National Anthropological Archives

Désiré Charnay photographs of Mitla, Uxmal, Chichen Itza, and Palenque, circa 1857

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.PhotoLot.4449
Creators:
Charnay, Désiré, 1828-1915
Dates:
circa 1857
Languages:
Undetermined
.
Physical Description:
12 Prints
albumen
1 Print
silver gelatin
Repository:

Scope and Contents note

Scope and Contents note
Photographs made by Désiré Charnay depicting the Grand Palace at Mitla, the Governor's Palace at Uxmal, a convent at Chichen Itza, and a large stone tablet at Palenque.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
Claude Joseph Désiré Charnay (1828-1915), a French archeologist and pioneer of expeditionary photography, explored and documented Mexico and Central America. He was commissioned by the French government in 1857 to collect artifacts and document archeological sites in Mexico. Charnay completed three tours between 1858-1860, 1880-1882, and 1886; the latter two trips were funded by New York resident Pierre Lorillard and were largely photographic expeditions. Charnay later went to Madagascar (1863), North America (1867-70), South America (1875), Australia and Oceania (1878), and Central America (1880-83). He was among the first to use photography to record Meso-American archaeological sites, as well as the Indigenous peoples of Mexico whom he encountered.

Administration

Author
Sarah Ganderup
Existence and Location of Copies note
Copy negatives in 43,193.
Custodial History note
Probably donated to the Bureau of American Ethnology circa 1948.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access note
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Conditions Governing Use note
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Preferred Citation note
Photo Lot 4449, Désiré Charnay photographs of Mitla, Uxmal, Chichen Itza, and Palenque, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Location of Other Archival Materials

Location of Other Archival Materials
Casts made by Charnay held in the anthropology collections of the National Museum of Natural History in accessions 042420 and 013211.

Contained in

Contained in
Numbered manuscripts 1850s-1980s (some earlier)

More Information

Local Call Number(s)

Local Call Number(s)
NAA Photo Lot 4449

Bibliography

Bibliography
Photographs may have been published in Désiré Charnay Cités et ruines Américaines. Mitla, Palenqué, Izamal, Chichen-Itza, Uxmal. Recueillies et photographiees par D. Charnay. Avec un texte par [E.E.] Viollet-le-Duc, suivi du voyage et des documents de l'auteur. With atlas. (Paris: Gide, 1862-1863).


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Uxmal Site (Mexico) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mitla Site (Mexico) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Palenque Site (Mexico) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chichén Itzá Site (Mexico) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mexico -- Antiquities Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Anthropological Archives
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Suitland, Maryland 20746
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