Anna Kudriavtceva

MAE (Kunstkamera), RAS, St. Petersburg, Russia

E‑mail: kudriavtsevaa@mail.ru

Ephemera in the Kunstkamera: the Romaskevich Collection of Persian Postcards

Abstract. Alexander Romaskevich (1885—1942) was a distinguished Russian specialist in Persian language, history, and culture during the early Soviet period. He made several trips to Persia to study dialects, folklore, and various aspects of everyday folk culture as part of the development of current trends in Russian Iranian studies initiated by his teacher V. A. Zhukovsky (1858—1918) and actively continued later by younger Soviet scholars. A. A. Romaskevich donated to the MAE RAS ten collections that he had gathered in Persia. One of these, MAE No. 2471, consists mainly of photographs and largely reflects traditional spectacular art. The collection comprises a unique set of monochrome postcards featuring watercolour costume pictures known as “Types of people in present and recent Persia”, created in a characteristically naive style by anonymous Persian artists. These postcards from the beginning of the 20th century are fascinating examples of the interaction between Eastern and Western cultures, facilitated by the increased accessibility of “exotic countries”. The article forms a part of the “Manuscripts do not burn project”, which commemorates the Orientalists who worked during the blockade and died in besieged Leningrad.

Keywords: MAE RAS, A. A. Romaskevich, Persian postcards, Persian watercolours, Qajar art, costume pictures, history of museum collections

DOI: 10.31250/1238-5018-2023-29-2-38-44

References

• Andreeva, V. V. (comp.) & Goldstein, S. N. (ed.) (1977), Tovarischestvo peredvizhnykh hudozhestvennykh vystavok, 1869—1899: pis'ma, dokumenty [Association of Travelling Art Exhibitions, 1869—1899: Letters, Documents], Moscow: Iskusstvo.
• Arends, A. K. (1986), “Romaskevich Alexander Alexandrovich (1885—1942)”, Pis'mennye pamiatniki i problemy istorii kul'tury narodov Vostoka. XIX godichnaia nauchnaia sessiia LO IV AN SSSR (doklady i soobshcheniia), Moscow: Nauka, pp. 50—53.
• Diba, L. S. (2013), “Qajar photography and its relationship to Iranian art: a reassessment”, History of Photography, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 85—98.
• Fülemile, Á. (2010), “Dress and image: visualizing ethnicity in European popular graphics — some remarks on the antecedents of ethnic caricature”, in: D. Demski & K. Baranieska–Olszewska (eds.), Images of the Other in Ethnic Caricatures of Central and Eastern Europe, Warsaw: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, pp. 28—61.
• Ivanov, E. P. (1937), Russkii narodnyi lubok: S 90 odnocvetnymi i 13 krasochnymi reproduktsiiami [Russian Folk Art: With 90 Monochrome and 13 Colour Illustrations], Moscow: Izogiz.
• Kudriavtceva, A. (2022), “Ethnographic collections of Yuriy and Sophia Marr at Peter the Great Kunstkamera”, Manuscripta Orientalia, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 77—91.
• Kudriavtceva, A. (2023), “Ex ipso fonte: the cataloguing of Arabic manuscripts in the Scientific Library of St. Petersburg State University”, Manuscripta Orientalia, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 89—95.
• Musaelian, J. (1956), “A. A. Romaskevicz — vydaiushchiisia russkii iranist” [“A. A. Romaskevicz, a notable Russian iranologist”], in: M. N. Bogoliubov & S. E. Yakhontov (eds.), Sbornik studencheskih nauchnyh rabot Vostochnogo fakul'teta Leningradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, No. 3, pp. 1—18 (193—228).
• Rezvan, E. A. (2016), Turkestan, St. Petersburg; Almaty: KMBH.
• Rezvan, E. (2017), “St. Petersburg Kunstkamera on‑Line catalogues. III. Towards the description of Anton Sevruguin photographic collection (dervishes images)”, Manuscripta Orientalia, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 26—39.
• Zarghi, M. (2023), “Tahlil–i bar kart postalha–ye ‘asr–e Qajar be muthabe–ye ‘arse–ye nemayesh–e tasavir–e ‘akkasi” [“An analysis of the Qajar era's postcards as an arena for displaying photographic images”], Mabani–ye nazari–ye honarha–ye tajassomi, Vol. 7, Iss. 2, Serial Number 14, pp. 153—164.
• Zhukovsky, S. V. (1960), “Moi otec” [“My father”], Ocherki po istorii russkogo vostokovedeniia. Sbornik 5. Pamiati V. A. Zhukovskogo, Moscow: Izdatel'stvo vostochnoi literatury, pp. 125—130.
  

Received by the Editorial Board: 10.02.2023