Sufi History, Albumen Photograph of Whirling Dervishes and Ney Musician, 19th Century

Sufi Whirling Photograph

Photograph

Albumen photograph of whirling dervishes, 19th century, records Sufi religious practice through a posed scene of an adult and child with raised arms accompanied by a musician playing the ney. Whirling is associated particularly with the Mevlevi order, established by followers of the thirteenth-century Persian poet and Sufi teacher Jalal al-Din Rumi at Konya in Anatolia. The Mevlevi sama developed as a formal ceremony incorporating music, recitation, and controlled rotational movement as devotional practices.

Original albumen photograph, 19th century. An adult and child stand with their arms raised in poses associated with whirling, while an older man plays a ney, the end-blown reed flute closely associated with Mevlevi musical practice. Another man and child sit on the floor upon a patterned rug. The supplied description identifies Turkey or Iran as possible locations, but neither location is confirmed; photographer and precise date are likewise unidentified. The supplied measurements conflict, giving both 10.5 x 8.5 inches and 5 x 7 inches, and should be verified against the photograph before cataloguing.

The combination of dervish dress, raised-arm postures, and ney accompaniment records specific elements associated with nineteenth-century Sufi devotional culture. Although these features invite comparison with Mevlevi practice, the unidentified location and absence of further evidence make a definitive attribution to the Mevlevi order inadvisable. Overall very good condition. A nineteenth-century photographic record of dervish practice distinguished by the inclusion of both adult and child participants and a ney musician.

Item #14303

Price: $225.00