Key Information

Photographer

Arthur Hopkinson

Collection

A. J. Hopkinson

Date of Photo

June 21st 1927

Region

Gyantse

Accession number

BMH.C.73.1

Image Dimensions

85 x 115

A crowd of people attending the annual Gun and Arrow Competition at Gyantse in 1927 with many different kinds of tents seen in the background. Some of the tents bear designs, whilst the tent on the left is of plain black yak hair. The site of the competition was close to the Paper Factory, about ten minutes from the Fort where the Agency staff stayed. Two women wearing head-dresses are photographed walking away from the camera, thus revealing what the large, hooped, Gyantse-region head-dresses looked like from behind and how they were attached to the hair. Hopkinson commented in his journal for this day that he was fascinated by the crowd and took many photographs of the people he encountered [see Notes].

Further Information

Photographic Process

Negative film nitrate

Expedition

A. J. Hopkinson's Tour of Duty as British Trade Agent, Gyantse, 1927-28

Manual Catalogues -

Manual Catalogues - [Caption in A. J. Hopkinson's negative album 'Tibet C']: 'Views in lower Sikkim' [Note: there is some confusion with the negative album for this image, which was in fact taken in Gyantse [MS 28/04/2006]

Other Information - Description: [Extract from taped interview, Richard Blurton and Mrs Hopkinson] 'Tent and camp ground at arrow shooting' [MS 13/07/2006]

Other Information - Dates

Other Information - Dates: For dating of image and further description, see A. J. Hopkinson Archive, OIOC British Library, Mss Eur D998/54, Journal Letters from Gyantse and Various Camps, 1927-28, commencing June 26th 1927, Gyantse, pages 1-3 [MS 01/07/2006]

Other Information - Setting

Other Information - Setting: Comment in Hopkinson's journal for this day: “The crowd at the Arrow Shooting was awfully interesting and I took heaps of photos” [ibid., p.3] [MS 03/07/2006]

For Citation use:
The Tibet Album. "Crowd at Gyantse Gun and Arrow competition" 05 Dec. 2006. The British Museum. <http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_BMH.C.73.1.html>.

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