South Asia Photography Collection
odd: label: Local Numbers
content: FSA A1992.07
name: label: Photographer
content: Burke, John, d. 1900
label: Creator
content: Scowen & Co.
label: Creator
content: Shepherd & Robertson
place: label: Place
content: Kandy (Sri Lanka)
label: Place
content: Khyber Pass (Afghanistan and Pakistan)
label: Place
content: Khyber (Pakistan)
label: Place
content: Sikandra Rao (India)
topic: label: Topic
content: Rajput (Indic people)
label: Topic
content: Akbar, -- Emperor of Hindustan, -- 1542-1605 -- Tomb.
label: Topic
content: Soldiers
label: Topic
content: Forts
label: Topic
content: Taj Mahal (Agra, India)
creator: label: Photographer
content: Burke, John, d. 1900
label: Creator
content: Scowen & Co.
label: Creator
content: Shepherd & Robertson
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: John Burke (1843-1900) was an Irishman who came to India as an apothecary with the Royal Engineers. A few years later, he became the assistant of the photographer William Baker. At the start of the Second Anglo-Afghan War, Burke tried to go as an official photographer with the British Army, but his request was refused. He decided to travel with the Army at his own expense, financing his trip by selling photographs depicting the life of British soldiers and native people of India. It was in this context that Burke took some of the earliest photographs of Afghanistan.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 8 Prints (albumen, images 24 x 29 cm. or smaller.)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 19th century
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Purchased in 1992.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: FSA.A1992.07
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Prints
label: Type
content: Albumen prints
label: Type
content: Photographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Eight large file folders arranged in one box.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Albumen prints
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Taken in the later 19th and early 20th centuries, these photographs portray the people, architecture and landscape of Sri Lanka, India and what is now the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area. The collection consists of 8 photographic prints: 1. Natives of Rajputana, signed "Shepherd & Robertson Photo 1120" in black ink in the lower left corner; 2, Native Soldiers in Armour, unsigned; 3. Kandyan Chiefs and Government Agent, signed "Scowen & Co." in white ink in the lower left corner; 4. Taj Mahal, unsigned; 5. Mausoleum of the Great Akbar at the Secundra, unsigned; 6. Ali Musjid and Surroundings from Rotass, Looking Down on Fort, Showing Ascent with River, signed "Burke 28" in white ink in the lower left corner; 7. A Khyber Village, signed " Burke 32" in black ink and in white ink in the lower left corner; 8. Rifle Practice, signed "Burke 285" in black ink in the lower left corner.