Egyptian - Living Costume - Walters 22231

Dikran Kelekian (December 27, 1867 – January 1951), was a notable collector and dealer of

Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide ra ...

. The son of an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

banker from

Kayseri Kayseri (; el, Καισάρεια) is a large Industrialisation, industrialised List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. The Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality area is comp ...

, Dikran Kelekian and his brother Kevork set themselves up in the antiquities business in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

in 1892. The next year, Dikiran came to the

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as a commissioner for the Persian Paviliaon at the World's Columbia Exposition in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He soon established shops in

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, and

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, where he and his brother flourished as vendors selling works of art and antiquities. In 1900, Kelekian apparently served as a member of the jury for the Universal Exposition in Paris, and in 1903 he lent a number of his works to the Exposition of Muslim Arts at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, which was also in Paris. The following year, he participated in the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, mounting a large display of his wares and accompanying the display with an illustrated catalogue. Already by this time Kelekian seems to have been recognized by the shah of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

for his efforts to promote Persian art and culture, and he had added the honorific title of Khan between his first and last names. Eventually, Kelekian became an American citizen, adding another country of allegiance to those of his heritage (Armenia), his birth (Turkey), and his professional interest and recognition (Iran). An expert in Islamic, and particularly Persian, pottery, he was actively involved in the sale of medieval Islamic ceramics following the finds in Rayy in the late 1880s to early 1890s, as well as the excavations begun in Raqqa in 1896 and Sultanabad and Varamin in 1905. One author sketched his character like so: "He is a creature so curiously compounded that, under his grim and sometimes awesome visage, he combines, in one person, the qualities of a Persian satrap and a properly accredited archangel, of Genghis Khan and the Chevalier Bayard, of Thor, the God of Thunder and Saint Francis of Assisi." Kelekian was a member of the Central Board of Directors of the

Armenian General Benevolent Union The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU, Eastern Armenian: Հայկական Բարեգործական Ընդհանուր Միություն, ՀԲԸՄ, ''Haykakan Baregortsakan Endhanur Miutyun'', or hyw, Հայ Բարեգործական Ընդ ...

(AGBU) and in 1909 he funded an AGBU orphanage bearing his name in Deort Yol (in modern-day Turkey) for Armenian refugees fleeing the Adana Massacre. He was also a major donor to AGBU's various activities to save Armenians that survived the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

. Kelekian died in January 1951 when he fell from the twenty-third floor of the Hotel St. Moritz in New York.

References

External links

Smithsonian site on KelekianAn oil painting of Kelekian (1943) by Milton Avery at the Metropolitan MuseumDumbarton Oaks - page on Dikran Garabed Kelekian (1868–1951)(paywall) "A Gallant Era": Henry Walters, Islamic Art, and the Kelekian Connection by Marianna Shreve Simpson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelekian, Dikran 1867 births 1951 deaths American art dealers American people of Armenian descent Armenian American art collectors Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to the United States