No scan for this photo
1998.285.624.2 (Lantern Slide)
1998.285.624.2 (Lantern Slide)
Sir Charles Bell or Rabden Lepcha?
Sir Charles Bell
November 1921?
Gangtok > British Residency
1998.285.624.2
81 x 81 mm
Lantern Slide
Donated 1983
St Antony's College, Oxford.
Sir Charles Bell's Mission to Lhasa 1920-21
Royal Central Asiatic Society
L.4
BL.H.12b
British Library, Oriental and India Office Collections
Bell has labelled this lantern slide as L.4 in addition to 1998.285.623.1, even though they are very different images of the Gangtok Residency. This lantern slide is very similar to 1998.285.5 but taken from a slightly different angle [MS 18/8/2004]
Manual Catalogues - Bell's List of Illustrations entry: "[No. of chapter] 1. [Subject of Chapter] Sikkim. [Subject of illustration] H.12 (w) The Residency Grounds, Gangtok. Stone steps in foreground. [Remarks] Q. neg only. L.4 (Y in L)"
Other Information - Dates: In 1904 and 1906-1907 Sir Charles was temporarily in charge of the administration of Sikkim. He was made Political Officer of Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet in 1908 and remained in this position until 1918, being based at Gangtok in the Residency. Some of the photographs in his collection were taken during this period. However, Bell returned to Gangtok on November 11th 1921 following his mission to Lhasa, and he seems to have taken a number of images of the residency at that time [MS 21/9/2004]
Other Information - Setting: "Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. During recent years this village on the mountain side, one of the world's smallest capitals, has acquired a share in the Tibetan trade. When I was in Sikkim, we arranged camping-grounds with fuel, fodder and water at convenient stages along the mountain tracks, a site for warehouses in the vicinity of Gangtok while the administration of the State was regularized more or less on British lines. So the Tibetan traders, who value just laws and a stable administration, even though of foreign make, have begun gradually to use Gangtok as a trading centre." 'The People of Tibet', Bell, C. A., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1928, p.113
For Citation use:
The Tibet Album.
"Residency grounds, Gangtok"
05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum.
<http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1998.285.624.2.html>.
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