Pyramides

1885 · rif. 14111 — 1885. Sébah photographic studio two views of Giza and the Nile late nineteenth century records the pyramids within the inhabited and cultivated landscape surrounding Cairo during the expansion of commercial photography and European tourism in Egypt. One image places the pyramids and distant Sphinx behind palm trees and men mounted on camels; the second records the pyramids from the Nile. Produced during decades of increasing British and French intervention in Egyptian finances and after 1882 British military occupation the photographs belong to the large commercial market through which views of Egyptian monuments landscapes and inhabitants circulated internationally. Two unmounted albumen prints each approximately 8.25" x 10.5". The first shows palm trees and men on camels in the foreground with the pyramids rising beyond and the Sphinx visible in the distance. Inscribed in the negative at lower left "Palmiers & Pyramides vue Generale 494" and signed "J.P. Sebah" at lower right. Pascal Sébah opened his Istanbul studio in 1857 and established a Cairo branch in 1873. Following his death in 1886 the business continued under members of the Sébah family and their associates. Although Jean Pascal Sébah later used the initials "J.P." surviving Egyptian photographs by Pascal Sébah also bear "J.P. Sebah"; the signature alone therefore does not securely establish Jean Pascal as the photographer. The second print shows the Nile with the pyramids visible in the background and bears the photographer's signature in the negative at lower right; it is attributed to Cosmi Sébah. The pair records two recurring subjects of nineteenth century Egyptian photography from markedly different viewpoints: the Giza monuments approached through palms camel traffic and the surrounding landscape and the pyramids seen in relation to the Nile. The first print is very clean with a few small flaws in the emulsion. The second has several minor scattered imperfections and waviness throughout. Overall good condition. Two late nineteenth century Egyptian views associated with the Sébah studio preserving the Giza pyramids within the contemporary landscape through which residents travelers and commercial photographers encountered them. unknown