Key Information

Photographer

H. Staunton ?

Collection

Harry Staunton

Date of Photo

1940 - 1941 [March]

Region

Lhasa > Barkhor

Accession number

1999.23.2.16

Image Dimensions

67 x 112 mm

View of the Barkhor taken from a window on the third floor of a house. There is a crowd of monks standing in the centre of the image and Lhasa citizens walking along the street. In the foreground there is a man leading two horses and carrying a large bundle of fodder on his back. Further to the left is a group of two women and two girls with Lhasa headdresses. One of the women is carrying a child on her back. There are also two women carrying very large bundles of fodder. One of the buildings on the right has ritual roof decorations comprising branches with prayer flags attached to them. On the left there is a very tall prayer flag pole. The view of the Potala is from the south east.

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 print/mount - On the reverse of the print the "Velox" is stamped in black ink and the number 611 in red. [KC 17/10/2005]

Manual Catalogues -

Manual Catalogues - [Hugh Richardson in conversation with Roger Croston, detailed in H. Staunton undated Related Documents File, PRM Manuscript Collections] "Torgyap? south side of Jokhang" [KC 17/10/2005]

Contemporary Publication -

Contemporary Publication - A similar image taken by Spencer Chapman is reproduced in Lhasa the Holy City (between pp.176 - 177) with the following caption: "A Lhasa street. Notice prayer-pole on left, and, in centre, incense burner and paving in front of Kashag building. Potala in background, and Holy Mountain (18,500 ft.) in distance". There is also a description of the square in front of the Kashag on p.155, "To the south of the cathedral is the main square, which is used as a market place. To the north of this square - and therefore built right against the Cathedral - is the Kashag, the meeting-place of the Tibetan Cabinet, from which its name is taken. Here also is the Government Treasury and other official buildings. For some distance in front of the Kashag the ground is set with square cobbles,and there is a large insense-burner. It is here that the Dalai Lama, or Regent,preaches a sermon to the people on the occasion of the Tibetan New Year." [KC 17/10/2005]

Other Information - Setting

Other Information - Setting: According to T., the house directly below the Potala palace is the Doring house. The prayer flag pole on the left is Kelsang Darchen and is the pole outside the house of the 7th Dalai Lama's (Kelsang Gyatso) family. [KC 29/11/2005]

Other Information - Related images: 1999.23.1.21.1 taken at a different time. The same view from a slightly different angle. [KC 17/10/2005]

Other Information - Dates

Other Information - Dates: Staunton was certainly in Lhasa for the Tibetan New Year in 1940 and possibly in 1941. This image is part of a group of 17 photographs taken over a two-day period (the 23rd and 24th of the first Tibetan month) which have the number 611 stamped in red on the back. [KC 31/10/2005]

For Citation use:
The Tibet Album. "View of the Barkor with the Potala in the background" 05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum. <http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1999.23.2.16.html>.

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View of the Barkor with the Potala in the background