1998.131.440 (Print colour)
1998.131.440 (Print colour)
Frederick Spencer Chapman
Frederick Spencer Chapman
January 29th 1937
Lhasa > Yapshi Langdun's House
1998.131.440
126 x 88
Print colour
Donated 1994
Faith Spencer Chapman
British Diplomatic Mission to Lhasa 1936-37
Frederick Spencer Chapman
SC.T.2.440
Technical Information - This print has been produced in reverse and should be flipped to see the image the correct way round. This is probably because it has been printed directly from a flipped colour transparency. Many transparencies became flipped in this way when they were copied for reproduction purposes [MS 07/04/2006]
Other Information - Setting: The Prime Minister of Tibet, Yabshi Langdün, at home. Spencer Chapman describes Gould’s first meeting with him: “He was not very easy to get on with, and remained very much the official, seated on a ceremonial divan at a higher level than the one he had prepared for Gould”. The Mission members attributed his stiffness to “youth and inexperience, rather than to any feeling of unfriendliness”. (1938:101-2) Langdün was the nephew of the 13th Dalai Lama, which might explain why he acquired such an important job at such a young age. He was greatly concerned with status and would demand a film show at his house if somebody else had already had one. He commissioned Spencer Chapman to produce this family portrait. [CH 2003]
Other Information - Description: This photograph demonstrates the development of a relationship with the Prime Minister over a period of time [see image and notes for 1998.131.436] Mission Diary entry for January 29th 1937: "[After visiting the Kashag] we all went to the Prime Minister for lunch. Chapman, who has lately had many requests of this sort, went round early to take photographs of the Prime Minister and of his wife and small daughter. Our host was extremely affable and gave us an excellent lunch, which, incidentally, included a new dish, sprouting beans, which we had not had before" ['Lhasa Mission, 1936: Diary of Events', Part XIII p. 2, written by Chapman] [MS 25/03/2006]
For Citation use:
The Tibet Album.
"Yapshi Langdun "
05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum.
<http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1998.131.440.html>.
For more information about photographic usage or to order prints, please visit the The Pitt Rivers Museum.
© The Pitt Rivers Museum
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