IDNO

P.96495.WIL

Description

A group consisting of, from left to right, Kush Narayan, Maharani of Sikkim, Maharaja of Sikkim, Mrs C. E. Dudley, and Gyaltsen Kazi standing in front of a blackboard hanging on the side of a thatch building (possibly stables) and announcing the order of horse races at a mela (assembly) at Rangpo. The Majarani of Sikkim wears an embroidered tunic over silk brocade robes, sunglasses, and a fedora hat. The Maharaja of Sikkim wear silk brocade robes, a fur? hat with a decorative band and two scallops into the brim, and a ga’u thub zhi (woman’s necklace and amulet box) consisting of two intersecting squares and the necklace of probably coral, turquoise, and dzi beads. [JD 23/4/2008]

On Cech’s list describing prints:
“F. W. became Political Officer in Sikkim on January 4th, 1933.
(Photos 1-30 were taken in and around Gangtok).
1. “Rungpo Mela, January 1933”
1d. “Kush Narayan, Maharani, Maharaja, Gyaltsen Kazi”.
See ww: Chungbu, Samdup, pejo, Maharaja of sikkim, Maharani of sikkim, Dudley, gyaltsen kazi, kush narayan” [printed text]
For more information see Cech’s list.

Place

S Asia; India; Sikkim; Rangpo [Rungpo]

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Gyaltsen Kazi; Maharani of Sikkim; Maharaja of Sikkim; Kush Narayan; Mrs C. E. Dudley

Photographer

Williamson, Frederick

Collector / Expedition

Date

January 1933

Collection Name

Williamson Collection

Source

Williamson, Margaret

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

Personal Adornment: The Maharaja of Sikkim wears a classic Lhasa ornament of a ga’u thub zhi (woman’s necklace and amulet box), consisting of “two intersecting squares symbolizing two crossed dorjes, the S.visvavajra, symbol of the ultimate stability of Buddhahood. The symmetrical arrangement of shaped and polished turquoises and previous stones is typical. Fashionable in Lhasa from at least the middle of the 19th century, this type of ga’u grew increasingly elaborate and larger in size with time, reaching its apogee in the 1940s.” [Source: Clarke, John, 2004. Jewellery of Tiber and the Himalayas (V&A Publication, London) p.69, JD 23/4/2008]

Context: ‘Mela’ is a sanskrit word meaning ‘assembly’ but often used to refer to a fair of Hindu festival. [JD 23/4/2008]

The transcription of this album by Mark Turin and Sara Shneiderman was carried out with reference to Krystina Cech’s catalogue list alone. Alex Nadin has since revised their cataloguing by systematically matching their records to the images. Margaret Williamson’s handwritten captions for photographs have now been transcribed into the Inscription field, and Cech’s descriptions appear in the Description field. Correct entries for Place, Named Person and Other Nos. have also been entered by Alex Nadin. [Sudeshna Guha 29/10/2002]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Jocelyne Dudding 23/4/2008]