Gyantse seen from dzong

Gyantse seen from dzong

1998.131.211 (Print black & white)

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Key Information

Photographer

Frederick Spencer Chapman

Collection

Frederick Spencer Chapman

Date of Photo

March 1937?

Region

Gyantse (from Dzong)

Accession number

1998.131.211

Image Dimensions

147 x 228 mm

View of Gyantse showing Kumbum, the great chorten and the Palkor Chode Monastery. There are also good views of the whole length of the walls surrounding Gyantse. This photograph seems to have been taken from the Dzong or fort on the hillside outside the town. The main routes into the town are clearly visible, as are the town boundaries and the cultivated fields on the right of the image. The main road in the town is clearly visible and people can be seen walking. The fields on the outskirts of the town are dry and many have yaks and other animals grazing in them. A caravan of horses can be seen under magnification just below the centre of the image on the left

Further Information

Photographic Process

Print gelatin silver , Enlargement

Date Acquired

Donated 1994

Donated by

Faith Spencer Chapman

Expedition

British Diplomatic Mission to Lhasa 1936-37?

Photo also owned by

Frederick Spencer Chapman

Previous Pitt Rivers Museum Number

SC.T.2.211

This Image also appears in another collection

1998.157.23

Published

'Lhasa the Holy City', F. Spencer Chapman, London: Chatto and Windus, 1940 [view list of illustrations]

Other Information

Notes on print/mount - The back of the print is covered in crop marks and the instruction to enlarge the image to 9 1/2" (240 cm). This indicates that the crop marks were not publication instructions and may relate to the production of the official Mission album. There is also a caption for the image, which has been partly erased, which reads "Gyantse town and monastery [illegible] from summit of the [erased]'. There is an instruction to crop the bottom edge of the image by 1/2". '6' has been written in pencil in the top left hand corner and '8 - 5 1/4' in red crayon down the right hand side of the print. The Chatto & Windus reference 'C&W41074/18' has also been written in pencil on the back. There is a reference number, which is similar to those used by Chapman for images taken whilst on the mission, but this has been erased and thus is it not possible to identify this image precisely [MS 28/1/2005]

Technical Information - This print was developed from what was originally a colour transparency [1998.157.23] [MS 07/04/2006]

Other Information - Dates


Other Information - Dates: This photograph seems to have been taken during the winter as the fields are very barren, especially in comparison with the lush vegetation visible in 1998.131.210 taken from the same vantage point. This suggests that the image was taken on the return journey from Lhasa in February - March 1937. Chapman describes an earlier visit to the dzong to take photographs in the Mission Diary for August 15th 1936 and in his book Lhasa The Holy City [London: Chatto & Windus, 1938; reprint, London: Readers Union Ltd., 1940, pp.54-55]. [MS 28/1/2005]

For Citation use:
The Tibet Album. "Gyantse seen from dzong" 05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum. <http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1998.131.211.html>.

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