome stretching from Piazza del Popolo to Piazza di Spagna, were the preferred spaces for creating exotic atmospheres. Via Margutta was known internationally for its many workshops and studios, including a real hub for the cultural activities of Rome’s orientalists and art collectors, the Studi Patrizi at number 53, where artists from all over Europe would gather.19 14

15

16

17

18 19

Carlos González Lopez and Montessat Martì Ayxelà, Pintores españoles en Roma (Barcelona : Tusquets, 1987), 76–81. Teresa Sacchi Lodispoto, “Appunti su artisti, spazi espositivi e associazioni a Roma tra Cinquecento e ­Ottocento,” in Sandro Polci, Roma in mostra (Rome : Leasing, 2002), 96–9. Tiziana Grassi and Luciano Zangarini, La Festa degli artisti di Tor Cervara (Rome : Palombi, 1989); Sabrina Spinazzè, “Artisti-antiquari a Roma tra la fine dell’Ottocento e l’inizio del Novecento : lo studio e la galleria del pittore Attilio Simonetti,” Studiolo, no. 8 (2010): 103–22. Rosario De Simone, “Il Villino Villegas” in L’orientalismo nell’architettura italiana tra Ottocento e Novecento, ed. Maria Adriana Giusti and Ezio Godoli (Florence : Maschietto e Musolino, 1999), 117–26. La Tribuna Illustrata, no. 19, 1892, 14–8. Goffredo Hoogewerff, Via Margutta. Centro di vita artistica (Rome : Ed. Studi Romani, 1953), 13; Francesca Di Castro, Via Margutta. Cinquecento anni di storia e d’arte (Rome : Kappa ed., 2006).

It provided very large apartments, designed like theater sceneries and furnished with the artists’ paintings or the objects that served as their sources of inspiration, comprised of artefacts and pieces of furniture in various Islamic and Far Eastern styles, especially precious fabrics, music ­ instruments, ­chinaware, weapons, clothes, sculptures, and drawings. There are detailed descriptions of such interiors in the Studi e modelli di via Margutta by the antiquarian Augusto Jandolo. Many helpful information is also found in the travelogues of intellectuals and art dealers that had migrated to Rome.20 Another important source are the Ricordi Artistici by Baldassarre Odescalchi, wherein he describes his visits to the homes of different artists in 1875. It became so fashionable for studio decorations to blend the characteristics of parlors and a private museums that it was regarded a contemporary social stereotype of artistic lifestyles. In fact, noteworthy examples of this could be found all over Europe, such as Eugène Delacroix’s atelier on rue Notre Dame de Lorette in Paris, Ernest Meissonier’s home in Poissy, or the studio of the Austrian Hans Makart in Vienna.21 There are contemporary photographs of the ­Patrizi Studios, today kept at the archive of Jandolo and Tavazzi’s auction house, which has been converted into a private museum.22 Among the most famous tenants at Via Margutta one finds Scipione Vannutelli (1834–94), Cesare Maccari (1840–1919), Attilio Simonetti,23 Achille Vertunni 20

21

22

23

Francesca Foti, “Studi Patrizi. Atelier d’artista a via Margutta (1840–1900).” In Atelier a via Margutta. Cinque secoli di cultura internazionale a Roma, edited by Valentina Moncada (Turin: Allemandi, 2012), 36–8. Geneviève Lacambre, Les ateliers d’artiste (Paris : Flammarion, 1991); Eduard Hüttinger, Case d’artista dal Rinascimento a oggi. (Turin : Bollati Boringhieri, 1992). Augusto Jandolo, Studi e modelli di via Margutta. (Milan: Ceschina, 1953), 46–51; Dimitri Affri and Paola Callegari Paola, Studi d’artista : fotografie d’atelier tra ‘800 e ‘900 (Perugia : Effe ed., 2009). Sacchi Lodispoto, Teresa and Sabrina Spinazzè. Attilio Simonetti (1843–1925). Pittore alla moda e antiquario a Roma. (Rome : Berardi Gallerie D’Arte, 2019). E ­ xhibition

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(1826–97), ­Giuseppe Signorini (1857–1932) and Ercole Rosa (1846–93), followed by a large number of Spanish artists, including José Gallegos y Arnosa (1859–1917), Salvador Sánchez Barbudo (1857– 1917), Juan Antonio Benlliure (1859–1930), Blas Gil Benlliure (1852–1936), Villegas y Cordero (1844– 1921) and Antoni Maria Fabrési Costa (1854–1936). They all had been attracted by Mariano Fortuny, who, as biographical sources state,24 often frequented Via Margutta but never lodged there, since his splendid studio-museum was located at Villa Martinori on Via Flaminia. 1

Vertunni and Rome

Achille Vertunni’s biography perfectly fits into the discussed historic context of Rome’s contemporary market for artworks and antiques. Originally from Naples and the descendant of a noble Spanish family, Vertunni arrived in Rome in 1854, where he lodged at a house in Albano, a town outside of Rome.25 Preferring the atmosphere of the Roman countryside, he started exhibiting his works there. Shortly thereafter, however, he decided to move, so that as of February 1859, one finds him among the lodgers at Palazzo Patrizi on Via Margutta, where he stayed until 1887.26

24

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of the same title, organized and presented at the Galleria Berardi, Rome, January 24–February 23, 2019. Francesca Foti, “Studi Patrizi. Atelier d’artista a via Margutta (1840–1900).” In Atelier a via Margutta. Cinque secoli di cultura internazionale a Roma, edited by Valentina Moncada, 34–46 (Turin: Allemandi, 2012). Fabio Dell’Erba, “Achille Vertunni.” In Sergio Sersale, I Vertunni. Una famiglia ispano-napoletana, 35–38. (Rome: Consorzio Nazionale di Emigrazione, 1938), 36–9; Agostino Mario Comanducci. Dizionario illustrato dei pittori, disegnatori e incisori italiani moderni e contemporanei. 6 vols. (Milan : Patuzzi ed., 1970–75). Erminia Querci, “Achille Vertuni e Mariano Fortuny : Roma tra arte e mercato.” In Roma fuori di Roma. L’esportazione dell’arte moderna da Pio vi all’Unità (1775–1870), edited by Giovanna Capitelli, Stefano

At the end of the 1850s, Vertunni met Mariano Fortuny, with whom he would soon have after develop a profitable collaboration as a painter and antiquarian. Vertunni enjoyed creating orientalist artworks, and some of them would later be shown at several exhibitions (London, 1870; Vienna, 1873, the 1876 Universal Exhibition in Philadelphia, the Inter State Industrial Exhibition in Chicago the same year, and the 1878 World Expo in Paris).27 In 1870, he traveled to Egypt, where he experimented with new canvas materials. After his return to Rome, he started painting his series of Ricordi d’Oriente,28 which he would display in his studio. 2

Vertunni’s Arab Room at Via Margutta

There are three main sources that provide us with valuable information on Vertunni’s studio at Via Margutta: the Ricordi Artistici by Prince Baldassarre Odescalchi, published in Rome in 1875; an article from the New York newspaper The Evening Post from 1876; the sales catalog of the Vertunni collection, published in Rome in 1881. In 1875, Baldassare Odescalchi wrote about his visit to Vertunni’s home: “Hence, Vertunni began his artistic career in Rome many years ago. If you go and visit his studio on Via Margutta, you will find a large series of halls richly decorated with ancient fabrics, oriental carpets and wooden chests from the sixteenth century; among these objects, his paintings are not the least valuable […]. And then, there are the Ricordi d’Oriente. Vertunni stayed in Egypt during winter and worked a lot there. A result of this stay were

27 28

Grandes­so and Carlo Mazzarelli. Conference proceedings (Rome 3–4 March 2009). (Rome: Campisano, 2012), 209–26. Caroline Juler, Les orientalistes de l’ecole italienne. (Paris : acr édition, 1987), 297–98. Vakerie Jervis, “Achille Vertunni.” In La pittura in Italia. L’Ottocento, edited by Castelnuovo Enrico, vol. ii. (Milan: Electa, 1991), 1059.

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Figure 13.1 A. Vertunni, Paesaggio orientale, 1870–75, oil painting on canvas (100 × 215 cm), Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Milan.

his numerous studies and paintings of oriental subjects, which are now on display in his studio and give an account of this ‘holy land’ of Egypt […]. [I]n the background one of these paintings one sees the sun-drenched tombs of caliphs […] and a procession of women with dark veils (fig. 13.1).”29

pearl or ivory; Venetian vases and chandeliers from Murano; Sèvres china, and those chests of carved wood used by the brides of the 15th century for their trousseaux, fill the rooms. So many objects of art and antiquity attract the eye, but the most beautiful are the landscapes painted by the artist and displayed in their elaborate frames.”30

Some years later, in May 1878, The Evening Post published another article titled “Italy at Paris” that dealt with the Italian painters partaking in the 1878 World Exhibition and also described Vertunni’s studio:

It is indeed very probable that the artist had brought a number of antiques from his 1870 journey to Egypt and put them on display in his studio as a source of inspiration. Yet even more than this, the objects became “instruments of art” that enabled him to establish an oriental atmosphere at his studio. From the photographic documentation in the sales catalog of his 1881 collection, we know about the existence of an Arab Room at his atelier.31 The catalog was edited by Raffaele Dura and Jules Sambon and not only gives details about the artefacts on sale, among which one finds Persian (nos. 63–5) and Turkish carpets (nos. 130–36; 283– 92; 382–84), but also describes the succession of rooms and the pieces of furniture. Sambon highlights the beauty of the sala orientale, claiming that “[…] nothing so beautiful, so refined and of such an authentic character has ever been

“[…] [T]he walls and floors are covered with Turkish carpets and ancient tapestries; rich brocades and oriental fabrics embroidered with gold and silver are thrown over chairs and tables; ancient furniture exquisitely carved or set with mother of 29

“Così il Vertunni, parecchi anni or sono, esordiva a Roma nella sua carriera artistica. Ora se andate a visitare il suo studio in Via Margutta, troverete una lunga sequela di sale riccamente addobbate con stoffe, mobili antichi, tappeti orientali e cassoni del cinquecento, e fra tutte queste anticaglie sparsi i non meno preziosi suoi quadri…Vengono poi i Ricordi d’Oriente. Il Vertunni ha passato un inverno in Egitto, lavorandovi molto. Frutto di quel suo soggiorno sono stati molti studi e molti quadri dal tema orientale che sono ora esposti nel suo studio e forman ricordi della sacra terra d’Egitto […]. in un primo quadro tu scorgi in distanza le tombe dei califfi indorate dal sole, una mesta processione di donne velate a Bruno.” Baldassarre Odescalchi, Gli studi di Roma. Ricordi Artistici (Rome: Capaccini ed., 1875), 77–88.

30 31

George Innes. “Italy at Paris.” The Evening Post, May (1878): 1. Catalogue de la collection Vertunni: objets d’art et de curiosité, étoffes, tableaux etc. dont la vente aux enchères publiques aura lieu dans les magnifiques salons de son atelier à Rome, le lundit 7 mars 1881 (Rome: Sales company Raffaele Dura, 1881).

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Figure 13.2 Catalogue de la collection Vertunni: objets d’art et de curiosité, étoffes, tableaux etc. dont la vente aux enchères publiques aura lieu dans les magnifiques salons de son atelier à Rome, le lundit 7 mars 1881 (Rome: Sales company Raffaele Dura, 1881), Library of Art History and ­Archaeology, Rome, Sala Crociera.

achieved in this genre”.32 Curiously, the text seemingly ignores the Arab Hall at Frederic Leighton’s house in London, which had been installed between 1877 and 1881, with the latter being the year of Vertunni’s sale.33 Odescalchi’s Ricordi Artistici do not mention this room either, seemingly indicating that it had not been completed at the time; Odescalchi, however, does explicitly confirm the presence of numerous Islamic artefacts at Vertunni’s apartment. The entrance to the Arab Hall consisted of two beautiful wooden doors with bas-reliefs and inlays of ivory and bone. One door had a height of 2.45 m, whereas the other measured 1.40 m. The latter probably had been crafted in fifteenth-century 32

33

“[…] nulla di più bello, di più raffinato e di un carattere più autentico è stato ancora realizzato nel suo genere,” Catalogue de la collection Vertunni, 5. Querci, “Achille Vertunni”, 220.

Mamlūk Egypt, and is identical with the very same one Vertunni had purchased at Fortuny’s sale as described in the 1875 catalog (fig. 13.2).34 The interior design of the Arab Hall was very refined; it possessed small divans with brocade cushions, carpets, pieces of wooden furniture with geometric inlays, hookahs, Turkish pipes, mosque lamps, and Hispano-Islamic ceramics; moreover, armors were arranged on the walls alongside textile fragments. Still unsatisfied with the result, Vertunni had two large neo-Moorish horseshoe arches sculpted onto the walls, which were embedded into geometric cornices for achieving a more “realistic” impression. Furthermore, drawings of objects by Gustavo Simoni, Pio Joris, Cesare Biseo and Vertunni’s children were hung onto the walls. The sales catalog confirms that the room was intended to be sold as a single unit which is why it 34

Catalogue de la collection Vertunni, 5–6.

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appears under a single inventory number: “under this number all that constitutes this superb hall will be sold as a single unit, with the advantage that it can be assembled and dismantled despite its size, as we already said in the preface.”35 This very detailed description of the room recollects both the interior decorations and a list of all its furniture and the other objects therein. The following text is a complete and faithful quotation of the original catalog description (no. 482, Arab Room): “The room is 7.80 m long, 4.76 m wide and 4.38 m high; the walls are entirely coated with painted golden woodwork, elegantly wrought in the most beautiful Arab style. The first wall on the right of the entrance is made up of three arches, with the one in the middle being taller than the other two and including the shape of trefoil arch, while those on the sides are horseshoe-shaped (fig. 13.3). The arch in the middle is decorated with drapery that forms a curtain and constists of an ancient brocade with a leaf pattern on a blue-sky silk background. It is trimmed with a silky fringe around the center of the arch and upholstered with a magnificently carved golden velvet made in Venice for the East in the 15th century. Some parts of the velvet bands show elodea flowers and others rose window patterns. There is a small eastern-style shelf hanging from the middle of each of the two horseshoe arches, on it a composition of musical instruments, tools, objects and precious fabrics. The second wall, in front of the entrance, contains a door and horseshoe-shaped arch, similar to the afore mentioned ones (fig. 13.4). The door is ancient and probably comes from a mosque; it was made from small wood pieces, of irregular hexagon shapes, interlaced and assembled onto ivory inserts, and arranged symmetrically to form the 35

“[…] Sous ce numéro sera mis en vente, en bloc tout ce qui compose cette superbe salle, qui a l’avantage, ainsi que nous l’avons dit dans la préface, de pouvoir se monter et démonter malgré sa dimension,” Catalogue de la collection Vertunni, 75.

wonderful shapes of rose windows (fig. 13.5). The panel above the door consists of enameled tiles with very beautiful designs and bright colors.” In the middle of the arch, oriental weapons are mixed with rich fabrics, skins of leopards, so as to represent a kind of trophy... The third wall on the left includes a large mirror with a beautiful frame in oriental style with carved Arabic inscriptions (fig. 13.6). It is placed between the apertures of the two windows and on each side separated by a pillar, upholstered with ancient velvet chiseled in an eastern-style pattern of several colors again a fawn-colored background. The mirror is placed on a console entirely covered with a rich fabric of old golden brocade with various designs. The fourth wall consists of the entrance door and a horseshoe arch similar to those of the other walls. The ceiling is divided into three eastern-style painted ­compartments. The console is completely covered with Turkish carpets.36 36

“La salle à une longueur de 7 mètres 80 sur 4 mètres 76 de largeur et 4.38 de hauteur ; les murailles sont entièrement recouvertes de boiserie peinte, dorée et élégamment travaillée dans le plus beau style arabe. La 1er paroi à droit de l’entrée est formée de trois arcs dont celui de centre plus large que les deux autres, est de forme trilobée, tandis ceux placés latéralement sont en fer à cheval. L’arc du milieu est orné d’une riche draperie formant rideau, en ancien brocart à dessin de ramages tissés en or sur fond de soie bleu-ciel. Bordé d’une frange en soie correspondante le centre de l’arc est tapissé d’une superbe étoffe en velours ciselé à fond d’or fabriqué à Venise, pour l’Orient au xvème siècle. Parties de ces bandes de velours sont au type de la fleur élobée les autres à dessin de rosaces. Les deux autres arcs en fer à cheval ont chacun au centre une petite étagère suspendue et de forme orientale sur laquelle sont disposés dans un gout artistique exquis plusieurs instruments de musique, ustensiles et objets divers mêlés à des étoffes précieuses. La 2eme paroi en face de l’entrée, de même style, est formée de la porte et d’un arc pareilaux deux précédents également en fer à cheval. La porte est ancienne et provient probablement d’un Mosquée, elle se compose de différents petits morceaux de bois en forme d’hexagones irréguliers,

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Figure 13.3

Salle arabe, first wall, from the 1881 sales catalog

Figure 13.4

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The Arab Room of Achille Vertunni

The description of the room directly follows the list of objects that used to furnish the room, including: cushions, sofas, mosque lamps and small carpets. The single sale lot no.482 provide a simple list of the objects and furniture pieces, along with their dimensions and minimum descriptions, yet without single inventory numbers.37 It is a peculiarity of the picturesque Roman Arab that contemporaries considered it a purchasable extravaganza “à l’orientale.” To subsume the entirety of its numerous elements under one single inventory number was particulary strange. It had been designed not only for creating a suggestive atmosphere, but also for mundane uses, for example, as an elegant backdrop for thematic balls or dinners organized by Vertunni. Once more, the article of The Evening Post provides us with a vivid account of these events: “The soirées given by Mrs Vertunni, a fascinating Roman lady, in her husband’s studio, have become famous. The best society in Rome is to be found here: famous artists, scholars, travellers, diplomats, military officers, members of the Roman ­aristocracy. One of these soirées was given last

37

e­ ntrelacés et emboités les uns dans les autres avec des incrustations d’ivoire et disposés fort symétriquement formant des jolis dessins de rosaces, etc. Au dessus de la porte, le panneau est en carreaux émaillés de très beau dessin et de couleurs brillantes. Au centre de l’arc sont disposées en trophées des armes orientales mêlées à de riches étoffes, peaux de léopards etc… La 3ème paroi à gauche, contient au centre une large glace dans un joli cadre de dessin oriental avec inscriptions arabes sculptées. Elle est placée entre les ouvertures des deux fenêtres et en est séparée de chaque côté par un pilastre tapissé en velours ancien ciselé de dessin oriental à couleurs variées sur fond chamois. La glace est posée sur une espèce de console entièrement recouverte d’une riche étoffe en brocart ancien tissé en or et de dessins variés. La 4ème paroi est formée de la porte d’entrée et d’un arc en fer à cheval pareil à ceux des autres parois. Le plafond est divisé en trois compartiments peints dans le style Oriental. Le plancher est entièrement recouvert de tapis de Turquie. Catalogue de la collection Vertunni, 75–80. Catalogue de la collection Vertunni, 77–79.

Figure 13.5

Door of a mosque, Egypt (?), fourteenth century, from the 1881 sales catalog

S­ aturday in honour of General Grant. Most of the American colony and many English people were there. I saw Mrs Cairoli, the wife of the Prime Minister; Seismit Doda, Minister of Finance, Gregorovius, the historian of medieval Rome, Mr and Mrs Trollope, and many other important people.”38 3 Conclusion Apart from his artistic talents as expressed through the creation of the Arab Room, Achille Vertunni was also a renowned art collector. Thanks to his noble origins and his considerable financial means, he managed to purchase artworks from different periods and of the highest quality. His deep friendship with Fortuny will certainly have been 38

Innes, “Italy at Paris,” 1878, 1.

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Figure 13.6

Salle arabe, third wall, from the 1881 sales catalog

helpful for choosing the most valuable objects.39 The eight rooms of his apartment were later considered more as “an art gallery than a studio, worthy of a visit by all, the modest tourist or the noble sovereign”.40 The artist furthermore liked to show off his connoisseurship by the elegance of his wardrobe and some photographic portraits even show him wearing Orientalizing attire.41 The Islamic objects he brought with him from his journey to Egypt and those he later bought at different antique markets made his collection very remarkable. Accordingly, Jandolo writes that: “Vertunni the ‘Hero of the Day,’ the fashionable painter, sold well and at top prices. He received 39 40 41

Querci, “Achille Vertunni,” 221. Augusto Jandolo. Studi e modelli di via Margutta. (Milan : Ceschina, 1953), 46–51. Valentina Moncada. Atelier a via Margutta. Cinque secoli di cultura internazionale a Roma. (Turin : Allemandi, 2012), 1/b.

diplomats and important contemporaries. Among those who gathered in his studio were Marco ­Minghetti, Quintino Sella, the painter Fortuny, Leighton, Lembach, Costa, Morelli, Celentano, the ­musicians Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. […] Twice a month he sent many invitations to a chosen group of his clients from Rome’s aristocracy […]. Whenever there was a reception at Vertunni’s, even passing through Rome’s calmest street became a real problem […].”42 42

“Vertunni, l’uomo del giorno, il pittore alla moda, vendeva caro e spessissimo. Settimanalmente riceveva i diplomativi e le più importanti personalità del suo tempo. Convennero nel suo studio Marco Minghetti, Quintino Sella, i pittori Fortuny, Leighton, Lembach, Costa, Morelli, Celentano e i musicisti Franz Liszt, Riccardo Wagner. […] Due volte al mese diramava numerosi inviti alla eletta sua clientela, scelta fra l’aristocrazia romana. […] [Q]uando c’era un ricevimento in casa Vertunni circolare per la più tranquilla strada di Roma diventava un vero problema […],” Jandolo, Studi e modelli, 46–51.

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The Arab Room of Achille Vertunni

Based on the discussed information we are able to confirm the active involvement of orientalist painters in the trade of Islamic artworks in Rome. The methods of acquisition, conservation and exchange of these objects is well documented in the sales catalogs of their collections. Beyond the reconstruction of the Arab Room, these catalogs, even though not very detailed in their descriptions of single artifacts, turned out to be invaluable sources for analyzing the specific interests of collectors, for instance, a preference for certain artifacts, such as ceramics, metalwork, weaponry, ­carpets, goldsmith works or precious fabrics. By collecting Islamic antiquities and creating own orientalist artworks, Rome’s artistic art dealers of the nineteenth century, such as Achille Vertunni, Fortuny and Simonetti, played a crucial role in spreading the orientalist taste throughout Italy. Something they had in common were international networks of interconnected relationships that would develop into an important basis for establishing, maintaining and extending the orientalist movement. The activities of these artist-collectors were very heterogeneous and on many levels demonstrate the diverse forms the perception of Islamic art, from the Middle Ages to their own age, could have in the nineteenth century. This contribution therefore aspired to open up a new perspective for future studies on the collection of Islamic art in Italy and to close a gap, since there have been only few thorough examinations of how Orientalism developed in Rome during the nineteenth century. Bibliography Affri, Dimitri and Paola Callegari, ed. Studi d’artista : fotografie d’atelier tra ‘800 e ‘900. Perugia : Effe ed., 2009. Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title, organized and presented at the Museo Centrale del Risorgimento in Rome, June 10–October 4, 2009. Beautheac, Nadine and Françoise Xavier Bouchart. L’Europe Exotique. Paris: Chêne, 1985.

187 Bourget, Paul. Cosmopolis. Paris: Lemerre, 1983. Catalogue de la collection Vertunni: objets d’art et de curiosité, étoffes, tableaux etc. dont la vente aux enchères publiques aura lieu dans les magnifiques salons de son atelier à Rome, le lundi 7 mars 1881. Sales company Raffaele Dura, Rome, 1881. Casciato, Maristella, Maria Grazia Iannello, and Maria Vitale. Enciclopedismo in Roma Barocca, Athanasius Kircher e il Museo del collegio Romano tra Wunderkammern e Museo Scientifico. Venice: Marsilio, 1986. Comanducci, Agostino Mario. Dizionario illustrato dei pittori, disegnatori e incisori italiani moderni e contemporanei. 6 vols. Milan: Patuzzi ed., 1970–75. Curatola, Giovanni, ed. Eredità dell’Islam. Arte islamica in Italia. Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title, organized and presented at Palazzo Ducale in Venice, 1994. Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Ed., 1993. D’Annunzio, Gabriele. Roma senza lupa. Cronache mondane 1844–1888. Milan: Baldini-Trompeo, 1948. Damigella, Anna Maria. “Presenze, memorie, caratteri dell’orientalismo a Roma dalla metà dell’Ottocen­ to ai primi del Novecento.” In L’orientalismo nell’­ architettura italiana tra Ottocento e Novecento, Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi, edited by Maria Adriana Giusti and Ezio Godoli, 106–17, (Viareggio, October 23–25, 1997). Florence: Maschietto e Musolino, 1999. Daviller, Charles. Fortùny, sa vie, son ouvre, sa correspondance. Paris, 1875. Dell’Erba, Fabio. “Achille Vertunni.” In Sergio Sersale, I Vertunni. Una famiglia ispano-napoletana, 36–8. Roma: Consorzio Nazionale di Emigrazione, 1938. De Simone, Rosario. “Il villino Villegas.” In L’orientalismo nell’architettura italiana tra Ottocento e Novecento, Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi (Viareggio, October 23–25, 1997), edited by Maria Adriana Giusti and Ezio Godoli, 117–26. Florence: ed. Maschietto e Musolino, 1999. Di Castro, Francesca. Via Margutta. Cinquecento anni di storia e d’arte. Rome: Kappa ed., 2006. Donate, Mercé, Cristina Mendoza, and Francesco Quìlez i Corella, eds. Fortuny (1838–1874). Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title,

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188 organized and presented at Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya in Barcelona, October, 2002–January, 2003. Barcelona: Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, 2003. Fol, Walter. “Fortuny.” Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1, (1875): 350–66. Foti, Francesca. “Studi Patrizi. Atelier d’artista a via Margutta (1840–1900).” In Atelier a via Margutta. Cinque secoli di cultura internazionale a Roma, edited by Valentina Moncada, 34–46, Turin: Allemandi, 2012. González Lopez, Carlos and Montessat Martì Ayxelà. Pintores españoles en Roma. Barcelona: Tusquets, 1987. Grassi, Tiziana and Luciano Zangarini. La Festa degli artisti di Tor Cervara. Rome: Palombi, 1989. Hoogewerff, Goffredo. Via Margutta. Centro di vita artistica. Rome: Ed. Studi Romani, 1953. Hüttinger, Eduard. Case d’artista dal Rinascimento a oggi. Turin : Bollati Boringhieri, 1992. Innes, George. “Italy at Paris.” The Evening Post, May 1, 1878, New York edition. Jandolo, Augusto. Studi e modelli di via Margutta. Milan  : Ceschina, 1953. Jervis, Valerie. “Achille Vertunni.” In La pittura in Italia. L’Ottocento, edited by Castelnuovo Enrico, 1059. Vol. ii. Milano : Electa, 1991. Juler, Caroline. “Gli orientalisti perduti di Roma.” Urbe xlix, no. 1–2 (1986): 17–9. Juler, Caroline. Les orientalistes de l’ecole italienne. Paris : ACR édition, 1987. Labrusse, Rémi. Islamophilies. L’Europe moderne et les arts de l’Islam. Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title, organized and presented at Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon, April–July, 2011. Lyon: Somogy ed., 2011. Lacambre, Geneviève. Les ateliers d’artiste. Paris : Flammarion, 1991. List of the first, second, third and fourth voluntary sale at the public auction of art objects, antiques and studio belonging to the famous Spanish painter Mariano Fortùny, to take place Monday 22, Tuesday 23 Thursday 25 and Friday, February 1875 at 11 a.m. in the studio of the deceased, outside the Porta del Popolo, Via Flaminia, 1875.

Colonna Lupu, Nicola. “Le ricostruzioni di monumenti antichi nelle girandole Vespignani.” Capitolium, (September 1935): 327–42. Moncada, Valentina. Atelier a via Margutta. Cinque secoli di cultura internazionale a Roma. Turin : Allemandi, 2012. Odescalchi, Baldassarre. Gli studi di Roma. Ricordi Artistici. Rome: Capaccini ed., 1875. Pavoni, Rosanna. “L’Oriente addomesticato. il gusto ‘all’orientale’ nella vita quotidiana.” In Sette racconti ottocenteschi. Percorsi tra arte e storia del xix secolo, edited by Rosanna Pavoni, 91–105. Milan : Skira, 1997. Polci, Sandro. Roma in mostra. Rome: Leasing, 2002. Querci, Eugenia, “Achille Vertuni e Mariano Fortuny : Roma tra arte e mercato.” In Roma fuori di Roma. L’esportazione dell’arte moderna da Pio vi all’Unità (1775–1870), Conference proceedings (Rome 3–4 March 2009), edited by Giovanna Capitelli, Stefano Grandesso and Carlo Mazzarelli, 209–226. Rome : Campisano, 2012. Sacchi Lodispoto, Teresa. “Appunti su artisti, spazi espositivi e associazioni a Roma tra Cinquecento e Ottocento.” In Sandro Polci, Roma in mostra, 96–9. Rome : Leasing, 2002. Sacchi Lodispoto, Teresa and Sabrina Spinazzè. Attilio Simonetti (1843–1925). Pittore alla moda e antiquario a Roma. Roma : Berardi Gallerie D’Arte, 2019. Exhibition of the same title, organized and presented at the Galleria Berardi, Rome, January 24–February 23, 2019. Spinazzè, Sabrina. “Artisti-antiquari a Roma tra la fine dell’Ottocento e l’inizio del Novecento : lo studio e la galleria del pittore Attilio Simonetti.” Studiolo, no. 8 (2010): 103–22. Stasolla, Maria Giovanna. “Il collezionismo di arte islamica tra Italia e Spagna nel xix secolo. Il caso di Mariano Fortuny y Marsal.” In Arqueologìa, colleccionismo y antigüedad. España e Italia en el siglo xix, edited by José Beltrán, Beatrice Cacciotti and Beatrice Palma Venetucci, 661–85. Seville: Universidad de Sevilla, 2006. Vernoit, Stephen. Discovering Islamic Art: Scholars, Collectors and Collections 1850–1950. London: I. B. Tauris, 2000.

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Chapter 14

“Our aim is to perform something that remains after we are gone” The Oriental Collection Henri Moser Charlottenfels at Bernisches Historisches Museum Alban von Stockhausen Henri Moser’s life motto “Our aim is to perform something that remains after we are gone,” a quotation from the famous thirteenth-century work Gulistan by Persian poet Saadi (1210–91/92),1 sums up what he must have had in mind when donating his oriental collection to the Historical Museum of Bern. Through his 1914 donation, Moser ensured the continuity of one of the most important private collections of Oriental and Islamic art and set the direction for the museum’s future collecting and research efforts. Not only did three-­ dimensional objects thus find their way to Bern, but with them also came a large number of photographs, documentation materials, parts of Moser’s library, and many of his personal notebooks, socalled “Souvenir Albums,” and letters. The goal of this article is to give a brief overview of these materials and to outline the changeful history of the collection in the years before and after its arrival to Bern. 1

Formation, Scope and Early History of the Moser Collection

The formation of Henri Moser’s oriental collection can be best outlined in relation to his four great journeys to Central Asia, each of which is characterized by different goals and outcomes. In terms of collecting objects, the third journey of 1883–4 turned out to be the most successful. The fact that 1 This translation corresponds with the English edition of the catalog: Henri Moser, Collection Henri Moser Charlottenfels. Oriental Arms and Armour, Leipzig: Karl W. Hiersemann, 1912.

Moser was part of an official Russian delegation proved not only invaluable in terms of object ­acquisitions but also for the collection and gathering of data for his later publications. On this ­journey, Moser documented his findings more systematically than during previous ones: he brought with him photography and taxidermy equipment, and meticulously noted down all his experiences. Moser continuously published entries of his travel diary in the Journal de Genève; they found a wide audience as the tensions between Russia and Britain reached a climax during these years.2 It is these travel accounts that his popular travelogue A travers l’Asie centrale is based upon, published after his return in 1886.3 This book with rich illustrations and the touring exhibition of his collection through several Swiss and German cities (Schaffhausen, Geneva, Bern, St. Gallen, Neuchâtel, Zurich, Basel, and Stuttgart) laid the foundation for his reputation as a well-known travel writer and scholar of Central Asia cultures. The 1886 exhibition catalog lists 561 objects and was adapted to the different locations of the exhibit.4 However, it remains unclear whether Moser ever put his entire collection on display or if this number only 2 Robert Pfaff, “Henri Moser-Charlottenfels und seine Orientalische Sammlung,” Schaffhauser Beiträge zur Geschichte, 62 (1985): 126. 3 Henri Moser. A travers l’Asie centrale (Paris : Plon, 1885). 4 The object numbers accord to those in the catalog of the 1886 Geneva exhibition, Henri Moser, Catalogue des Collections Ethnologiques rapportées de L’Asie Centrale par Henri Moser. Exposées à l’occasion de l’Assemblées des ­Sociétés suisses de Géographie et de la Société helvétique des Sciences naturelles, Aout 1886 (Geneva: Imprimerie L.-E. Privat, 1886).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��20 | doi 10.1163/9789004412644_017

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Figure 14.1

von Stockhausen

The 1886 exhibition of the Moser collection at the Botanical Garden in Geneva. Black and white photography © Bernisches Historisches Museum, bhm E/PH1.240.07571/01

r­ epresents a fraction of it. In any case, Moser never considered all of his objects suitable for exhibition purposes; in fact, he regarded some parts of his collection as having a merely “decorative” function when on display at exhibitions.5 Therefore, it cannot be fully confirmed anymore that all the objects listed in the exhibition catalog were later donated to Bernisches Historisches Museum (fig. 14.1). 5 Moser Archive, Bernisches Historisches Museum, Accession Number E/1915.670.0166/Doc166.

After several failed attempts to build up a successful business, it was not before 1907 that Moser would become economically independent after he had successfully speculated in stocks of a Siberian copper mine consortium/syndicate. As a result, he bought back the castle of Charlottenfels he had sold in 1889 and started extending and inventorying his collection systematically. It was his Persian friend and assistant Mirza Yuhanna Dawud who between 1907 and 1912 not only translated inscriptions for him, but also inventoried and thoroughly

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Our Aim is to Perform Something that Remains after We are Gone

described large parts of his collection. Subsequently, its geographic focus widened, and Moser, with Dawud’s help, started acquiring objects from areas and cultural contexts he believed were linked to the economic and cultural traditions of Muslim communities in Central Asia. New objects entered the collection that now came from Buddhist regions in Tibet and Mongolia, along with weapons from southern India, Ceylon, Malaysia, Indonesia, China and Japan. With the support of Dawud, Moser closely observed auctions and the art markets in London and Paris, even though he also purchased objects in Berlin, Cairo or Tehran. In 1912, a portfolio catalog on Oriental Arms and Armour was published in a limited edition of 300 copies.6 Moser’s intention was to provide a first overview on his arms collection, and he furthermore planned a second volume on the arts and crafts section, along with a more detailed, descriptive catalog of his collection. However, the work on the latter would not begin before Moser’s donation in 1914. The person in charge was Rudolf Zeller, the curator of the ethnographic collection, who in 1915 published a first descriptive account of the collection that described the different object categories and listed all existing inventory numbers at the time of donation.7 As soon as they arrived in Bern, the objects were inventoried by means of shelf marks that consisted of a combination of a specific code for each object category ­followed by a serial number. Table 14.1 gives an ­overview of the historical change of the different inventory systems: In addition to altogether 3,773 objects at the time of donation, Zeller’s 1915 account also mentions 46 framed paintings, and hunting trophies 6 Moser, Oriental Arms and Armour; 125 copies were published in German language, 100 in French, and 75 in English. The publication inside a portfolio folder consists of a foreword and reference section in the specific language, followed by image plates in color and black-and-white. 7 Rudolf Zeller, Die orientalische Sammlung Henri Moser Charlottenfels (Bern : Buchdruckerei K. J. Wyss, 1915).

Table 14.1  Overview of the historical change of the different inventory systems

Object categorya

Object Shelf marksb Object quantitya quantity in 1969c

Arms and Armors Arts and Crafts Textiles Manuscripts and Books Ceramics

1,302

MW (600)

1,550

847

MK (610)

1,720

343 143

MT (630) 1,000 MM & MB 220 (various nos.) MKer (640) 269

Coins

1,030

2 Furnishings, including accessories

88

20

integrated into the numismatic collection Unnumbered

a Zeller, Die orientalische Sammlung, 15. b The inventory numbers were later replaced with a standardized numbering system in the format of “1914.X.Y,” where X represents a number code (in brackets) and Y is the original serial number. c The given numbers are only approximations, due to different numbering practices between 1914 and 1969.

from Central Asia, a specialized library of about 650 volumes, as well as 34 albums and folders containing a large number of photographs. Overall, the objects named in the report amount to about 5,000 items.8 The striking difference in numbers to the 561 objects mentioned in Moser’s 1886 exhibition catalog9 indicates that he had acquired a much larger part of the collection after his journeys, that is, on auctions and the European art market. However, not all objects listed by Zeller can be identified in today’s collection anymore. Table 14.2 below gives an overview of the most 8 Cf. Zeller, Die orientalische Sammlung, 15. 9 Henri Moser, Catalogue des Collections Ethnologiques, 35.

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von Stockhausen

Table 14.2  The most common regional origins assigned to different object categories in the Moser collection at the time of donation

Greater Region

Region Ceramics Books & Arts & given in Manuscripts Crafts Documentation

Persia

Persia Persia/ Turkestan Persia/Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire Caucasus Russia Uzbekistan Turkestan Central Asia Indo-Iranian Region Afghanistan India Near East Syria Egypt Arabia / Oman Japan China Indonesia Ceylon Spain France Bosnia-­ Herzegovina Switzerland Belgium Mexico

Caucasus & Russia Central Asia

Indo-Iranian Region

Near & Middle East

East Asia Other Regions

Textiles

Arms & Armor

Photographs

88 42

72

520 6

166 26

271 7

13

1

3

42

8

5

6

33

66

142

48

34

33 69 435 105 460

4 6 2 5

76 21 8 4

1 3

1 34 19 1 9 6 4 51

27

2

11

2 2 1

common regional origins assigned to different object categories in the Moser collection at the time of donation. Numbers given are object counts, referring to single objects or object groups:

90 11 8 40

29 63 8 35

2

21 221

1

2

3 3 43 67 73 41 17

79

13

60 259 561 44 16 81

The deed of donation, signed in 1914, states that the museum was obliged to include the collection as a separate entity under the name of “Orientalische Sammlung Henri Moser C ­ harlottenfels im

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Our Aim is to Perform Something that Remains after We are Gone

Bernischen Historischen Museum.”10 Accordingly, an annex solely dedicated to the collection was built, and on May 21, 1922, the Musée Moser eventually opened its doors to the public, that is, one year before Moser’s death on July 15, 1923. 2

The Objects and Documents at the Moser Collection

Even though the arms section was—and in fact still is—one of the most important private collections of oriental arms,11 it is still as good as unknown to the wider public. Except for the objects that Moser had collected “in the field” during his travels, he extended his collection in line with the strategic goal of creating a systematic representation of the Islamic world and its connected regions.12 One of his most spectacular acquisitions was a collection of arms that belonged to the British colonial officer General Sir Hudson Lowe (1769–1844), who had acquired them in the northern territory of India that had once been under the Islamic rule of the Mughals later. Other assets included arms from smaller ethnic groups of central and southern India, which had belonged to another British officer, Colonel Cooper King, as well as objects from French private collectors, such as Persian and Arab weapons from the famous Maindron collection. In 1911, he purchased unique and very valuable sets of rare Eastern Asian cutlery, consisting of elaborately decorated cases for chopsticks, small knives and other instruments. At first glance, this addition to the arms collection might seem somewhat odd; yet these objects were outstandingly suitable for comparing the different metalworking techniques in the Near East and Eastern Asia (figs. 14.2–14.3).

10 Zeller, Die orientalische Sammlung, 4. 11 Roger N. Balsiger and Ernst J. Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan. Henri Moser Charlottenfels 1844–1923, (Schaffhausen : Meier Verlag, 1992), 78. 12 Balsiger and Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan, 71–4.

193

In 1919, Moser corresponded with the director of the Bern Historical Museum, Rudolf Wegeli (1877–1956) to discuss the different options of how to widen the geographical focus of “his” collection to allow the display of arms and armor that was exhibited as part of the museum’s ethnographic collection. He mainly focused on two collections, with one composed of Japanese blades and the other of Chinese arms. His suggestion to buy them from the museum’s own ethnographic department demonstrates how much he regarded “his” ­collection as a section separate from the rest of the museum. The initial skepticism of museum ­officials aside, it were mainly financial problems ­during the post-war years that eventually led to the internal “sale” of some of these objects to the ­Moser collection, which had actually never been ­displayed together with Moser’s possessions. A guidebook from 1923 attests that they had been shown in another exhibition room that did not belong to the annex dedicated to Moser’s collection.13 The years following the donation saw the publication of more than two dozen articles on different objects or sections of Moser’s collection in the museum’s yearbooks14—most notably, a successively published catalog on the arms and armor collection, republished as a single volume in 1955.15 The work on inventory books and catalogs by Henri Moser and Yuhanna Dawud was discontinued after the collection’s move to Bern. However, Moser’s demand to keep the Oriental Collection as a separate entity within the museum was respected: from 1914 to 1965, most new acquisitions from Islamic regions were allocated to it—with their specific “Moser” inventory numbers. This way the 13

14 15

Rudolf Zeller, Führer durch die Orientalische Sammlung H. Moser-Charlottenfels und die Völkerkundliche Abteilung (Bern : Bernisches Historisches Museum, 1923), 28–9. Jahresbericht des Historischen Museums Bern. Bern : Buchdruckerei K. J. Wyss. Rudolf Zeller and Ernst F. Rohrer, Orientalische Sammlung Henri Moser-Charlottenfels. Beschreibender ­Katalog der Waffensammlung (Bern: Bernisches Historisches Museum, 1955).

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Figure 14.2

von Stockhausen

Plate xxiv, “Indian Maharaja Daggers.” From the Oriental Arms and Armour catalog Note: Moser, Oriental Arms and Armour, plate xxiv.

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Our Aim is to Perform Something that Remains after We are Gone

Figure 14.3

195

Plate xxv, various metal objects from Persia. From an unpublished volume on the arts and crafts section of the Moser collection, ca. 1914 © Bernisches Historisches Museum 2018, bhm E/ph1.240.15718/25

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von Stockhausen

Figure 14.4

The original setup of the arms collection in the “Great Moser,” ca. 1925. Black and white photography © Bernisches Historisches Museum

collection grew to more than 5,000 objects. Among the most important acquisitions of this period surely ranks the Fraschina/Gregorian collection; added in 1936, it consists of a large number of Persian lacquer artworks, manuscripts and textiles. The arts and crafts section of the Moser collection includes important metalwork, jewelry, archaeological objects and an excellent selection of Persian lacquer artworks that has attracted a lot of scholarly attention ever since.16 A rather underrepresented category in today’s collection are ­ceramic tiles. Of the displayed originals, only a few have been preserved, which are mainly found in

16

For an overview of some masterpieces of this part of the collection, see B.W. Robinson, “Persian Lacquer in the Bern Historical Museum,” Iran. Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies 8, no. 1 (1970): 47–50.

the “Fumoir,” a period room that had been transferred from Charlottenfels Castle to Bern at the time of donation. Most other tiles had been sold to the British Museum before, after the 1891 exhibition Les Russes en Asie, which had been organized by Moser and the Russian war painter Franz Roubaud (1856–1928) at the Parisian Théâtre Marigny and which had turned out to be a financial disaster. The available documents do not allow us to fully clarify what specific objects had been part of this extensive assembly, but a remark in Moser’s Arms and Armour catalog suggests that it included “faience objects and tiles” of Timurid origin (fig. 14.4).17 A small but precious section of illuminated manuscripts and books used to be part of the 17 Moser, Oriental Arms and Armour, iv.

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Our Aim is to Perform Something that Remains after We are Gone

c­ ollection as well, which was downsized after two thirds of the manuscripts listed in Yuhanna Dawud’s catalog18 had been withdrawn from the museum in 1921.19 The reason was a dispute between Moser and the museum administration about a pension he wanted the institution to pay his widow after his demise. Moser had actually asked for a much higher amount than both parties had originally agreed upon in the deed of donation, but he offered to withdraw under the con­ dition that parts of the collection would be sold in favor of his wife. Since director Wegeli was not able to secure any satisfying offer by another museum institution, Mrs. Moser asked Yuhanna Dawud for help. Dawud had become a well-known trader for oriental arts in London, and due to his intervention, the manuscripts eventually found buyers on the art market. Unfortunately, the identity of these buyers is still unknown. Only in 1964 had it been possible to return fourteen of the original lots from a private collection in Geneva.20 Even though the collection includes a great number of textiles, ranging from Central Asian honorary robes, opulent Qajar wall hangings to Kashmir shawls, many textiles, especially the carpets seen on photographs of Moser’s traveling exhibition, had never been included to the collection but rather used as decorative objects. In terms of historical research, another group of objects is of great interest—the so-called “Souvenir Albums.” In the years before his death, Moser meticulously organized his personal notes, publication materials, paper souvenirs, photographs, collection notes and correspondences, compiling the most important items in several albums, with a strong focus on his four great journeys of 1886–90 and his work on the Bosnian and Herzegovinian pavilion for the 1900 universal exhibition in Paris. Other albums include newspaper clippings from all over the world alongside texts Moser himself

18 19 20

The unpublished catalog is kept at the Moser archive. Balsiger and Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan, 139. Balsiger and Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan, 75–6.

197

had published in the Journal de Genève during 1883 and 1884.21 Other materials not included to the “Souvenir Albums” were collected in folders. A comprehensive study of most of these materials has not been accomplished; in fact, many folders are entirely undocumented still (fig. 14.5). More research has been conducted on the collection’s vast photographic archive. In an ongoing project, more than 2,700 database entries are digitized and inventoried systematically.22 In ­ many cases it remains unclear which photographs can be directly ascribed to Moser and which ones come from other sources. Moser’s library, once an essential part of the exhibition, has in the meantime been incorporated into the museum’s ethnographic library. 3

The Display of Moser’s Collection after 1914

Still under the influence of the end of the First World War, the collection’s 1922 opening ceremony was a rather modest event. It had been a challenge for the curators to arrange the arms in a way that corresponded with the common scientific standards of the time and did not focus on their martial qualities too much, as had been the case when they had been on display at Charlottenfels Castle.23 This issue became even more pressing after the Second World War, when the criticism of their seemingly war-glorifying nature increasingly blended with the criticism of their exoticism.24 Rudolf Zeller, the aforementioned curator for the

21 22 23

24

For a detailed list of the “Souvenir Albums” see Balsiger and Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan, 227. This number is only an estimation, since some entries refer to different versions of the same images. Rudolf Zeller, “Die ethnografische Abteilung,” Jahrbuch des Bernischen Historischen Museums in Bern, ii. Jahrgang (1922): 142–48; Rudolf Zeller, “Die orientalische Sammlung von Henri Moser auf Charlottenfels im Histor. Museum in Bern,” Das Werk ix, Nr. 10 (Okt 1922): 189–204. Balsiger and Kläy, Bei Schah, Emir und Khan, 196.

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198

Figure 14.5

von Stockhausen

The “Souvenir Books” of the Moser archive. Photography: Christine Moor © Bernisches Historisches Museum, 2018

collection in the decades that followed its arrival to Bern, was keen on further extending its scope and wanted to give Moser’s objects a new contextualization by enabling direct comparisons with objects from other world regions. Adding many new objects, however, resulted in the exhibition of the annex building becoming more and more overloaded. With the appointment of Michael Stettler (1913–2003) as the museum’s new director in 1948, plans for a substantial redesign of the exhibition spaces were revealed in an attempt to unburden the display visually and conceptually. During the 1950s, large parts of the building were therefore refurbished, many older exhibitions taken off display, and objects moved into the newly created storage areas. When compared to these redesigned

spaces, the display of the Moser collection must have seemed very antiquated.25 When the new ethnographic department of the University of Bern opened in 1965, new approaches and debates in the anthropological discourse resulted in further challenges for established forms of display. The empirical, ethnographic focus of curator ­Walter Dostal, who became head of the new department, collided with the seemingly unscientific display of the Moser collection and its ­Eurocentric,

25

Ernst J. Kläy, “‘Unser Ziel ist es, ein Werk zu schaffen, das uns überlebt.’ Zum wechselvollen Schicksal der Orientalischen Sammlung Henri Moser Charlottenfels,” Berner Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Heimatkunde 3 (1994): 349.

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Our Aim is to Perform Something that Remains after We are Gone

orientalist layout. As a result, the Moser collection was closed in 1969, and its objects put into storage. Furthermore, the so-called “Small Moser,” that is, the anteroom of the annex building was “neutralized” by removing its stucco works and faience paintings and converting the hall into an exhibition room for the famous Flemish tapestries. The main hall, designed in neo-Timurid style, was sealed off by a wooden wall and henceforth used as a storage for the vast ethnographic collection. In the early 1970s, plans were made to refurbish the so-called “Great Moser” hall as well by stripping it from its decorative elements near the large roof light and by additionally installing an intermediate floor to gain more space. Fortunately, the oil crisis put an end to these plans and at least this largest room of the annex was preserved as originally designed by French architect Henri Saladin (1851–1923). After Walter Dostal and Pierre Centlivres, the two anthropologists responsible for these interventions, were appointed to university departments, the ethnographic section fell into oblivion, as did all plans for showing the Moser collection. It was not before 1989 that the collection would be re-opened by curator Ernst J. Kläy. The neoTimurid architecture of the “Great Moser” was now perceived as a remnant of late historicism worthy of protection.26 In 1985/86 the “Great ­Moser” and the “Fumoir” were refurbished and large parts of the collection again presented to the public. Some other rooms that had once housed parts of the Moser exhibition, however, were not included: the textile cabinet, which had become a coffee shop and the library, for example, now served as an office. The new display contextualized the objects of the Moser collection with others from rural communities of Central Asia, such as household objects and agricultural tools. The original plans—which were never put into effect—had also included the idea to provide an even broader contextualization by offering smaller changing exhibitions in the lower rooms of the 26

Kläy, “Unser Ziel ist es,” 352.

199

annex building dedicated to other aspects of everyday life in the Islamic world. A small guidebook for the exhibition was published in 1991.27 Together with Roger Nicholas Balsiger, Henri Moser’s grandnephew, Ernst J. Kläy furthermore issued a comprehensive volume on Moser’s life and collection in 1992. A project for a comprehensive catalog of the arms and armor section was launched as well that never reached completion. In 2007, the collection’s display entered its latest phase. Once more, the shortage of space led to the rearrangement and removal of large parts of the collection. As the museum lacked a larger hall suitable for public talks or gatherings, it was decided to limit the display of the Moser collection to the largely unchanged “Fumoir,” and to install showcases to the outer walls of the “Great Moser.” The latter now shows objects of the Moser collection alongside later additions to the ethnographic collection. However, today’s concept is far away from the dimensions of earlier exhibitions. Except for a descriptive text and a plate visible in the “­Fumoir,” only the name of the hall reminds visitors of the existence of the Oriental Collection Henri Moser Charlottenfels. Returning to Henri Moser’s introductory life motto, we are now well prepared to answer the question, “What has remained of the Oriental Collection Henri Moser Charlottenfels?” Looking back at its changing history, it is due time for the Moser collection to reappear in public. So far, a great number of projects on different sections have been launched, with many of the articles in this volume outlining the scope of this research. The objective of one such project at Bernisches Historisches Museum is to systematically re-­ inventory the objects of the museum’s entire collections, which will certainly set new standards for understanding the Moser collection—and for new concepts for displaying its objects.

27

Ernst J. Kläy, Orientalische Sammlung Henri Moser Charlottenfels (Bern : Bernisches Historisches Museum, 1991).

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200 Bibliography Balsiger, Roger N. and Ernst J. Kläy. Bei Schah, Emir und Khan. Henri Moser Charlottenfels 1844–1923. Schaffhausen : Meier Verlag, 1992. Kläy, Ernst J. Orientalische Sammlung Henri Moser Charlottenfels. Bern : Bernisches Historisches Museum, 1991. Kläy, Ernst J. “‘Unser Ziel ist es, ein Werk zu schaffen, das uns überlebt.’ Zum wechselvollen Schicksal der Orientalischen Sammlung Henri Moser Charlottenfels.” Berner Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Heimatkunde 56, no. 3 (1994): 335–58. Moser, Henri. À travers l’Asie centrale. Paris : Plon, 1885. Moser, Henri. Catalogue des Collections Ethnologiques rapportées de l’Asie Centrale par Henri Moser. Exposées à l’occasion de l’Assemblées des Sociétés suisses de Géographie et de la Société helvétique des Sciences naturelles, Aout 1886. Geneva : Imprimerie L.-E. Privat, 1886. Moser, Henri. Collection Henri Moser Charlottenfels. Oriental Arms and Armour. Leipzig : Karl W. Hiersemann, 1912.

von Stockhausen Pfaff, Robert. “Henri Moser-Charlottenfels und seine Orientalische Sammlung.” Schaffhauser Beiträge zur Geschichte 62 (1985): 117–56. Robinson, B.W. “Persian Lacquer in the Bern Historical Museum.” Iran. Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies 8, no. 1 (1970): 47–50. Zeller, Rudolf. “Die orientalische Sammlung von Henri Moser auf Charlottenfels im Histor. Museum in Bern.” Das Werk ix, Nr. 10 (Okt 1922): 189–204. Zeller, Rudolf. “Die ethnografische Abteilung.” Jahrbuch des Bernischen Historischen Museums in Bern, ii. Jahrgang (1922): 142–57. Zeller, Rudolf. Die orientalische Sammlung Henri Moser Charlottenfels. Bern : Buchdruckerei K. J. Wyss, 1915. Zeller, Rudolf. Führer durch die Orientalische Sammlung H. Moser-Charlottenfels und die Völkerkundliche Abteilung. Bern : Bernisches Historisches Museum, 1923. Zeller, Rudolf and Ernst F. Rohrer. Orientalische Sammlung Henri Moser-Charlottenfels. Beschreibender Katalog der Waffensammlung. Bern : Bernisches Historisches Museum, 1955.

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Chapter 15

Yakov Smirnov’s Photo Collection The Orient in Nineteenth-Century Photography Maria Medvedeva The second half of the nineteenth century saw the emergence of the Russian school of Byzantine studies.1 The vivid interest of Russian scholars in Byzantine history and archaeology did not only stem from geopolitical concerns but also from shared religious traditions, since the Byzantine Empire was considered the original source of Orthodox Christianity and therefore perceived as an important historic role model for the identity of modern Russia. During the nineteenth century, many of the country’s archaeologists, historians, art historians and ethnographers directed their efforts to the study of the Orient. Russian Byzantinists played a crucial role in this context, for it was especially they, who, in connection to their research on the Byzantine Empire, traveled to oriental locations. All researchers involved in this process were particularly interested in ancient monuments located in the territory of the Ottoman Empire. In 1882, the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society was founded in St. Petersburg,2 with the Russian Archaeological Institute in Constantinople following suit in 1895.3 Both institutions supported research and expeditions related to the Middle East. With their backing, Russian scholars were able to travel to Syria, Lebanon, Palestine,

Greece or other countries that had once been part of the Byzantine Empire. They visited ancient ­archaeological and architectural monuments, recorded their state of preservation, examined museum collections, described and photographed manuscripts and artifacts, thereby building up a significant archive.4 They primarily directed their research toward Byzantine antiquities, but also studied oriental monuments of other cultural origins and from other periods. One of the most outstanding figures in this context was Yakov Smirnov (1869–1918). In textbooks of Russian history, he is traditionally described as one of the most important historian of early Christian and Byzantine art, but his contributions to the scientific community were even more impressive. Throughout his career, he collected a considerable amount of documents on Christian, ancient Greek, Roman, and Islamic monuments. Although the year 2018 saw the hundredth anniversary of his death, even in Russia Smirnov’s heritage is little known still, which is why it is the major goal of this article to provide a brief introduction and analysis of Smirnov’s materials. Today kept at the Archives of the Institute for the History of Material Culture at the Russian Academy of Sciences in

1 Medvedev, Peterburgskoe vizantinovedenie. Stranicy istorii [St. Petersburg Byzantine Studies. Pages of History] (St. Petersburg: Aleteya, 2006). 2 Dmitrievskij, Imperatorskoe Pravoslavnoe Palestinskoe obshhestvo i ego deyatelnost’ za istekshuyu chetvert’ veka [The Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society and its Activities for a Quarter of a Century] (1882–1907) (St. Petersburg: V.F. Kirschbaum, 1907). 3 Ekaterina Basargina, Russkij Arheologicheskij institut v Konstantinopole [The Russian Archaeological Institute in Constantinople] (St. Petersburg: Dmitrij Bulanin, 1999).

4 Igor’ Medvedev, ed., Arhivy russkih vizantinistov v SanktPeterburge [The Archives of Russian Byzantinists in St. Petersburg] (St. Petersburg: Dmitrij Bulanin, 1995); Igor’ Medvedev, ed., Rukopisnoe nasledie russkih vizantinistov v arhivah Sankt-Peterburga [The Manuscript Legacy of Russian Byzantinists in the Archives of St. Petersburg] (St. Petersburg: Dmitrij Bulanin, 1999); Igor’ Medvedev, ed., Mir russkoj vizantinistiki : Materialy arhivov Sankt-Peterburga [The World of Russian Byzantine Studies: Materials from the Archives of St. Petersburg] (St. Petersburg: Dmitrij Bulanin, 2004).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��20 | doi 10.1163/9789004412644_018

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St. ­Petersburg (ihmc ras), a short examination of these materials may help to better understand the ­contribution of Russian scholars to nineteenthcentury Oriental studies and maybe even motivate new approaches in the research on the monuments depicted in the photo collection. 1

On Yakov Smirnov’s Biography

Yakov Smirnov was born in Irkutsk in 1869,5 but his family later moved to St. Petersburg. In 1891, he 5 Aleksandr Belenickij and Evgenij Zejmal’, “Rukopisnoe nasledie Ya. I. Smirnova” [“The Documented Legacy of Ya[kov] I. Smirnov”], in Hudozhestvennye pamyatniki i problemy kultury Vostoka [Artistic Monuments and Problems of Culture in the Orient], ed. Vladimir Lukonin (Leningrad : Iskusstvo, 1985), 9–14; Andrej Grabar, “Neskol’ko slov vospominanij o Yakove Ivanoviche Smirnove” [“A few Commemorating Words on Ya[kov] I. Smirnov”], in Hudozhestvennye pamyatniki i problemy kultury Vostoka [Artistic Monuments and Problems of Oriental Culture], ed. Vladimir Lukonin (Leningrad : Iskusstvo, 1985), 7–8; Lev Klimanov, “Ya. I. Smirnov : iz rukopisnogo naslediya” [“Ya[kov] I. Smirnov : His Manuscript Legacy”], in Rukopisnoe nasledie russkih vizantinistov v arhivah Sankt-Peterburga [The Manuscript Heritage of Russian Byzantinists in the Archives of St. Petersburg], ed. Lev Klimanov and Igor’ Medvedev (St. Petersburg : Dmitrij Bulanin, 1999), 444–48; Elena Korol’kova, “Faktopoklonnik Yakov Ivanovich Smirnov : antikoved, vizantinist, arheolog” [“‘Worshipper of Facts’ : Yakov Ivanovich Smirnov, a Classicist, Byzantinist, Archaeologist”], in Trudy Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha, lxxx: Belgradskij sbornik [Transactions of the State Hermitage Museum, lxxx: Belgrade Studies], ed. Vera Zalesskaya and Yurij Pyatnizhkij (St. Petersburg: State Hermitage Museum, 2016), 292–310; Nikodim Kondakov, “­Zapiska ob uchenyh trudah Ya. I. Smirnova” [“On Ya[kov] Smirnov’s Research Documents”], in Trudy Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha, lxix. Vizantiya v kontekste mirovoj kul’tury [Transactions of the State Hermitage Museum lxix: ­Byzantium in the Context of World Culture], ed. Vera Zalesskaya (St. Petersburg: State Hermitage Museum, 2013), 490–97; Tihonov, Igor’, “Ya. I. Smirnov v Peterburgskom universitete : student, magistrant, privat-docent” [“Ya[kov] I. Smirnov: Student, Master and Lecturer at St. Petersburg University”], Mnemon : Issledovaniya i publikacii po istorii antichnogo mira [Mnemon: Investigations and

graduated at St. Petersburg University, where he developed an interest in archaeology and classical art under the supervision of Nikodim Kondakov (1844–1925), the famous Russian historian of ­Byzantine and Old Russian art. According to his contemporaries, Smirnov was Kondakov’s most talented students.6 From 1898 up to his death, he worked as a curator of the Hermitage. He also taught at St. Petersburg University and collaborated with Russia’s leading archaeological societies and organizations.7 Smirnov was a very versatile scholar, but his greatest contributions were in the areas of Christian antiquities and Sasanian art. In 1907, he became a member of the Russian Academy of Science, and, in 1917, an ordinary academician.8 Unfortunately, like many other Russian ­intellectuals of his generation, Smirnov met a tragic fate and died of malnutrition and exhaustion in Petrograd in 1918;9 he had only reached the age of forty-nine. 2

Smirnov’s Collections in the Archives of the ihmc ras

Smirnov’s widow donated her husband’s manuscripts, reports, and photographs to the Academy ­ ublications on the History of Ancient World] 8 (2009): P 449–70; Sergej Zhebelev, “Iz vospominanij o Ya. I. Smirnove; iz ­vospominanij o starom druge; S.F. Oldenburg” [“Recollections on Y[akov] I. Smirnov; Recollections of an Old Friend, S.F. Oldenburg”], Journal of Ancient History 206, no. 3 (1993): 191–201. 6 Korol’kova, “Faktopoklonnik Yakov Ivanovich Smirnov,” 293. 7 He was member of the Imperial Russian Archaeological Society (1846–1924), the Imperial Archaeological Society in Moscow (1864–1923), and the Russian Archaeological Institute in Constantinople (1894–1914). He was also involved in projects of the Imperial Archaeological Commission (1859–1917). 8 An “ordinary academician” was a member of the highest rank of the Academy in pre-revolutionary Russia. 9 Korol’kova, “Faktopoklonnik Yakov Ivanovich Smirnov,” 307–09; Belenickij and Zejmal’, “Rukopisnoe nasledie Ya. I. Smirnova,” 10.

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for the History of Material Culture, the predecessor of today’s Institute for the History of Material Culture at the Russian Academy of Sciences, in the early 1930s. Thereafter, further documents, diaries, and letters were added.10 The photos and negatives donated by Smirnov’s widow had belonged to Smirnov’s personal photo collection,11 whereas those already kept at the Imperial Archaeological Commission12 and the Academy for the History of Material Culture13 had been the result of his many scientific activities, his expeditions and publications. The inventory of all objects amounts to more than two thousand items. The collection of the Imperial Archaeological Commission includes several hundreds of glass negatives taken by Smirnov or his staff while preparing his main work Oriental Silver. An Atlas of the Ancient Silver and Gold ware of Oriental Origin Mainly Found in the Russian Empire.14 For this book, he collected and photographed more than 300 objects of Oriental art kept at museums and private collections, either in Russia or abroad. Some negatives were used as models for the engravings that would later illustrate his monograph. Regrettably enough, Smirnov’s detailed descriptions of these objects and many images have not been published so far. The drafts and sketches for the Atlas add up to more than 1,500 pages, today

10 SA ihmc ras, Manuscript Department, f. 11, in. 1, no. 1–379. 11 SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, f. 32, no. 59956– 59991, coll. 223/1–117, 339/1–1010. 12 SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, f. 1, alb. Q 661–666, 668–669, 476–477. 13 SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, f. 46, coll. 155/1295– 1863, 1887–1986. 14 Yakov Smirnov, Vostochnoe serebro : Atlas drevnej serebryanoj i zolotoj posudy vostochnogo-proishozhdeniya, najdennoj preimushhestvenno v predelah Rossijskoj Imperii [Oriental Silver: The Atlas of the Ancient Silver and Gold Ware Mainly Found in the Russian Empire] (St. Petersburg: Imperatorskaya Arheologicheskaya Komissiya, 1909).

kept at the Archives of the ihmc ras,15 together with materials related to Smirnov’s archaeological expeditions to the Caucasus and photographs taken during other journeys.16 His personal photo collection, on the other hand, consists of 1,270 imprints and 122 glass negatives from the second half of the nineteenth to the beginning of the twentieth centuries, with all of them related to his many expeditions as well. Ever since his early years of study, he had been examining museum collections and archaeological sites in the Crimea, the Caucasus, Greece, Turkey, Serbia, Austria, Romania, Egypt, Cyprus, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, England, France, and others (fig. 15.1). A significant share of the photographs was collected between 1894 and 1897, the time when Smirnov had received a four-year travel grant from the Russian Ministry of National Education at the request of St. Petersburg University, which allowed him to explore monuments in Asia Minor, Egypt, Central and Southern Europe, especially in Greece.17 From this time, very insightful travelling diaries, descriptions of archaeological museums, and antiquities of Europe and Asia Minor have survived, along with lecture notes by German archaeologist Wilhelm Derpfeld (1853–1940). During his travels, Smirnov usually took photographs himself, but also bought photographs from artists.18 It should be noted that Smirnov was one of the first Russian scholars to appreciate photography as a scientific method for recording finds, exhibits and excavations.19 He began taking 15

Belenickij and Zejmal’, “Rukopisnoe nasledie Ya. I. Smirnova,” 10–3. 16 SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, f. 46, coll. 155/1295– 1863, 1887–1986. 17 Tihonov, “Ya. I. Smirnov v Peterburgskom universitete,” 453–56, 460–70. 18 Most of these artists will be described in more detail further below; a complete list, however, would include Pascal Sebah, Polycarpe Joaillier, Felix Bonfis, the Abdullah Frères, Luigi Fiorillo, Tancrède Dumas, Zangaki Brothers, and Hippolyte Arnoux. 19 Maria Medvedeva, “Svetopis’ bosporskoj arheologii v xix–nachale xx v. (k istorii formirovaniya fotokollekcij

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Figure 15.1

Vladimir Beklemishev, Sergej Zhebelev, Yakov Smirnov in Tivoli, Italy, 1896. SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, neg. ii 42959

­ hotographs and using them systematically as of p 1889. In a letter to the director of the Chersonesos Museum in Sevastopol he mentions images he had shot while visiting an excavation site the year before, “I must apologize that not all the imprints ­attached are of the same quality. I have been engaged in photography for less than a year now, and I have not become fully proficient in the complicated operation of managing tints of prints, which po izucheniyu antichnoj zhivopisi na yuge Rossii v sobranii nauchnogo arhiva iimk ran)” [“Photography of Archaeology in the Bosporus Region from the 19th to the Early 20th Century. The History of the Photo Collections on Studies of Ancient Painting in South Russia at the Scientific Archives of the Institute for the History of Material Culture at the Russian Academy of Sciences”], in Antichnaya dekorativnaya zhivopis’ Bospora Kimmerijskogo : ot graficheskoj fiksacii k fotografii [Ancient Decorative Painting of the Cimmerian Bosporus: From Drawing to Photography], ed. Yurij Vinogradov and Maria Medvedeva (St. Petersburg: ihmc ras and Lema, 2017), 59–60.

is why they appeared to be greenish […].”20 ­However, during his later trips in the 1890s, he had managed to master the technology and produced photos of a much higher quality. Yet the most remarkable part of his photo collection are not his own photos but those he had purchased during his travels. Smirnov attentively followed news on the appearance of collections by famous photographers. Among his legacy, for example, we find a printed catalog of photographs of Constantinople and Athens by Pascal Sebah (1823– 86) and Polycarpe Joaillier (1848–1904), including their sizes and prices. Smirnov’s photo collection includes large-size prints on albumen paper by different masters, depicting different archaeological sites, museums and antiquities of Europe, for example, specimens of the Archaeological Museum in Athens or general views of Mycenae. Other than that, the collection also contains a large number of late-nineteenth-century images of the Middle East. 3

The Orient in Smirnov’s Photo Collection

In Smirnov’s photographic collection, images of the Middle East vary in relation to geography, genre, depicted objects and authors. Most photographs were taken between 1860 and 1895 and depict archaeological sites, architectures, landscapes, special events, or everyday life. In the following, a brief overview of these images is given, clustering the photographs in terms of locations and photographers. A Constantinople First, there is a series by Swedish photographer Guillaume Berggren (1835–1920), who had learned the art in Berlin and worked in Turkey from 1866

20

“Archaeologists and Photographers at the Excavations of the Tauric Chersonesos in the late 19th-early 20th cc.,” , accessed on April 30, 2018.

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Figure 15.2

Constantinople, Selamlık, the departure of the Sultan to the mosque on Friday

Photography by G. Berggren, 1870–80s. SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, imp. О.1020/13

onwards.21 He combined studio work with taking pictures of Constantinople’s street life and architecture, including mosques, ruins and surrounding landscapes. Berggren’s photos reveal a high artistic quality, which can be especially gathered from the following examples, taken between the 1870s and the 1880s. These photos show: – A panorama of the city with the Hagia Sophia – The “Selamlık,” the Sultan’s journey to the mosque on Friday, in front of the Indiz Kiosk (fig. 15.2) – The walls of Rumeli-Hisarı Fortress and the American school – Ortakyoi Mosque as seen from the water – Muslim women in front of women’s graves – The Turkish Cemetery on the Asian side of the Bosporus.22

Smirnov’s collection also contains photographs by the Armenian brothers Abdullah, who in 1858 opened the Abdullah Frères studio in Constantinople. The Abdullahs became so renowned for their artistic and technological skills that the ­Ottoman Sultan appointed them Royal Photographers only five years later.23 The studio lasted until the end of the nineteenth century. Among others, the images of Constantinople by the Abdullah Frères at the Smirnov Collection depict a Muslim cemetery, the Hagia Sophia, the entrance of Yedikule, the Castle of the Seven Towers, fortress walls, and panoramic views.24

21

23

John Hannavy, ed., Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography (New York: Routledge and Taylor & Francis, 2008), 149. 22 SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, alb. O.1020/7–18.

B Egypt At the personal request of the Khedive of Egypt, Muḥammad Tawfīq Pasha (1852–92), the Abdullah Engin Ozendes, Abdullah frères, Ottoman Court Photographers (Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 1998). 24 SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, alb. Q 547/2, 4, 8–13.

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Figure 15.3

Medvedeva

Egypt. Annual Flooding of the Nile

Photography by Abdullah Brothers, 1887. SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, imp. Q 544/27

Brothers opened a branch in Cairo in 1886, which would endure until the end of the next decade. Smirnov purchased an album of photographs from there that show the Mosque of Amr, the Mamlūk tombs, the doors of the al-Azhar Mosque, the Mosque of Sultan Bibars, the Mosque of Ahmad Ibn Tulun, the Pyramids of Giza,25 and a journey on the River Nile (fig. 15.3).26 In the same album, we also find images by other masters of photo­ graphy of the second half of the nineteenth century, including Felix Bonfis (1831–85), the Zangaki Brothers (fl. 1870s–90s), and Hippolyte Arnoux

(fl. 1860s–90s).27 Again, there are photos of the Pyramids, of Cairo and its mosques, but also of the Museum of Islamic Art and the Mausoleum of Qaitbay. In this context, it is fitting to also mention the Materials on the Archaeology of Christian Egypt, published by Vladimir Bock (1851–99) in Russian and French in 1901.28 Bock was a pioneer of Coptic art studies in Russia and founder of the Coptic art collection at the Hermitage. Yakov Smirnov had worked with Bock at this museum, and it was thanks to him that Bock’s book would be ­published

25 SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, alb. Q 547/1, 7–10, 12–14. 26 SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, alb. Q 544/7–17, 26, 27, 29, 31.

27 SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, alb. Q 544. 28 Vladimir Bock, Materialy po arheologii hristianskogo Egipta [Materials on the Archaeology of Christian Egypt] (St. Petersburg: Evgenij Til’, 1901).

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Figure 15.4

Palestine. Guides, Dragomans and Bedouin horsemen

Photography by L. Fiorillo, ca. 1880. SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, imp. Q 546/31

after his death.29 Said work includes illustrations based on the plans of buildings Bock had drawn and the photos he had taken during his trips to the Nile Valley in 1887–88 and 1898. They are the first photographic reproductions of architectural monuments, sculptures and paintings of early ­ Christianity. Today, the Smirnov Collection preserves the first-rate originals Bock had used for his publication.30 C Palestine and Syria About one hundred prints, gathered in three albums, are from Palestine and Syria.31 It is likely that they were collected during an expedition to 29 Zhebelev, “Iz vospominanij o Ya. I. Smirnove”: 183. 30 SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, alb. O.1019, Q 707. 31 SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, alb. Q 530, 545, 546.

Syria and Palestine in 1891 that Nikodim Kondakov had organized for the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society. Yakov Smirnov took part in this expedition and carried out small excavations in a garden in Jericho that belonged to the Society.32 Most of the photographs acquired during this period had been created by Luigi Fiorillo (1847–98), Tancrède Dumas (1830–1905) and aforementioned Felix ­ Bonfils. The albumen prints by Bonfils depict the ruins of Greco-Roman cities, such as Palmyra, Gerasa and Baalbek, as well as different views of J­ erusalem and its surroundings, of Damascus, Bethlehem, Jaffa, Beirut, and Tripoli. Fiorillo and Dumas both 32

Korol’kova, “Faktopoklonnik Yakov Ivanovich Smirnov,” 298; Tihonov, “Ya. I. Smirnov v Peterburgskom universitete,” 453.

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Figure 15.5

Granada, Alhambra, interior of Mosque

Photography by Linares, late nineteenth century. SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, imp. Q 537/16

had come to the Middle East from Italy. Fiorillo worked in North Africa from 1870 to 1890, and his studio was located in Alexandria, Egypt. He is most renowned for his photos of the Anglo-­Egyptian War, especially the Bombardment of ­Alexandria in 1882,33 but he also took pictures of historic monuments, landscapes, and the people of Palestine, Eritrea, or Algeria. It has been assumed that Dumas studied with the Alinari Brothers; around 1865, he opened a studio in Constantinople, which he later moved to Beirut.34 The Smirnov Collection

houses Dumas and Fiorillo’s splendid photos of biblical sites, together with panoramic views of Palestinian and Syrian cities, as well as a very interesting group of photographs by Fiorillo that portray the life of Bedouins in the desert(fig. 15.4) and the work life of Arabs, for example, as scribes, musicians, merchants of dried fruits, or porters.35

33

Research 66 (Boston: American Schools of Oriental Research, 2012); Sylvie Aubenas and Jacques Lacarrière, Voyage en Orient, photographies: 1840–1880 (Paris : Hazan, 2001), 40. 35 SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, alb. Q 546/28–35. 36 SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, alb. Q 537, 538.

34

Mitchel P. Roth, Historical Dictionary of War Journalism (Westport, CT, and London: Greenwood Press, 1997), 104. Rachel Hallote, Felicity Cobbing, and Jeffrey B. Spurr, The Photographs of the American Palestine Exploration Society, Annual of the American Schools of Oriental

D Spain Smirnov’s photographic collection also comprises of monuments of Islamic Spain.36 They were

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Figure 15.6

Thessaloniki, Church of St. Sophia

Photography by Yakov Smirnov, 1895. SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, imp. Q 536/14

­roduced by Spanish photographers Abelardo p (1870–1936) and Enrique (?) Linares, Juan Laurent (1816–86), and the printing company “Hauser y Menet.” Very little is known about the Linares; in fact, all we know for sure is that Abelardo and Enrique Linares were pioneers of photography practicing in Granada. Juan Laurent, on the other hand, was one of the greatest photographers of Spain and Portugal during the nineteenth century, who had established his studio in Madrid around 1855.37 He produced a large number of photographs, including panoramic views of cities, architecture, historic monuments, the paintings of old masters, and of locals of all social classes. Hauser

and Menet was one of the leading Spanish printing houses. Founded at the end of the nineteenth century, it was famous for its prototype prints used for postcards in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.38 During the 1890s, Smirnov assembled about one hundred images of Spanish artworks. The approximately thirty photographs of the Alhambra complex depict views of its different segments and ­interiors, such as the Ambassador’s Hall, the Wine Gate, the mosque and its courtyard (fig. 15.5). ­Several photos have been devoted to the Lion Court alone. Some photographs carry labels with the dates of their creation, that is, the years 1893 and 1894, respectively. Another fifteen photo-

37

38

Emilio Soler Pascual and Galina Dluzhnevskaya, España, 1889 (Alicante : Fundacion C.V. MARQ and Museo Arqueólogico de Alicante, 2011), 169.

Enrique Ibáñez and Gumersindo Fernández, Comercios históricos de Madrid (Madrid : La Librería, 2017), 151–55.

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210

Figure 15.7

Medvedeva

Yakov Smirnov with three companions, Thessaloniki, 1895. SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, imp. Q 536/11

graphs show the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, including its oldest outer parts, interior views, the doors and other details. E Thessaloniki Photos of Thessaloniki were collected in a separate album.39 From 1430 to 1913, the city belonged to the Ottoman Empire. During this period, Christian churches had been transformed into mosques. Smirnov documented this transition in photographs from 1895, when he studied the mosaics of the Church of St. Sophia (fig. 15.6). In addition, he took pictures of the Church of St. George, the Church of St. Panteleimon, the Eski Saray Mosque, and the Soğuksu Mosque. These large-size and excellent prints on albumen paper prove that by the mid-1890s, Smirnov had acquired the skills of a professional photographer. We can even see Smirnov himself on one of the pictures of the 39 SA ihmc ras, Photo Department, alb. Q 536.

Thessaloniki Album (fig. 15.7). According to the inventory, it was taken in front of the former Church of St. George on August 13, 1895. 4 Conclusion It was the intention of this brief outline of Smirnov’s photographic collection to highlight how much the magnificent images of the Middle East can be used as valuable resources for different disciplines dealing with the study of the cultural heritage of the Orient, such as archaeology, ethnography, architecture and art history. This kind of research does not stop with the nineteenth century, of course, since old photographs such as these provide information on ­monuments and landscapes that have been lost, ­damaged or changed beyond recognition. They thus allow us to reconstruct physical and sociocultural urban structures of the past. Naturally,

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211

Yakov Smirnov’s Photo Collection

they also serve as documents for the study of the history of photography and of its application, for example, as a scientific method in archaeology. Apart from such issues, the historiographic value of the Smirnov Collection should not be underestimated either. In many ways and especially due to the specific qualities of the medium, the photographs of the Smirnov Collection make for one of the most objective and impartial sources for ­analyzing the period, as well as for examining the emergence and evolution of Byzantine studies as an academic discipline in the nineteenth century. However, the Smirnov Collection represents only a small fraction of the Scientific Archives of the Institute for the History of Material Culture at the Russian Academy of Science in St. Petersburg. Founded in 1859, when the Imperial Archaeological Commission was established by Tsar Alexander ii (r. 1855–81), it now houses 109 record groups and seventy-nine photographic collections from different researchers and organizations. These ­various materials amount to a sum of approximately 700,000 documents, consisting of folders, files, negatives, imprints, plans, drawings, and manuscripts. Most documents date from the eighteenth century to today. Due to its sheer size, it is the most important archive for any research on the history of Russian archaeology from the nineteenth to the middle of the twentieth century. It nevertheless also provides a large number of materials on the history, architecture and archaeology of European and Asian countries. In fact, at least half the photos contain resources on the Orient, particularly historic objects from the Ottoman Empire and Central Asia, many of which have not been d­ escribed properly yet and thus bear ­insightful knowledge to be uncovered by future experts. Acknowledgement This study was made possible by the kind support of the program for basic research of the

­ ussian Academy of Sciences (project no. 0184R 2018-0002). Archival Abbreviation SA ihmc ras Scientific Archives of the Institute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences

Bibliography Aubenas, Sylvie and Jacques Lacarrière. Voyage en Orient, photographies : 1840–1880. Paris: Hazan, 2001. Basargina, Ekaterina. Russkij Arheologicheskij institut v Konstantinopole [The Russian Archaeological Institute in Constantinople]. St. Petersburg : Dmitrij Bulanin, 1999. Belenickij, Aleksandr and Evgenij Zejmal’. “Rukopisnoe nasledie Ya. I. Smirnova” [“The Documented Legacy of Ya[kov] I. Smirnov”]. In Hudozhestvennye pamyatniki i problemy kultury Vostoka [Artistic Monuments and Problems of Culture in the Orient], edited by Vladimir Lukonin, 9–15. Leningrad: Iskusstvo, 1985. Bock, Vladimir. Materialy po arheologii hristianskogo Egipta [Materials on the Archaeology of Christian Egypt]. St. Petersburg : Evgenij Til’, 1901. Dmitrievskij, Aleksej. Imperatorskoe Pravoslavnoe Palestinskoe obshhestvo i ego deyatelnost’ za istekshuyu chetvert’ veka (1882–1907) [The Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society and its activities for a quarter of a century (1882–1907)]. St. Petersburg: V. F. Kirschbaum, 1907. Grabar, Andrej. “Neskol’ko slov vospominanij o Yakove Ivanoviche Smirnove” [“A few Commemorating Words on Ya[kov] I. Smirnov”]. In Hudozhestvennye pamyatniki i problemy kultury Vostoka [Artistic ­Monuments and Problems of Oriental Culture], edited by Vladimir Lukonin, 7–9. Leningrad : Iskusstvo, 1985. Hallote, Rachel, Felicity Cobbing, and Jeffrey B. Spurr. The Photographs of the American Palestine Exploration Society. Annual of the American Schools of

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212 ­ riental Research 66. Boston: American Schools of O Oriental Research, 2012. Hannavy, John, ed. Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography. New York: Routledge and Taylor & Francis, 2008. Ibáñez, Enrique and Gumersindo Fernández. Comercios históricos de Madrid. Madrid: La Librería, 2017. Klimanov, Lev. “Ya. I. Smirnov : iz rukopisnogo naslediya” [“Ya[kov] I. Smirnov: His Manuscript Legacy”]. In Rukopisnoe nasledie russkih vizantinistov v arhivah Sankt-Peterburga [The Manuscript Heritage of Russian Byzantinists in the Archives of St. Petersburg], edited by Lev Klimanov and Igor’ Medvedev, 444–77. St. Petersburg: Dmitrij Bulanin, 1999. Kondakov, Nikodim. “Zapiska ob uchenyh trudah Ya. I. Smirnova” [“On Ya[kov] Smirnov’s Research Documents”]. In Trudy Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha, lxix. Vizantiya v kontekste mirovoj kul’tury [Transactions of the State Hermitage Museum lxix: Byzantium in the Context of World Culture], edited by Vera Zalesskaya, 490–98. St. Petersburg: State Hermitage Museum, 2013. Korol’kova, Elena. “Faktopoklonnik Yakov Ivanovich Smirnov: antikoved, vizantinist, arheolog” [“‘Worshipper of Facts’: Yakov Ivanovich Smirnov, a Classicist, Byzantinist, Archaeologist”]. In Trudy Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha, lxxx: Belgradskij sbornik [Transactions of the State Hermitage Museum, lxxx: Belgrade Studies], edited by Vera Zalesskaya and Yurij Pyatnizhkij, 292–311. St. Petersburg: State Hermitage Museum, 2016. Medvedev, Igor’, ed. Arhivy russkih vizantinistov v SanktPeterburge [The Archives of Russian Byzantinists in St. Petersburg]. St. Petersburg: Dmitrij Bulanin, 1995. Medvedev, Igor’, ed. Rukopisnoe nasledie russkih vizantinistov v arhivah Sankt-Peterburga [The Manuscript Legacy of Russian Byzantinists in the Archives of St. Petersburg]. St. Petersburg: Dmitrij Bulanin, 1999. Medvedev, Igor’, ed. Mir russkoj vizantinistiki : Materialy arhivov Sankt-Peterburga [The World of Russian ­Byzantine Studies: Materials from the Archives of St. Petersburg]. St. Petersburg: Dmitrij Bulanin, 2004.

Medvedeva Medvedev, Igor’, ed. Peterburgskoe vizantinovedenie. Stranicy istorii [Byzantine Studies in St. Petersburg: Pages of History]. St. Petersburg: Aleteya, 2006. Medvedeva, Maria. “Svetopis’ bosporskoj arheologii v xix–nachale xx v. (k istorii formirovaniya fotokollekcij po izucheniyu antichnoj zhivopisi na yuge Rossii v sobranii nauchnogo arhiva IIMK RAN)” [“Photography of Archaeology in the Bosporus Region from the 19th to the early 20th Century. The History of the Photo Collections on Studies of Ancient Painting in South Russia at the Scientific Archives of the ­Institute for the History of Material Culture at the Russian Academy of Sciences”]. In Antichnaya dekorativnaya zhivopis’ Bospora Kimmerijskogo : ot graficheskoj fiksacii k fotografii [Ancient Decorative Painting of the Cimmerian Bosporus: From Drawing to Photography], edited by Yurij Vinogradov and Maria Medvedeva, 56–65. St. Petersburg: IHMC RAS and Lema, 2017. Ozendes, Engin. Abdullah frères, Ottoman Court Photographers. Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 1998. Roth, Mitchel P. Historical Dictionary of War Journalism. Westport, CT, and London: Greenwood Press, 1997. Smirnov, Yakov. Vostochnoe serebro: Atlas drevnej serebryanoj i zolotoj posudy vostochnogo-proishozhdeniya, najdennoj preimushhestvenno v predelah Rossijskoj Imperii [Oriental Silver: The Atlas of the Ancient Silver and Gold Ware Mainly Found in the Russian Empire]. St. Petersburg: Imperatorskaya Arheologicheskaya Komissiya, 1909. Soler Pascual, Emilio and Galina Dluzhnevskaya. España, 1889. Alicante: Fundacion C.V. MARQ and Museo Arqueólogico de Alicante, 2011. Tihonov, Igor’. “Ya. I. Smirnov v Peterburgskom universitete : student, magistrant, privat-docent” [“Ya[kov] I. Smirnov: Student, Master and Lecturer at St. Petersburg University”]. Mnemon : Issledovaniya i ­publikacii po istorii antichnogo mira [Mnemon: Investigations and Publications on the History of Ancient World] 8 (2009): 449–70. Zhebelev, Sergej. “Iz vospominanij o Ya. I. Smirnove; iz vospominanij o starom druge; S.F. Oldenburg” [­“Recollections on Y[akov] I. Smirnov; Recollections of an Old Friend, S.F. Oldenburg”]. Journal of Ancient History 206, no. 3 (1993): 191–201.

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Who’s Who This list provides additional information on the main protagonists mentioned in this volume. It is not meant as a list of all actors involved in 19th- and early 20th-century collectorship and architectural Orientalism. ʿAbd al-Wuddūd (life dates unknown), founder in the 1930s of a demolition company in Cairo that was still active in 2015. Abdullah Frères Studio (fl. 1858–1900), a famous photographic studio in Istanbul operated by the brothers Vichen (1820–1902), Hovsep (1830–1908), and Kevork (1839–1918) Abdullahyan, of Armenian descent. Aitchison, George (1825–1910), a British architect and creator of the Arab Hall at Leighton House in London. ʿAlī Muḥammad Isfahānī (fl. 1870s–1888), a Persian potter and tile maker. Alinari, Fratelli (fl. 1854–present day), a photographic studio founded in Florence by the brothers Leopoldo (1832–65), Giuseppe (1826–90), and Romualdo Alinari (1830–90). They specialized in architecture, artworks, landscapes and towns in Italy. Amari, Michele (1806–89), a politician, historian and Arabist, who taught at the Istituto di studi superiori in Florence from 1860 to 1873. He is considered one of the founding fathers of Oriental studies in Italy thanks to his Storia dei Musulmani di Sicilia (1868– 72) and Epigrafi arabiche di Sicilia. Arnoux, Hippolyte (fl. 1860s–90s), a French photographer, whose studio was located in Port Said, Egypt, and who produced a large visual documentation of the Suez Canal project. Barącz, Erazm (1859–1928), a Polish mining engineer of Armenian origin and the brother of Roman and Tadeusz. Erazm collected Polish painting, Armenian art, Oriental textiles and carpets, and later donated his collection to the National Museum of Cracow. Barącz, Roman (1856–1930), a Polish doctor of Armenian origin and the brother of Erazm and Tadeusz. Roman was a surgery professor at the University of Lviv (Lwów), a collector of Oriental art and founder of the Armenian Association in Lviv. Barącz, Tadeusz (1849–1905), a Polish sculptor of Armenian origin and the brother of Erazm and Roman. Tadeusz was the creator of portraits and monuments in Lviv (Lwów), including a painting of King Jean iii Sobieski.

Bartold, Vasily (1869–1930), an eminent Russian Turkologist and Orientalist, a professor at Saint Petersburg University and one of the founders of the Russian school of Eastern studies. Baudry, Ambroise (1836–1908), a French architect and disciple of Charles Garnier with whom he worked at the Paris Opera House. Today, he is best remembered for his Islamic Revival architecture designed while he was living in Cairo from 1871 to 1886. Baudry, Paul (1828–86), the eldest brother of Ambroise Baudry and one of the most celebrated artists during the Second Empire in France. Beklemishev, Vladimir (1861–1919), a Russian sculptor and the director of the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. Benois, Aleksey (1838–1902), a Russian architect and a graduate of the Imperial Art Academy in St. Peters­ burg, responsible for the 1890 Tashkent Exhibition. Bentivoglio d’Aragona, Count Stanislao (1821–89), the General Consul of France in Smyrna and an art collector. Berggren, Guillaume (1835–1920), a Swedish photographer educated in Berlin who worked in Turkey as of 1866. Birdwood, George (1832–1917), a British writer, curator and expert on Indian art. Biseo, Cesare (1843–1909) an Italian painter, illustrator and engraver. In 1875 he traveled to Morocco with Edmondo De Amicis and Stefano Ussi, and illustrated the respective accounts they published in 1879 and 1882. Blignières, Ernest de (1834–1900), French controllergeneral of Egypt’s Public Debt from 1876 to 1882. During his sojourn in Cairo, he became a determined collector of Islamic art. Bock, Vladimir (1851–99), a Russian historian, pioneer of Coptic art studies in Russia and founder of the Coptic art collection of the Imperial Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Bode, Wilhelm von (1845–1929), a German art historian, museum expert, and the general director of what today are the Berlin State Museums.

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214 Bonaparte, Napoléon-Joseph-Charles-Paul, also known as Prince Napoléon (1822–91), a politician who commissioned the “Pompeian House,” a historicist hôtel particulier built in Paris as of 1854 and known as the location of parties à l’antique. Bonfils, Félix (1831–85), a French photographer who founded a studio in Beirut in 1867. The firm was active until 1932 and commercialized a large amount of topographical views of the Middle East. Bourgoin, Jules (1838–1908), French theorist, architect and draughtsman who traveled to Syria and Egypt several times. Bruin, Auguste ([1872]–[1908]), a stained glass artist in Paris who created windows for the church of SaintMartin in Chevreuse, signed in 1872. He also created neo-Mamlūk windows for Henri Moser’s fumoir arabe. Charlemont, Hugo (1850–1939), an Austrian painter. Chlebowski, Stanisław (1835–84), a Polish Orientalist painter, who studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg and at Jean-Léon Gérôme’s studio in Paris. Between 1864 and 1876, he worked as court painter for the Ottoman sultan Abdülaziz (1830–76). Churchill, Sidney J.A., (1862–1921), a British diplomat, connoisseur, writer. Clarke, Caspar Purdon (1846–1911), British architect, trained at the South Kensington School of Art, he held several purchasing commissions (in Italy, Egypt, Syria, Turkey and Iran) before being appointed as a curator (Indian section) and later museum director at the South Kensington Museum. Cole, Henry (1808–82), British civil servant and first director of the South Kensington Museum from 1857 to 1873. Contreras Granja, Mariano (1853–1912), an architect from Granada who succeeded his father Rafael in 1890 as the director of the conservation department of the Alhambra and as the head of the reproduction atelier Estudio Contreras. Contreras Muñoz, Rafael (1824–90), a stucco artist and interior decorator born in Granada, he was head of the conservation workshop of the Alhambra from 1847 to 1868, director of its conservation department from 1868 to 1890, as well as head of the reproduction atelier Estudio Contreras.

Who’s Who Czartoryski, Prince Adam Jerzy (1770–1861), a Polish minister for foreign affairs in Russia and the president of the Polish national government during the anti-Russian insurrection of 1830–31. A writer, collector and patron, he was one of the founders and first presidents of the Literary Society and Polish Library in Paris. Czartoryski, Prince Ladislas (1828–94), the son of Adam Jerzy, he collected art, antiquities and Persian miniatures. He donated part of his artworks to the Polish Library in Paris, the Jagiellonian University in Cracow and the Polish Museum in Rapperswil; in 1878, he founded the Museum of the Princes Czartoryski with his family’s collections. Davillier, Baron Jean Charles (1823–83), a French art collector, traveler and writer. He is known for his interest in Spain and as a connoisseur and pioneer in the study of Ibero-Islamic ceramics. Delort de Gléon, Baron Alphonse (1843–99), a mining engineer and financier active in Cairo as of 1868. The many Islamic artworks he collected while in Egypt belong today to the Musée du Louvre. Derpfeld, Wilhelm (1853–1940), a German archaeologist and architect. He pioneered in stratigraphic excavations and precise archaeological documentation. He continued Heinrich Schliemann’s excavations at Troy and is acclaimed for his contribution to Mediterranean archaeology. Diebitsch, Carl von (1819–69), a Prussian architect and protagonist of the Moorish Revival, active in both Germany and Egypt. Dumas, Tancrède (1830–1905), a French photographer, who founded a studio in Istanbul during the 1860s, which he later moved to Beirut. Facchinelli, Beniamino (1839–95), an Italian photo­ grapher who worked in Egypt as of 1875 and authored more than 1,000 photos of Cairo’s historical monuments. Facundo Riaño, Juan (1829–1901), a Spanish historian and art historian, the director of Madrid’s Museo de Re­producciones Artísticas and member of the Royal Spanish Academies of History, Language and Fine Arts. Fiorillo, Luigi (1847–98), an Italian photographer based in Alexandria, Egypt and active in North Africa and the Middle East from the 1870s to the 1890s. Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait and Ariane Varela Braga - 978-90-04-41264-4 Downloaded from Brill.com04/22/2020 08:55:17AM via McGill University

Who’s Who Foresi, Alessandro (1814–88), a Florentine surgeon, art amateur and occasional art dealer. He was involved in the 1865 Mostra dei Tempi di Mezzo e del Risorgimento and the first years of the Museo Nazionale del Bargello as a member of its committee. Franz, Julius (1831–1915), a German architect, who in the early 1860s became the chief architect of Ismāʿīl Paša, the Khedive of Egypt and the Sudan. Fortuny y Madrazo, Mariano (1871–1949), a Spanish painter and fashion designer who devoted himself to painting, engraving, set design, stage design and lighting, and further applied arts. Goupil, Albert (1840–84), a French art collector and photographer, and son of the influential art dealer Adolphe Goupil. Gouron Boisvert, Marcel (1840–?), a French architect invited to Cairo by Ambroise Baudry in 1872 in order to assist him with his works; active at least until 1891. Guimbard, Charles Léonard (1846–1932), a French architect invited to Cairo by Ambroise Baudry in 1872 in order to assist him with his works; active at least until 1890. Jaladon, Jean (?–?), attestable as public works contractor in Cairo and distributor of ornamental casts of the city’s monuments after 1873. Gwinner, Arthur Philipp Friedrich Wilhelm von (1856– 1931), a German banker, diplomat and art collector. Haberlandt, Michael (1860–1940), an Austrian ethnologist, Indologist, co-founder and director of the Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art (Österreichisches Museum für Volkskunde), Vienna. Hainauer, Oskar (1840–94), a Jewish banker and art collector active in Berlin. Herz, Max (1856–1919), a Hungarian architect active in Cairo and head of Egypt’s Comité de Conservation des Monuments de l’Art arabe. Hörmann, Konstantin (1850–1921), a member of the Austro-Hungarian administration, he held several positions in the government and was the first director of the Bosnisch-herzegowinisches Landesmuseum in Sarajevo until 1904, when he became its director-general (Museumsintendant). Jasieński, Feliks (1861–1929), a Polish art collector, art and music critic, publisher and patron, who donated his collection to the National Museum in Cracow in 1920.

215 Jandolo, Augusto (1873–1952) was an Italian antiquarian, poet and writer, author of the Studi e modelli di via Margutta (1953), a major source on the history of collecting during the 19th century. Kállay, Benjamin von (1839–1903) was Joint Minister of Finance of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and in charge of the occupied territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1882–1903). He played a decisive role in the development and implementation of its cultural policies, especially through the creation of art institutes and academies. Karabacek, Josef von (1845–1918), Austrian orientalist and director of the Imperial Court Library (Hofbibliothek), today the Austrian National Library. Kondakov, Nikodim (1844–1925), a famous Russian historian of Byzantine and Old Russian art. He undertook many expeditions into the Russian and Ottoman Empires and gave influential lectures at the University of Saint Petersburg. Kowalski, Tadeusz Jan (1889–1948), a Polish Orientalist specialized in Turkish, Arab and Persian languages, who became chair of Oriental languages at the ­Jagiellonian University, and the General Secretary of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Letters in Cracow. Kulczycki, Włodzimierz (1862–1936), a Polish biologist and zoologist, who collected Islamic textiles and carpets. His son transferred the collection to the Wawel Royal Castle National Art Collection in Cracow and the Museum Tatras Tytus Chałubiński in Zakopane. Lane-Poole, Stanley (1854–1931), a British Orientalist and archaeologist. Laurent, Juan (1816–86), one of the greatest photographers of Spain and Portugal in the nineteenth century, who established his studio in Madrid around 1855. Lechner, Ödön (Eugen) (1845–1914), a Hungarian architect and representative of the Hungarian Secession, who attempted to create a national style by blending Oriental elements (allegedly of Magyar origin) and made a particular use of varnished tiles from the manufacture of Vilmos Zolnay. Leighton, Frederic (1830–96), a painter of the Victorian age, who became President of the Royal Academy in 1878; in 1877–9 he commissioned an “Arab Hall” Francine Giese, Mercedes Volait and Ariane Varela Braga - 978-90-04-41264-4 Downloaded from Brill.com04/22/2020 08:55:17AM via McGill University

216 e­ xtension to his Holland Park house, furnished with salvaged tiles and woodwork from Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Iran and modern Pakistan. Lemaire, Alfred (1842–1907), a French military musician, composer, and teacher at Dār al-Fūnūn in Tehran, where he composed the first Iranian national anthem. Lessing, Julius (1843–1908), a German art historian and director of the Berliner Museum of Decorative Arts (Kunstgewerbemuseum). Lewis, John Frederick (1805–76), a British painter and Orientalist artist, who lived in Cairo from 1841 to 1850. Linares, Abelardo (1870–1936) and Enrique (?–?), pioneers of photography in Granada. Mańkowski, Tadeusz (1878–1956), a Polish art historian and director of the Wawel Royal Castle National Art Collection in Cracow. Marteau, Georges (1858–1916), French engineer and art collector, who, together with Henri Vever, organised the first exhibition on the art of the Islamic book in Paris in 1912. Martin, Fredrik Robert (1868–1933), a Swedish art collector and author. Mehoffer, Józef (1869–1946), a Polish painter, who worked on the decoration of Our Lady Church in Cracow and was the creator of stained glass windows in Freiburg, Germany (1896–1918). Mīrzā Āqā (also known as Mehdī al-Imāmī and born as Mehdī Muḥammad Imāmī, 1881–1957), together with Hosseyn Behzad one of the founding fathers of the “New Miniature Painting”. Moser Charlottenfels, Henri (1844–1923), the son of a Swiss clock manufacturer and a diplomat; he traveled to Central Asia four times, and is furthermore known as an art collector and exhibition curator. Niedzielska, Maria (1876–1947), a Polish painter, who created a School of Fine Arts for Women in Cracow in 1880. Odescalchi, Prince Baldassarre Ladislao (1844–1909), an Italian politician and patron of the arts, who became the president of the International Artistic Association of Rome in 1871 and promoted the creation of Rome’s Museo Artistico Industriale in 1874. Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, marquis Ferdinando (1813–97), politician, architect, and art connoisseur.

Who’s Who He is remembered today mostly as the creator of the Orientalist Villa of Sammezzano near Florence. Pankiewicz, Józef (1866–1940), a Polish painter, engraver and educator, who befriended French artist Pierre Bonnard. He became professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow in 1906 and the founder and director of the Academy’s Parisian branch as of 1925. Poniatowski, Stanislas Auguste (1732–98), the last King of Poland (r. 1764–95), who also was an art collector and patron, and the founder of the Royal Theater and Library. Prisse d’Avennes, Émile (1807–79), a French Egyptologist and Orientalist, who authored several lavishly illustrated surveys of the Ancient and Islamic monuments of Egypt. Przesmycki, Zenon “Miriam” (1861–1944), a Polish literary critic, translator and publisher, also the founder of the periodical Chimera that was published in Warsaw and devoted to the Polish Symbolist movement. Reyzner, Mieczysław (1861–1941), a Polish painter who was educated in Vienna, Munich and Paris and worked in Liviv (Lwów) as of 1887. Riegl, Alois (1858–1905) an Austrian art historian, curator, and professor of art history at the University of Vienna. Robinson, Vincent J. (1829–1910), British art dealer. The family business in London originally focused on carpets and textiles from India, but he would also deal in Middle Eastern material, buying carpets from the firm Philip Ziegler, and artworks from Caspar Purdon Clarke. Rosenberg, Léonce (1879–1947), a French art historian and very influential art dealer in Paris. Rothschild, Édmond Benjamin James de (1845–1934), a Jewish banker, philanthropist and influential art ­collector active in Paris, where he had a fumoir ­mauresque installed in his residence by Ambroise Baudry. Sabatier, François (1818–91), an art critic, translator, and patron of the arts inspired by Charles Fourier (1772–1837). His writings attest plans for establishing a brand of art history based on German the­o­ ries and a life devoted to the studies of Oriental languages.

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Who’s Who Saint-Maurice, count Gaston de (1831–1905), a collector of Islamic art and eighteenth-century furniture, he was appointed the court equerry of the Khedive Ismail between 1868 and 1878. Saladin, Henri (1851–1923), a French architect, monument conservator, and historian of Islamic arts, ­active in North Africa and Europe. He designed the Tunisian Palaces at the 1889 and 1900 World Fair and Henri Moser’s fumoir arabe. Sambon, Arthur (1867–1947), a French antiquarian and numismatist. Scala, Arthur von (1845–1909), an Austrian textile engineer, director of the Handelsmuseum and the Museum für Kunst- und Industrie, Vienna. Schwegel, Joseph von (1836–1914), an Austrian diplomat and politician. Sebah, Pascal (1823–86), founder in 1857 of a photographic studio in Istanbul. After his death, the studio partnered with Polycarpe Joaillier (1848–1904) and successfully commercialised numerous views of Middle Eastern monuments and types. Simonetti, Attilio (1843–1925) was an Italian painter and antiquarian. A collaborator and friend of Mariano Fortuny, Simonetti played an important role for the trade of Islamic artworks among Roman art dealers. Skinner, Arthur Banks (1861–1911), an assistant director of the South Kensington Museum in London from 1896 to 1905, and the director of the Art Museum from 1905 to 1908. Smirnov, Yakov (1869–1918), a Russian archaeologist and historian of early Christian and Byzantine art. He was a lecturer at the University of St. Petersburg and worked as a curator for the Imperial Hermitage. Smith, Robert Murdoch (1835–1900), an archaeologist and director of the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art. Sobieski (1629–96), Jan iii, King of Poland (r. 1674–96) and the patron of several artists and architects, who also ordered the building of the residence palace in Wilanów. Soltykoff, Prince Alexei (1806–59), a Russian aristocrat and grandson of Prince Nicolas Soltykoff, the president of the Council of Ministers of Tsar Alexander i (r. 1801–25). As a diplomat, he traveled intensively in

217 the Middle East, assembling a collection of medieval artefacts auctioned in 1861 by his brother Petr. Sommerard, Alexandre Du (1779–1842), a French archeologist and collector of medieval objects who founded the Musée de Cluny in Paris. Spence, William Blundell (1814–1900), an English painter and art dealer who settled in Florence in 1836. He was a central figure in the local art market and mediator between art collectors in Florence and abroad. Stibbert, Frederick (1838–1906), an Italo-British art collector, with a particular fascination for the decorative arts, as well as for European and Eastern armors. His collections were on display at a museum inside his private home, which became, after his death, the Stibbert Museum. Stryjeńska, Zofia, née Lubańska (1891–1976), a Polish painter and engraver, and a representative of the Polish Art Déco movement. Tafel, Emil Otto (1838–1914), a German architect and professor, educated in Stuttgart and active in Wurttemberg and the region of Lake Constance. Tournachon, Paul (known as Paul Nadar) (1856–1939), son of the famous French photographer Nadar [Gaspard-Félix Tournachon] and a photographer himself. He traveled along the Silk Road in 1890, as far as the Turkestan and was active at the 1890 Tashkent Exhibition. Truhelka, Ćiro (1865–1942), an archeologist and first curator of the Bosnisch-herzegowinisches Landesmuseum in Sarajevo and its director as of 1904. Urach, Karl von (full name: Karl, Prince of Urach, Count of Wurttemberg), (1865–1925), a German aristocrat, traveler and art collector. Vasil’ev, Nikolaj (1875–1958), a Russian architect educated at the Institut des ingénieurs civils in Saint Petersburg. He had been a leader of the “Northern movement” in Russian architecture before migrating to New York after the 1917 Revolution. Veselovsky, Nikolai Ivanovich (1848–1918), a Russian archeologist, expert on Central Asia, and member of the Imperial Russian Academy of Science. Vever, Henri (1854–1942), a French jeweler and art collector, who, together with Georges Marteau, organized the first exhibition on the art of the Islamic book in Paris in 1912.

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218 Vignier, Charles (1863–1934), a French poet and writer of Swiss origin who also is known for being an art collector and art dealer. Wierzejski, Tadeusz (1892–1974), a Polish antiquarian and collector, and a curator of the Polish National Museum in Warsaw after 1945. Wild, James W. (1814–92), a British architect and draughtsman who brought back a large set of ­drawings and sketches from his sojourn in Egypt and Syria (1842–46). He designed the British Embassy in Tehran and headed the Sir John Soane’s Museum from 1878 onward. Wyczółkowski, Leon (1852–1936), a Polish painter, draughtsman and engraver, and one of the key figures of the Young Poland movement (Młoda Polska), and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow.

Who’s Who Zangaki Brothers (fl. 1880s–1915), a photographic studio created by the Greek brothers Georgios and Constantinos in Port-Said (Egypt). It specialized in commercial views of ancient monuments and ­ scenes of everyday life. Zanth, Karl Ludwig Wilhelm von (1796–1857), a German architect, protagonist of the Moorish Revival, active in Wurttemberg. Zeerleder, Theodor (1820–68), a Swiss architect, draftsman, and author of the selamlik at Oberhofen Castle. Zeller, Rudolf (1869–1940), a curator at Bernisches Historisches Museum from 1905 to 1940. Zhebelev, Sergei Aleksandrovich (1867–1941), was a ­Russian historian and archaeologist, specialised in ancient Greek history.

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Index of Persons ʿAbbās I, Shah of Persia 16, 17 ʿAbbās Mīrzā Qajar Nāyeb al-Saltāne 16 ʿAbd al-Aḥad Khān (Émir of Bukhara) 139 ʿAbd al-Wuddūd 82 ʿAlī Muhammad Isfahānī 17, 18 Abdulaziz 49 Abdul Kerim Pasha 55 Abdullah, brothers 205 Aitchison, George 33, 69 Alexander ii, Emperor of Russia 211 Alinari, brothers 208 Almendary, L. & J. Jaladon 99 Amari, Michele 9, 39–47, 165 Arnoux, Hippolyte 206 Arouani, Moussa 101 Barącz, Erazm 54 Barącz, Roman 55 Barącz, Tadeusz 55 Bartold, Vasily 161 Basile, Ernesto 178 Baudry, Ambroise 9, 10, 32, 82–94 Baudry, Paul 82, 83, 89 Beaumont, Adalbert de 55 Becker, Moritz 55 Behzad, Hosseyn 24 Benlliure, Juan Antonio 180 Benlliure, Blas Gil 180 Benois, Aleksey Leontievich 156 Bentivoglio d’Aragona, Stanislao 171 Berggren, Guillaume 204, 205 Bettini, Francesco 178 Bing, Siegfried 50 Binyon, Laurence 15 Birdwood, George 71, 72, 74, 114 Biseo, Cesare 178, 182 Blanc, Edouard 154 Blignières, Ernest de 87 Bock, Vladimir 296, 207 Bode, Wilhelm von 50, 52, 55, 114, 116, 119, 120 Bonaparte, Napoléon-Joseph-Charles-Paul, Prince 87 Bonfils, Félix 207 Boucher, Louise 39 Bouquet, Auguste 41 Bourgoin, Jules 31 Bruin, Auguste 35–37 Carrand, Louis 169 Cavallari, Saverio 41 Cavour, Camillo 39 Cazelles, Émile 42 Centlivres, Pierre 199

Chałubiński, Tytus 55 Charlemont, Hugo 120 Chenavard, Paul 41 Chester, Greville John 75, 77 Chlebowski, Stanisław 49 Churchill, Sidney J. A. 114 Ciampolini, Vincenzo 173 Clarke, Caspar Purdon 9, 69–74, 77–81 Cole, Henry 87 Contreras Granja, Mariano 99 Contreras Muñoz, Rafael 99 Czartoryski, family 48, 58, 59, 71 Czartoryski, Adam Jerzy 59 Czartoryski, Ladislas 48, 59 D’Annunzio, Gabriele 178 D’Ancona, Alessandro 40 Davillier, Charles 172 Dawud, Mirza Yuhanna 190, 191, 193, 197 Delacroix, Eugène 179 Della Robbia, family 170 Delort de Gléon, Alphonse 9, 32, 83, 87 Derpfeld, Wilhelm 203 Diebitsch, Carl von 94 Dostal, Walter 198, 199 Dresser, Christopher 70, 79 Du Sommerard, Alexandre 89, 92, 93 Dumas, Tancrède 207, 208 Dura, Raffaele 181 Eastlake, Charles Lock 170 Fabrési Costa, Antoni Maria  180, 186 Facchinelli, Beniamino 89 Facundo Riaño, Juan 98, 99 Fath ʿAlī Shāh Qajar 17 Fiorillo, Luigi 207–208 Foresi, Alessandro 169–172 Fortuny y Marsal, Mariano 178, 180, 182, 185–187 Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria-Hungaria 119, 126 Franz, Julius 94 Fraschina, J. 196 Freppa, Jean 170 Garnier, Charles 83 Gasprinsky, Ismail 159 Gérôme, Jean Léon 9, 49 Gillman, Henry 98 Girault de Prangey, Joseph-Philibert 42, 45 Goupil, Albert 9, 71, 93 Gouron Boisvert, Marcel 83, 84, 86 Gray, Basil 15

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220 Gregorian, A. 196 Gregorovius, Ferdinand 39, 40, 185 Gubernatis, Angelo de 165 Guimbard, Charles Léonard 83, 85, 86 Gwinner, Arthur Philipp Friedrich Wilhelm von 93 Haas, Filip & Cie 55 Haberlandt, Michael 120, 121 Habra brothers 77, 80 Hainauer, Oskar 93 Hallé Fils, Georges & Successeur 104 Hayashi, Tadamasa 50 Hedin, Sven 154 Hérode 51 Herz, Max 100, 101 Herzfeld, Ernst 55 Hokusai, Katsushika 50 Humayūn, Mughal emperor 16 Ismāʿīl Pasha, Khedive of Egypt 100 Jaladon, Jean 87 Kazimierz, Jan 55 Jandolo, Augusto 179, 186 Jappelli, Giuseppe 178 Jaroszewski, Bolesław 55 Jasieński, Feliks (pseudonym “Manggha”) 10, 50, 52–55, 58, 59 Joaillier, Polycarpe 204 Jones, Owen 67, 98 Joris, Pio 182 Karabacek, Josef 119 Kaufman, Konstantin Petrovich von 153 Kelekian, Dikran 54 Kieniewicz, Jan 48–49 Kläy, Ernst J. 199 Koechlin, Raymond 52, 54 Kondakov, Nikodim 202, 207 Kowalski, Tadeusz 57 Kühnel, Ernst 52, 55 Kulczycki, Włodzimierz 10, 50, 55–58 La Roche Pouchin, Ferdinand Achille de 168 Lane-Poole, Stanley 31, 32, 37, 75, 77 Laurent, Juan 209 Lechner, Ödön 49 Leighton, Frederic 67, 69, 71, 80, 182 Lemaire, Alfred 17, 18 Leoni, Enrico 173 Lessing, Julius 119 Lessore, Émile 41 Lewis, John Frederick 31 Lièvre, Édouard 48 Linares, Abelardo 209 Linares, Enrique 209

Index of Persons Ljalevič, Marian 147 Longfield, Thomas Henry 77, 78 Lowe, General Sir Hudson 193 Maccari, Cesare 179 Maciet, Jules 54 Maev, N. 153 Maindron, Maurice 193 Makart, Hans 179 Mańkowski, Tadeusz 59 Marteau, Georges 22, 24 Martin, Fredrik Robert 22, 24, 26, 50 Mehoffer, Józef 51 Meissonier, Ernest 179 Micchetti 171 Migeon, Gaston 50, 52, 54 Mīrzā Āqā, also known as Mehdī al-Imāmī, born Mehdī Muhammad Imāmī 24, 26 Muḥammad ʿAlī, Governor of Egypt 83 Muhammad Khān, Valī ruler of Khanate of Bukhara 16 Morelli, Domenico 186 Morris, William 69, 70, 71, 72 Moser Charlottenfels, Henri 1–11, 28, 31, 32, 35, 37, 94, 95, 100, 101, 104, 105, 124, 127, 129, 132, 134, 135, 137, 142, 147, 189, 192, 193, 199 Nadar, Paul 145, 153, 154 Nenci, Giuseppe 40 Neuffen, Baron Charles de (see Urach, Karl Prince of)  Nicolas i, Emperor of Russia 139 Nicolas ii, Emperor of Russia 139 Niedzielska, Maria 51 Noorian, Daniel Z. 174 Normand, Charles 89 Odescalchi, Baldassarre 178–180, 182 Ossoliński family 58 Panciatichi Paolucci, Marianna 173 Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona, Ferdinando 9, 165, 166, 169 Pankiewicz, Józef 53, 54, 216 Pellet, Gustave 50 Peretjatkovič, Marian 147 Pervushin, Ivan 156 Pierre I (the Great), Emperor of Russia 49, 148 Poldi Pezzoli, Gian Giacomo 168 Poniatowski, Stanislas Auguste 49, 216 Prisse d’Avennes, Émile 33, 35, 38, 51, 55, 216 Przesmycki, Zenon 50, 59, 61, 216 Rau, Eugen 99 Renan, Ernest 52 Rex & Co 52 Reyzner, Mieczysław 55, 216 Riegl, Alois 50, 51, 112, 114, 119, 120, 122, 123, 216

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Index of Persons Riggs, William H. 174, 175 Robinson, Vincent J. 9, 64, 69–77, 79, 80, 81, 114 Romanov, Nikolai 156 Rosa, Ercole 180 Rosenbach, Nikolai 153 Rosenberg, Léonce 22, 216 Rothschild, Adolphe de 172 Rothschild, Edmond Benjamin James de 9, 10, 32, 87, 93–95 Rothschild, family 71, 93, 94, 107, 119 Roubaud, Franz 196 Saadi 148, 189 Sabatier, François 9, 14, 39–47 Sagot, Edmond 50 Saint-Maurice, Gaston de 32, 35, 76, 84–87, 89, 91, 96, 108, 176 Saladin, Henri ix, xi, xii, 9, 10, 28, 33, 35, 37, 38, 95, 101, 105, 106, 144, 145, 147–149, 199 Sambon, Jules 181 Sambon, Arthur 22, 217 Sanchez Barbudo, Salvador 180 Sarre, Friedrich 50, 107 Sartori, Giuseppe 171 Sartori, Paolo 159 Saulcy, Félicien de 61 Scala, Arthur von 113, 114, 118, 123 Scarletti 170 Schein, Samuel 55 Scherer, Maximilian von 99 Schmidt & Söhne (workshop) 99 Schnaase, Carl 41 Schulberg, M. 55 Schulz, Heinrich Wilhelm 40 Schwegel, Josef von 113, 114 Sebah, Pascal 204 Sella, Quintino 186 Serra di Falco, Duca di 45 Signorini, Giuseppe 178, 180 Simakov, Nikolaj 149 Simonetti, Attilio 178, 179, 187, 188 Simoni, Gustavo 178, 182 Skarbek, Aleksander 55 Skinner, Arthur Banks 98, 99 Smirnov, Yakov 9, 201–207, 209 Smith, Robert Murdoch 118 Soltykoff, Alexei 172, 175 Spence, William Blundell 168, 170, 172, 176 Stebbing, Edward 74, 76, 77 Stephanie of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, princess of Belgium 119

Stettler & Hunziker 105 Stettler, Michael 198 Stibbert, Frederick 106, 149, 167–170, 172–175 Stryjeńska, Zofia 51 Strzygowski, Josef 50 Tafel, Emil Otto 99 Tahmāsp, Shah of Persia 16, 17, 26 Tamerlan 139, 148 Tarenghi, Enrico 178 Taszycka, Maria 61 Torri, Stefano 170 Toscanelli, Giuseppe 167 Tournachon, Paul (see Paul Nadar) Tuna, Mustafa 159 Twarowska, Maria 61 Ungher, Caroline 39 Urach, Florestine Duchess of 95 Urach, Karl Prince of 91, 94–96, 99, 100, 103, 105, 107 Valeri, Salvatore 178 Vannutelli, Scipione 179 Vasil’ev, Nikolaj A. 138, 139, 147, 149 Vertunni, Achille 9, 177–182, 185, 186, 187, 188 Vever, Henri 22, 24, 26, 27 Vignier, Charles 22, 50, 52, 54 Villegas y Cordero, José 178–180 Vittorio Emanuelle ii (of Savoy), king of Italy 167, 168 Vrevsky, Baron Aleksandr B. 153, 154, 156 Vuagneux, Henri 75–77 Wagner, R. 52 Wagner, Richard 186 Wegeli, Rudolf 193, 197 Wierzejski, Tadeusz 55 Wild, James W. 31, 38 Wilkinson, James Vere Stewart 15, 26 Wolf, Wilhelm 55 Wyczółkowski, Leon 51, 53, 60, 61 Ximenes, Ettore 178 Zamoyski, family 58 Zangaki, Georgios and Constantinos 206 Zanth, Karl Ludwig Wilhelm von 96 Zeerleder, Theodor 31, 106 Zeller, Rudolf 7, 108, 150, 191, 197, 200 Zhebelev, Sergej 212 Zucker, A. 55 Żygulski, Zdzisław 61

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Index of Places Alexandria 50, 83, 208 Algeria 67, 208 Anatolia 116 Antwerp 76, 152 Athens 204 Austria 111, 114, 116, 204 Baalbek 50, 207 Baku 154, 159 Baltimore Walters Art Museum 20 Basel 189 Beirut 77, 207, 208 Berlin 8, 9, 15, 50, 52, 53, 55, 67, 93, 94, 103, 119, 120, 152, 191, 204 A. v. Gwinner’s house at Rauchstraße 1 93 Bern 31, 124, 189 Bernisches Historisches Museum (bhm) 9, 11, 28, 29, 30, 35–37, 137, 142–148, 189–199 Bethlehem 207 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1, 5, 10, 94, 95, 118, 124–135, 192, 197 Bosporus 205 Budapest 67, 76, 119, 125–127, 131–133 Bukhara 4, 9, 71, 157 Cairo 30, 31, 50, 82–84, 86, 137 al-Azhar Mosque 206 Hôtel particulier Saint-Maurice 32, 35, 76, 84–87, 94, 96 Mamluk tombs 206 Mausoleum of Qāytbāy 206 Mosque of Ahmad Ibn Ṭūlūn 206 Mosque of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ 206 Mosque of Sultān Baybars 206 Mosquée al-Mūʾayyad 87 Mosquée Qijmās al-Isḥāqī 87 Mosquée Sultān Hasan 87 Musée arabe (see Museum of Islamic Art) Musée archéologique de l’Université du Caire 90 Museum of Islamic Art 89, 206 National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation 90 Villa Baudry 84 Villa Delort de Gléon 32, 83, 84, 94 Caucasus 152, 154, 155, 192, 203 Cefalù Mandralisca House 43 Central Asia 3–5, 8–10, 71, 74, 94, 95, 101, 132, 151–161, 189, 191, 192, 199, 211 Ceylon 191, 192 Chevreuse Church of St. Martin 35 China 4, 191, 192

Constantinople (see Istanbul) Cordoba 210 Cracovie (see Krakow) Crimea 159, 203 Cyprus 203 Damascus 9, 65, 67, 69, 70, 71, 74–80, 89, 101, 207 Dublin Museum of Science and Art (National Museum of Ireland) 76 Egypt 10, 31, 66, 67, 75, 82, 83, 90, 91, 94, 96, 100, 180–182, 186, 192, 203, 205, 208 England 118, 203 Entella Rocca d’Entella 40, 44–46 Eritrea 208 Fiesole Villa Concezione 39 Florence 33, 39, 41, 165–170, 174, 177 Galardelli & Mazzoni (auction house) 173 Mostra Dantesca 167 Mostra dei Tempi di Mezzo e del Risorgimento 167 Museo Nazionale del Bargello 168 National Exhibition 1861 167 Palazzo Renai 39 Palazzo del Podestà 166, 167, 169, 172, 175 Palazzo Panciatichi Ximenes, Borgo Pinti 166, 170 France 10, 22, 76, 82, 89, 90, 171, 192, 203 Fribourg 51 Galicia 53, 55 Geneva 9, 103, 189, 197 Gerasa 207 Germany 92, 203 Giza 83, 206 Granada 99, 209 Alhambra 43, 87, 93, 98, 99, 147, 148, 178, 209 Partal Palace 93 Greece 201, 203 India 67, 69–71, 72, 116, 118, 158, 191–193 Indonesia 191, 192 Iran 16, 18, 22, 26, 70, 71, 74, 76, 113, 116, 118 Isfahan 16, 17, 18, 22, 24, 26, 71, 74 Dār al-Fūnūn 17 Fourty Columns Palace (Chihil Sotūn) 16, 17, 18, 20, 26 Irkutsk 202 Istanbul 9, 35, 49, 50, 55, 59, 113, 114, 137, 154

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Index of Places Castle of the Seven Towers 205 Hagia Sophia 205 Ortakyoi Mosque 205 Rumeli-Hisarı Fortress 205 Yedikule 205 Yeni Camii 35, 37 Italy 167–169, 174, 177, 181, 187, 203, 208 Jaffa 50, 207 Japan 118, 191, 192 Jerusalem 50, 207 Kazan 159 Khiva 157 Lebanon 201 Leipzig 119 Léopol (today Lviv; see Lwów)  Liberec (also known as Reichenberg) 119 London 9, 15, 18, 19, 24, 26, 65, 67, 69–72, 77, 78, 80, 81, 96, 116, 152, 154, 168, 170, 180, 182, 191, 197 Khalili Collections 24 Leighton House 35 National Gallery 170 South Kensington Museum (today Victoria and Albert Museum) 65–67, 69–80, 87, 98, 99, 113, 118, 168, 170 Tower of London 170 Victoria and Albert Museum (formerly South Kensington Museum) 8, 9, 20, 22, 31, 32, 65, 89, 99, 113 Lwów (today Lviv) 50, 52, 55, 56, 57, 58 Madrid 43, 96, 98, 99, 168, 209 Instituto de Valencia de Don Juan 43 Malaysia 191 Mazara 40, 43, 45 Mecca 139 Melbourne 78 Milan 168 Mongolia 191 Montpellier 40 Moscow 3, 49, 152, 153, 156 Mycenae 204 Near East 95, 192, 193 Neuchâtel 189 Neuhausen 92, 94 Charlottenfels Castle 1, 5, 6, 8, 10, 100, 104, 105, 196, 197 New York Metropolitan Museum of Art 17, 69, 174 Palermo Palazzo Abatellis 43 Museo dei Padri Gesuiti 43

Zisa 40, 45 Palestine Palmyra Paris 28, 31, 39, 50, 52, 59 Bibliothèque nationale de France Exposition universelle (1855) 39 Exposition universelle (1867) 31, 87 Exposition universelle (1889) Rue du Caire 87 Fumoir d’Edmond de Rothschild (no longer extant)  32, 87 Hôtel et Musée de Cluny 89, 91, 93, 108, 168, 176, 217 Hôtel Drouot 91, 172, 175 Maison pompéienne (demolished) 87 Mosque (project, not realized) 95 Musée de Cluny ( See Hôtel and Musée de Cluny) Musée de Sculpture comparée (now Musée des Monuments français) 87 Musée du Louvre 32, 83 World Fair (1878) 32, 48, 71, 81 World Fair (1900) Pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina xi, 124, 126, 131, 132, 136 Tunisian pavilion 95 Persia 15, 27, 48, 143, 149, 192, 195 Pisa 39, 169 Podolie 53 Poland 10, 48–51, 53, 54, 56, 58–61, 137 Portugal 209, 215 Poznań 60 Reichenberg (also known as Liberec) 119 Regello Villa di Sammezzano 33, 165, 170, 174, 176 Rome Castel Sant’Angelo 178 Circolo Artistico Internazionale 179 Lungotevere Mellini 178 Piazza del Popolo 179 Piazza di Spagna 179 Studi Patrizi 179, 188 Teatro Alhambra 178 Tor Cervara 179 Via Margutta 179, 180, 187, 188 Villa Martinori 180 Villa Torlonia 178 Villetta Doria 178 Villino Villegas 187 Romania 203 Russia 1, 8, 9, 151–153, 155, 156, 158–161, 189, 192, 201, 203, 206, 212 Russian Turkestan 153, 154, 158

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224 Saint Louis Art Museum 174 Saint-Pétersbourg (see St. Petersburg) Samarkand 3, 4, 5, 137, 139–142, 144–147, 149, 157 Schaffhause, Schaffhouse 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 28, 106, 143, 189 Serbia 203 Sevastopol 204 Sicile (see Sicily) Sicily  9, 39, 40, 41, 42, 46, 47 Słuck 53 Spain 67, 95, 99, 192, 203, 208, 209 St. Gallen 189 St. Petersburg 17, 4, 17, 26, 151, 152, 156, 160, 201–203, 212, 213 Russian Academy of Sciences 201 Mosque 137–142, 147–148 State Hermitage Museum 26, 202, 206 Stuttgart 92, 95, 99, 100, 103, 105, 189 Palais Urach, Arab Rooms 92, 95, 96, 100, 104, 105 Palais Taubenheim 95 Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt Wilhelma 96 Switzerland 1, 4, 5, 8, 11, 28, 92, 94, 105, 137, 148, 192, 203 Sydenham Crystal Palace 98, 106, 108, 170 Syria 9, 65–67, 70, 72–74, 79, 80, 192, 201, 207 Tashkent 3, 4, 151, 153, 154, 156, 158, 161, 162 Tbilisi 154 Tehran 1, 4, 17, 18, 24, 59, 61, 70, 191 Thessaloniki 113, 210

Index of Places Church of St. George 210 Church of St. Panteleimon 210 Church of St. Sophia 209 Eski Saray Mosque 210 Soğuksu Mosque 210 Tibet 191 Tripoli 207 Turin 167 Royal Armoury 168 Turkestan 149, 152, 153, 154, 156, 158, 192 Turkey 22, 27, 48, 49, 67, 74, 79, 185, 203, 204 Ukraine 53 United States 65, 82, 91 Varsovie (see Warsaw) Venice 171, 177, 183 Vienna 55, 59, 111, 112, 113, 114, 118, 119, 120, 123, 126, 132, 133, 168, 179, 180 Imperial Armoury k.k. Handelsmuseum (formerly k.k. Orientalisches Museum) 111, 112, 113, 114, 122 mak Museum für angewandte Kunst (formerly k.k. Museum of Art and Industry) 111, 113, 116, 122 Warsaw xv, 50, 52, 56, 57 Washington (dc) 122 The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art 22 Zakopane 55 Zurich 8, 99, 189

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