Key Information

Photographer

H. Staunton ?

Collection

Harry Staunton

Date of Photo

1940 - 1941

Region

Gyantse > British Trade Agency

Accession number

1999.23.1.37.6

Image Dimensions

90 x 60 mm

A view of the British Trade Agency Mess in Gyantse with a staircase leading up to a first floor terrace. The window panes and doors of the building are filled with glass. There are two small cannon from the Younghusband mission at the bottom of the stairs.

Further Information

Photographic Process

Print gelatin silver

Date Acquired

Donated 1999

Donated by

Diana Hughes

Expedition

H. Staunton

Photo also owned by

Diana Hughes

Other Information

Notes on album mount - "The Mess" is written in capital letters and pencil below the photograph on the album page. [KC 13/1/2006]

Other Information - Setting

Other Information - Setting: Alex McKay provides a description of the British Fort/Mission at Gyantse in Tibet and the British Raj, 1997, Richmond: Curzon Press, "A new fort was finally completed. ... The new fort was rectangular, with outer defensive walls of mud-brick enclosing the Agency buildings. Except for the stables and the military hospital, the buildings were all two-storey, with external staircases and verandahs. The lower floor was, for defensive reasons, occupied only by storehouses. The officers' quarters, a reception room, the mess and the Trade Agent's office were all on the upper-floor, overlooking the main courtyard and parade-ground. At the bottom of the main stairs were a pair of guns used on the Younghusband mission; a reminder of the Agency's essentially military character." (pp. 88-9) [KC 13/1/2006]

For Citation use:
The Tibet Album. "British Trade Agency Mess" 05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum. <http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1999.23.1.37.6.html>.

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British Trade Agency Mess