Lhalu Se

Lhalu Se

1998.131.459 (Print black & white)

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Key Information

Photographer

Frederick Spencer Chapman

Collection

Frederick Spencer Chapman

Date of Photo

January 8th 1937?

Named Person

Lhalu Se

Region

Lhasa > Lhalu House

Accession number

1998.131.459

Image Dimensions

172 x 120

Profile, head and shoulders of Lhalu Se showing in some detail the arrangement of the top knot worn by aristocratic men. Here one can also clearly see the string by which the long earrings worn by Tibetan officials was looped over the ear

Further Information

Photographic Process

Print gelatin silver

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 Catologue Number

BI.22 In publication
'Lhasa Mission 1936, Diary of Events', P. Neame, H. Richardson, F. S. Chapman, Government of India Political Department [Note: photographs for October 18th - November 4th 1936 are not included as their relationship to text is not detailed; see Mission Diary text for details of images] [see photos in publication]

Previous Pitt Rivers Museum Number

SC.T.2.459

Published

'Lhasa Mission 1936, Diary of Events', P. Neame, H. Richardson, F. S. Chapman, Government of India Political Department [Note: photographs for October 18th - November 4th 1936 are not included as their relationship to text is not detailed; see Mission Diary text for details of images] [view list of illustrations]

Other Information

Notes on print/mount - 'BI 22' has been written on the back of the print in pencil [MS 27/03/2006]

Manual Catalogues -


Manual Catalogues - Caption in Chapman's hand-written list of negatives made whilst on the Mission to Lhasa, 1936-7 [See PRM Manuscripts Collection]: 'Ditto Ditto [Lhalu Se] profile'; PRM Manuscripts Collection: ‘List of Tibetan Prints and Negatives’ - Book 2: ‘36/2 - Portrait of Lhalu, a young noble’ [MS 27/03/2006]

Biographical Information - Lhalu Se's father, Lungshar, went to Britain in 1912 and returned to Tibet just before the First World War with many ideas about how to modernise Tibet. He particularly wanted to make the Parliament more powerful politically than the Cabinet and organised a coup to wrest power from them. As a result he was imprisoned and was to be punished by having his eyes gouged out. However, this was such an infrequently used punishment that they could not find anyone to carry it out. Eventually they found an old man in another part of Tibet to come to Lhasa to carry out the punishment. The family name and estate was abolished and so his son was adopted into the Lhalu family and took their name [TS 17/2/2005]

Other Information - Dates


Other Information - Dates: This image may have been taken on December 8th 1937. On the following day Lhalu Se attended a dinner at the Dekyi Lingka, hosted by the Mission. This image is one of a series taken in and around the Lhalu mansion and of Lhalu Se apparently on the day before. It became increasingly common for Chapman to be invited to the houses of officials to take photographs, and it seems also to have been increasingly common for the Mission to use the images as a means of breaking-the-ice at formal parties by ensuring that still and cine films were developed before the arrival of the guests. [MS 27/03/2006]

Other Information - Related Images


Other Information - Related Images: Images prefixed with 'BI' are a group of negatives containing images of the Lord Chamberlain, the Rumba family, Khampa people, Mongolian women, Lhasa, Iamtso, Lalu Se, Lalu Monastery. They seem to have been taken between January 4th - 9th 1937 [MS 10/03/2006]

For Citation use:
The Tibet Album. "Lhalu Se" 05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum. <http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1998.131.459.html>.

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