Remarkable collection of 34 stunning photographic prints of Egypt, all numbered, titled and signed in the negative by photographer Jean Pascal Sébah (1872-1947), who owned the leading studio for Orientalist photography. He was even named the official photographer of the Sultan of Turkey, together with his business partner Polycarpe Joailllier (1848-1904). The majority of the images in the present collection show streets and buildings from lesser known Egyptian cities and scenes of daily life. Larger collections of Sébah's work are relatively rare on the market.
Sébah continued the business of his father Pascal Sébah (1823-1886), one of the first photographers working in Egypt. Pascal rose to prominence because of his well-organized compositions, careful lighting and quality of his prints. The majority of his photographs are of tourist destinations and locals. Jean Pascal inherited his father's good eye, but was more interested in depicting lesser known locations. His photos of people also appear more spontaneous. The present collection includes photographs of El-Souroughieh street and the Khalig canal in Cairo, an intriguing supported tree, a local with a buffalo, a group of seated men in a mosque, a sugarcane market, locals working on a sugarcane field, a group of boys fishing and the hustle and bustle along the Nile.
With a small, purple ownership stamp of an anchor in mirror image and the letters "S A" near the top edge of one of the photographs of the Nile. The cardstock is very slightly foxed and yellowed and has somewhat warped from past temperature fluctuations. The prints have somewhat yellowed around the edges, but are otherwise in good condition. Cf. Saretzky, The history of photography (online).