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2001.59.15.72.3 (Print)
2001.59.15.72.3 (Print)
Hugh E. Richardson
Hugh Richardson
1949
Chyongye Valley Region > Chyongye
2001.59.15.72.3
115 x 115 mm
Print silver , Enlargement
Donated August 2001
The executors of the estate of Hugh E. Richardson
Richardson's 1949 tour of the Yarlung and Chyongye valleys
Notes on print - 'The Lion with tombs of lJan-tsa Lha-bon Mu-rum; Mu-ne and K'ri lde-Sron-brtsan in middle distance; and 'P'yons-rgyas in distance 815-842' (in pencil) and 'Lion on tomb of ?Ral-pa-can, tumuli of Yang tsa Lhas bor, Murum btsan po,Khri lde srong brtsan beyond' (in black ink) is written on the reverse in Richardson's hand. The number '2' is written in pencil in the top right and corner. [KC 12/6/2006]
Manual Catalogues - Notes in negative index - Folio 72. 'do' [Lion at Bangso] [KC 30/5/2006]
Manual Catalogues - Richardson's Handlist, Negative book '9' 'Drikhung, Chongye etc.' [no] 71. Stone lion on burial mound said to be that of Khri Gtsug-lde brtsan Ral-pa-can. This is the only known Tibetan sculpture of the 9th century.' [KC 2/6/2006]
Manual Catalogues - [Hugh Richardson in conversation with Paddy Booz; see PRM Related Documents File] 'The lion with tombs of lSan-tsa Lha bon Murun, Mu-ne and K'ri lde Sron-brtsen in mid-distance, and 'P'yons-rgyas in the distance.' [KC 2/6/2006]
Other Information - Setting: Richardson discusses the significance of this stone lion in High Peaks, Pure Earth , London, Serindia Publications, 1998, p. 227. " ... there has survived one small but precious relicfrom the days of the chos-rgyal . On top of the mound attributed to Ral-pa-can I found the stone figure of a lion ... . The identification of the mound depends primarily on the statement of my monk guide, but it agrees generally with the literary description of the tomb ... . At all events, the lion now stands on the mound claimed to be that of Ral-pa-can, which is furthest to the south of the whole group of tombs ... . None of the Tibetans of Lhasa - lamas, nobles, ordinary monks and laymen - to whom I mentioned the stone lion had ever seen or even heard of it. So the figure survived, remote and forgotton, protected from the sling-shot of some thoughtless shepherd only by the awe and sanctity of the place. The damage to the right foreleg, ... may have been caused by grave-looters and it is possible that there were originally other similar figures on the mound ... . There appears no reason to doubt that the lion dates from the time when the site was used for royal burials; and by associating it with Ral-pa-can, who died in c. 842, it is placed near the end of that period. ... Sculpture in the round, of any period, is rarely seen in Tibet, but old records indicate that in early times the carving of stone figures was not uncommon." [KC 2/6/2006]
For Citation use:
The Tibet Album.
"Stone lion on burial mound of Ralpacan in Chyongye valley"
05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum.
<http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_2001.59.15.72.3.html>.
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