Hagop Kevorkian

Originally from Kayseri, and a graduate of the American Robert College in Istanbul, he settled in New York City in the late 19th century, and was responsible for drawing greater attention to Near Eastern and Islamic artifacts in the United States.

Kevorkian carried out excavations in Persia, in Sultanabad from 1903 and at the medieval city of Rey from around 1907, and assembled an outstanding collection of Oriental art, especially Islamic and Persian.

Major sales of Islamic pieces from his collection, including lacquer doors and tile panels from Isfahan, books and paintings, carpets and ceramics, were held in the 1920s at the Anderson Gallery, New York.

[2] In a study of the commodification of Islamic antiques and their entry into museum collections, Mercedes Volait identified Hagop Kevorkian as one of a set of "renowned Armenian art dealers in Paris" which also included Dikran Khan Kelekian (1868-1951), and Antoine Brimo of Aleppo (1872-1862).

After his death the Kevorkian Fund also supported a visiting lectureship in Iranian art and archaeology and an international speaker series at the Penn Museum.

Polychrome painted vessel with marching camels and lion handles;  a Kufic inscription surrounds the rim; found at Rhages, the ancient Median city of Rhei; probably 11th century AD; purchased from H. Kevorkian, 1915; courtesy of the Penn Museum, image no. 296835, object no. NEP90