1998.286.124 (Glass negative)
Raw Image
Rabden Lepcha?
Sir Charles Bell
August 4th 1921
Lhasa > Norbu Lingka
1998.286.124
78 x 103
Negative Quarter Plate
Donated 1983
St Antony's College, Oxford
Notches on right side
Sir Charles Bell's Mission to Lhasa 1920-21
Rabden?
Q.110
BL.Q.110
British Library, Oriental and India Office Collections
Manual Catalogues - Bell's List of Illustrations entry: "[No. of chapter] XXVII. [Subject of Chapter] Amusements [Subject of Illustration] Q110 (c) Actors paying homage to the Dalai Lama as a preliminary to acting at Norbu Lingka."
Other Information - Dates: This image has been dated as 4th August 1921 because Bell states in his Diary entry for 5th August that on the first day of the Ache Lhamo the stage was uncovered [Diary vol. XII p.83] [MS 10/8/2004]
Other Information - Setting: Bell's Diary for 4th August 1921:"We are all in the outer grounds of Norbu Lingka, just outside the inner enclosure, the Forbidden City. In front of us is a grand square, 30 to 40 yards along each of its four sides. I arrived at 10am and thought that the theatricals would have commenced a couple of hours before we came. But when starting, I am told that the D[alai] L[ama] has given orders that the performance is not to commence until I arrive. // The proceedings open with a religious dance ( cham ) by the servants of the Karmarshar Oracle God, to provide an entertainment and spectacle for the god, just as the acting is provided for the rest of us." [Diary Vol. XI, p.73]
For Citation use:
The Tibet Album.
"Ache Lhamo at Norbu Lingka"
05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum.
<http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1998.286.124.html>.
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