Item #101623Price: $199.00Add to CartMake Your Best Offer...
<< PreviousNext >>   •   Table of Contents
"Constantinople - Feb. 4. 1864" CDV by Pascal Sebah

1864 Civil War Period, Carte de Visite Photograph of Unknown Man, by Pascal Sebah, Constantinople, Choice Crisp Extremely Fine.

Carte de Visite Photograph of an unknown man in standing pose, text below image reads, "P. SEBAH, PHOT." Back stamp reads, "P. SEBAH PHOTOGRAPHE Grande Rue dePera, No. 232 vis-a-vis Le Paiais De France CONSTANTINOPLE". Very nice.



Additional Information:

Pascal Sebah (1823-1886) was a leading photographer in Constantinople, now the city of Istanbul. Constantinople, composed of many diverse peoples, was the capital of the Ottomon Empire and Sebah's career coincided with intense Western European interest in the "Orient," which was viewed as exotic and fascinating.

Constantinopolitan photographers, such as Sebah and Abdullah Freres, had a ready market selling images to tourists -- of the city, ancient ruins in the surrounding area, portraits, and local people in traditional costumes, often holding water pipes. Sebah rose to prominence because of his well-organized compositions, careful lighting, effective posing, attractive models, great attention to detail, and for the excellent print quality produced by his technician, A. Laroche.

Sebah's career was accelerated through his collaboration with the artist, Osman Hamdi Bey (1842-1910). Osman Hamdi Bey posed models, often dressed in elaborate costumes, for Sebah to photograph. The painter then used Sebah's photographs for his celebrated Orientalist oil paintings. In 1873, Osman Hamdi Bey was appointed by the Ottoman court to direct the Ottoman exhibition in Vienna and commissioned Sebah to produce large photographs of models wearing costumes for a sumptuous album, Les Costumes Populaires de la Turquie. The album earned Sebah a gold medal, awarded by the Viennese organizers, and another medal from the Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz. In that same exceptional year, Sebah opened a branch in Egypt. Sebah's prints are signed P. Sebah.
Item #101623Price: $199.00Add to CartMake Your Best Offer...
<< PreviousNext >>   •   Table of Contents