Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

Dorothy Shepherd Photographs

Summary

Collection ID:
FSA.A2015.12
Creators:
Shepherd, Dorothy
Dates:
undated
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
35 Items
mm color slides 23,500
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Images of Near Eastern art objects, world sites, and architectural sites. The slide collection contains irreplaceable images of textiles, art objects and architectural sites from the Middle East and Iran. Highlights of the collection are the textile, Sasanian metal works and Middle Eastern and Iranian architectural sites.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Dorothy Shepherd (1916-1992), Curator of Textiles and Near Eastern Art for the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA, 1954-81), was one of only a few female museum curators in the United States in the 1960s and was internationally known for her scholarship in medieval textiles and ancient Near Eastern and Islamic art. She was born in Welland, Ontario, Canada. A graduate of the University of Michigan, she worked towards a Ph.D. at the Institute of Fine Arts (NYC) and New York University. From 1942-44, Shepherd was assistant curator in decoration for the Cooper Union Museum of Arts (NYC), and during WWII, worked for the Office of War Information in London, Luxembourg, Frankfurt and Berlin. Shepherd came to Cleveland in 1947 as assistant curator of textiles at the CMA. In 1954, the museum designated her as official curator of textiles and Near Eastern Art. She became chief curator of textiles and Islamic Art in 1979, a position she held until retiring. Shepherd married architect Ernst Payer on 22 March 1951. After her husband's death in 1981, Shepherd moved first to Florida then to Asheville, NC, where she died.

Administration

Custodial History
Gift of Dr. Mary Slusser.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Preferred Citation
Dorothy Shepherd Photographs. FSA.A2015.12. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

More Information

Local Numbers

Local Numbers
FSA A2015.12


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Afghanistan Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
India Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Iran Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Slides (photographs) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
National Museum of Asian Art Archives
Washington, D.C. 20013
AVRreference@si.edu