Joaillier Jean Pascal Sebah (2 results)

Hardcover. Condition: vg- to vg. First edition. Oblong small folio. 12 1/4 x 14 1/4". Red pebbled cloth boards with decorative gilt ruling, tooling and lettering on the covers. Rebacked maroon leather spine. Gilt-stamped crescent moon and star motif (the national emblem of Turkey) on the back cover. Taken from the Galata Tower, in what is now the Karaköy neighborhood of Istanbul, this magnificent panorama displays the skyline and cityscape of Constantinople, as it appeared sometime in the late 1880s or early 1890s. The panorama is comprised of 10 original albumen photographs, mounted on heavy card stock, and bound together in accordion style (leporello), measuring a total of more then 11 feet when completely unfolded. Shot in a southwardly direction, the viewer can see Galata (Karaköy) in the foreground, and from left to right, across the Bosporus to the Uskudar district (on the Asian side), and then across the harbor at the mouth of the Golden Horn, the Galata Bridge, and across to the Pérama neighborhood and the Faith district, where many famous landmarks of the city can be seen, including the New Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia and many others. Each panel measures about 13" wide and 12" tall. The photography is credited to "Sebah & Joaillier" one of the most prominent and prolific photography studios of Ottoman Empire during the second half of 19th century. Originally founded sometime around 1857 in Instanbul by Syrian-Armenian photographer Pascal Sebah (1823-1886), the studio was one of the earliest in the city (and all of Ottoman Turkey). By the 1870s Sebah had become among the most prominent Ottoman photographers, having also opened a branch of the studio in Cairo. Upon Sebah's death in 1888, the firm was taken over by his 16 year-old son Jean (Pascal) Sebah, who then partnered with photographer Policarpe Joaillier (1848-1904). The firm was renamed "Sebah & Joaillier". Therefore, although this panorama is undated, it could not have been issued earlier than 1888; most likely sometime shortly thereafter, circa 1890. Spine of of the portfolio has been professionally re-backed. Plates with minor to light foxing, although the images are still quite clean and vibrant. Binding in very good, images in very good- to very good condition overall. * A slightly later version of the panorama from Sebah & Joaillier, simply titled "Constantinople" is comprised of 12 slightly smaller panels, instead of 10, and measures around the same size in total. Bibliographic refences: Jacobson, Ken. Odalisques & Arabesques: Orientalist Photography 1939-1925. Quaritch, 2007; Özendes, Engin. "Photography in the Ottoman Empire"; Öztuncay, Bahattin. The Photographers of Constantinople. Aygaz, 2003.

A superb panoramic view of the city, taken from the Galata Tower looking over the Bosporus towards the Asian side; across the Golden Horn can be seen the Topkapi Palace and the great mosques of the city, Haghia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Yeni Mosque, and the Süleymaniye. In 1857 Pascal Sébah opened one of the first photographic studios in Constantinople. Having met with great success, in 1873, he expanded the business, setting up a further establishment in Cairo, near to the renowned Shepheard's Hotel. In 1883 he suffered a stroke, and the business was taken over by his son Jean, who styled himself J. Pascal Sebah so as not to break the continuity of the business and was to become a talented photographer in his own right. In 1888 he went into partnership with a French photographer resident in Istanbul, Policarpe Joaillier, the firm in time becoming official photographers of the Sultan. In various forms, this business continued down to the middle of the 20th century when, in 1952, its last incarnation, Foto Sabah, finally closed its doors. "From the 1870s, Sébah and Joaillier, were major suppliers of evocative imagery to the increasing number of people who undertook the Victorian Grand Tour" (Hannavy, p. 1,261). John Hannavy (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography, Vol. I, 2005; Engin Özendes, From Sebah & Joaillier to Foto Sabah: Orientalism in Photography, 2004. Landscape folio (310 x 375 mm). With 10 albumen prints mounted on card panels and joined with linen tape, leporello-style, to form a panorama approximately 3.47 m, over 11 feet, in length (card panels 3,054 x 340 mm; photographic prints 247 x 340 mm). Original red sand-grain cloth over bevelled boards, red roan backstrip, title gilt to front cover within elaborate ornamental gilt panel and incorporating images of the Galata and Maiden's towers, gilt stamp to back cover of the ay-y ld z (star and crescent) within a laurel wreath. Covers variably sunned, old splash stain to head of front cover, a few marks to back, light foxing and marginal dust marking, the images bright and clean. A very good example.