Key Information

Photographer

Rabden Lepcha?

Collection

Sir Charles Bell

Date of Photo

1920-1921

Region

Lhasa > Dekyi Lingka

Accession number

1998.285.304

Image Dimensions

120 x 163 mm

Mission house in Dekyi Lingka. Four members of mission household, including two Sikkimese orderlies, standing in the distance.

Further Information

Photographic Process

Negative glass plate gelatin , Negative Half Plate

Date Acquired

Donated 1983

Donated by

St Antony's College, Oxford.

Expedition

Sir Charles Bell's Mission to Lhasa 1920-21

Photo also owned by

Royal Central Asiatic Society

Previous Catologue Number

H.276

Previous Pitt Rivers Museum Number

BL.H.276

Manual Catalogues -

Manual Catalogues - Bell's List of Illustrations entry: "[No. of chapter] L. [Subject of Chapter] Lhasa [Subject of Illustration] H.276 (bm) Entrance to our house in Dekyi Lingka. A bit of the pond on the left."

Other Information - Setting

Other Information - Setting: The Dekyi Lingka (“Garden of Happiness”) was [also] the home of the British Mission from 1936 until 1947. Located in eastern Lhasa, not far from the Norbulingka (the Dalai Lama’s Summer Palace), it was rented from the abbot of the nearby Kundeling monastery. The building was too small to house all the Mission team and so certain members (such as the telegraphist Nepean) had to live in tents in the grounds. The garden teemed with insects and birds (a boon for the ornithologists on the Mission) and groves of trees were much appreciated for screening out the dust of the city. The English style planting reminded many British visitors of home. In 1944 the Dekyi Lingka gardens were expanded by Sherriff and Ludlow. [CH 2003]

For Citation use:
The Tibet Album. "Mission house, Dekyi Lingka" 05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum. <http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1998.285.304.html>.

For more information about photographic usage or to order prints, please visit the The Pitt Rivers Museum.