Ceremony inside a monastery, Gyantse

Ceremony inside a monastery, Gyantse

BMH.F.87.1 (Film negative)

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Key Information

Photographer

Arthur Hopkinson

Collection

A. J. Hopkinson

Date of Photo

December 1927 - January 1928?

Region

Gyantse > Torkya Monastery

Accession number

BMH.F.87.1

Image Dimensions

85 x 115

Monks at a ceremony inside a monastery in or near Gyantse. The monks out of focus on the right are playing or holding musical instruments such as cymbals, horns and drums. A large number of ritual offerings can be seen, as well as thangka around the walls.

Further Information

Photographic Process

Negative film nitrate

Expedition

A. J. Hopkinson's Tour of Duty as British Trade Agent, Gyantse, 1927-28

Manual Catalogues -

Manual Catalogues - [Caption in A. J. Hopkinson's negative album 'Tibet F']: 'Scenes from clerical life - Service' [MS 05/05/2006]

Other Information - Description: [Extract from taped interview, Richard Blurton and Mrs Hopkinson] '87 - very similar to 86 [BMH.F.86.1], but note the figure who has appeared in the background leaning against the pillar - a lay-man with a (?) Ladakh-type hat. Hanging up on the wall seems to be a chatelaine with a steel and pouch. The monk with the upright drum in in the process of beating it with one of the question mark-shaped beaters. These interior shots of a shrine may be either from the main temple in Gyantse, or from the small gompa at the head of the bridge - this would be closest to the Fort' [MS 11/08/2006]

Other Information - Dates


Other Information - Dates: The dating of this image is partly suggested by a comment made by Hopkinson in one of his letters home that his photographs taken in 'the monastery' [unidentified, but in or around Gyantse] were unsuccessful: “All the flashlight photos and time exposures I took in the monastery are a washout; and I then found that my shutter wasn’t working properly. I enclose some photos, F1-21” [A. J. Hopkinson Archive, OIOC British Library, Mss Eur D998/54, Journal Letters from Gyantse and Various Camps, 1927-28, commencing February 5th 1928, Gyantse, pages 3]. This date range also accords broadly with the sequence of images as they appear in his negative album 'F' in the British Museum collection [MS 12/08/2006]

For Citation use:
The Tibet Album. "Ceremony inside a monastery, Gyantse" 05 Dec. 2006. The British Museum. <http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_BMH.F.87.1.html>.

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