'Galloping Behind the Fort', Dzonggyap Shambe

'Galloping Behind the Fort', Dzonggyap Shambe

2001.59.1.75.1 (Film negative)

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Key Information

Photographer

Hugh E. Richardson

Collection

Hugh Richardson

Date of Photo

March 8th 1937

Region

Lhasa > Potala (from Lhalu House)

Accession number

2001.59.1.75.1

Image Dimensions

54 x 43 mm

Tents are pitched in the centre of the image for the 'Galloping Behind the Fort' Dzonggyab Shambe (rdzong rgyab zhan 'phel) ceremony held on the 26th day of the 1st month. It was held in a long narrow valley in a medow behind the Potala palace which can be seen on the right of the image. The photograph was taken from the Lhalhu mansion, the entrance gate of which may be seen in the left-hand bottom corner.

Further Information

Photographic Process

Negative film nitrate

Date Acquired

Donated August 2001

Donated by

The executors of the estate of Hugh E. Richardson

Expedition

Hugh E. Richardson

Manual Catalogues -

Manual Catalogues - Notes on negative album - '1' 'Chipsha: Dzonggyab [rdzong rgyab]: Torgyap [gtor rgyag] ----- [illegible]' is written in white in Richardson's hand. Notes inside negative album: white label with Richardson's name and address in St. Andrews. [KC 8/7/2006]

Manual Catalogues -


Manual Catalogues - Notes on negative index - Folio 75. 'RDZONG RGYAP ZHABS 'BEL' [KC 17/7/2006]

Manual Catalogues -


Manual Catalogues - Richardson's Hand List: 'Negative album No.1. ... The Rdzong-rgyab Zhabs-'bel This ceremony takes place on the 26th day of the 1st month (The Byams-pa gdan 'dren on 25th is in another neagative file). The Rdzong-rgyab Zhabs-'bel, "The Gallop at the back of the Fort" takes place on a sandy plain to the north of the Potala, near the Lha-klu house. It is the exercise for the rta-dmag , feudal cavalry. No. 75 is the general scene.' [KC 26/7/2006]
Technical Information - This image seems to have been taken with a Zeiss Super Ikonta C camera. This was a 6x9 format camera but came with a film plane mask that enabled 6x4.5 images to be taken. This enabled 16 images to be taken on a roll of 120 film as opposed to 8 without the mask [MS 6/10/2005]

Other Information - Background: See Hugh E. Richardson, Ceremonies of the Lhasa Year , 1993. London: Serindia Publications. pp. 56-7. "The name of this ceremony, the Dzongggyap Shambe, is uncertain. The common version of the spelling is rDzong-rgyab Zhabs-'bel , 'The Gallop Behind the Fort"; but there is another, rDzong-rgyab g Zhar-'phen, apparently meaning "The shooting in Succession Behind the Fort". At all events what happens is a competition between men of the Yaso's cavalry in a display of markmanship at targets suspended beside a narrow runway in a meadow north of the Potala and south of the Lhalu mansion. Tents are pitched there for the Kashag and high officials and for foreign guests; lesser officials sit on rugs on the ground in order of precedence; places are allotted to boys of the Tse school, servants of government offices and the Dalai Lama's dancing boys; and a tent is set up for the cooks who provide the refreshments, in recognition perhaps that this has been an unusually busy month for them. ..." (p. 56) [KC 23/10/2006]

Other Information - Dates


Other Information - Dates: In a letter to his parents dated November 6th 1936, Hugh Richardson commented that he was investigating buying a new Zeiss Super Ikonta camera [Hugh Richardson Manuscript Archive, Bodleian Library, MS. Or. Richardson 3 folio 46]. On March 29th 1937 he comments in a further letter to his parents that it would probaby be better to use the larger image frame [MS Or Richardson 3 folio 82]. This has assisted the dating of this image to 1937 [MS 6/10/2005

For Citation use:
The Tibet Album. "'Galloping Behind the Fort', Dzonggyap Shambe " 05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum. <http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_2001.59.1.75.1.html>.

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