Key Information

Photographer

Rabden Lepcha?

Collection

Sir Charles Bell

Date of Photo

August 4th 1921

Region

Lhasa > Norbu Lingka

Accession number

1998.286.126

Image Dimensions

78 x 103

Actors waiting to come on stage for the first day of the Dalai Lama's Ache Lhamo at Norbu Lingka, 1921

Further Information

Photographic Process

Negative Quarter Plate

Date Acquired

Donated 1983

Donated by

St Antony's College, Oxford

Copy difference

Intensifier Notches on right side

Expedition

Sir Charles Bell's Mission to Lhasa 1920-21

Revised Photographer

Rabden?

Previous Catologue Number

Q.112

Previous Pitt Rivers Museum Number

BL.Q.112

Related Collections

British Library, Oriental and India Office Collections

Manual Catalogues -

Manual Catalogues - Bell's List of Illustrations entry: "[No. of chapter] XXVII. [Subject of Chapter] Amusements [Subject of Illustration] Q112 (e) Simchungas and other actors waiting to come on stage in the Ache Lhamo at Norbu Lingka, first day."

Other Information - Description: Under magnification the performers can be seen holding and wearing a wide variety of masks [MS 10/8/2004]

Other Information - Setting

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_1998.286.126.html>.

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