IDNO

P.96980.WIL

Description

On Cech’s list describing prints:
“(58-135 where taken in Lhasa.)
75. “Tea-cauldron and police sentry-box by the Chö-khang 25.8.33”
Two monks are posing beside the tea-cauldron which must have been used during religious ceremonies to brew tea for the officiating monks.
“Having seen members of [the City Police] sitting dejectedly in their sentry-boxes sewing boot soles or engaged in similar occupations, I asked [the Chief of Police, Ringang] one day what would happen if a smash-and-grab raid were carried out in a Lhasa shop. He replied that the policeman would blow his whistle, on which signal others would appear and, having restored order with their truncheons the malefactors would be handcuffed and taken to prison. Upon enquiry I discovered that the police carry neither whistles nor truncheons, nor have they any handcuff.” (Sp-Ch: 86).” [printed text]
For more information see Cech’s list.

In the foreground are two monks, posing beside a large tea-cauldron which was used during religious ceremonies to brew tea for the officiating monks. In the background is a wall of the Jokhang and, just in front, is a member of the City Police standing outside his sentry-box.

Place

C Asia; Tibet; Lhasa; Jokhang [Chö-khang ]

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

Williamson, Frederick

Collector / Expedition

Date

25 August 1933

Collection Name

Williamson Collection

Source

Williamson, Margaret

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

Transcription: 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]

Exhibition: The album page with this print was displayed in Collected Sights in the section Tibet, Bhutan and Sikkim with the descriptive label: “One of the Williamson albums containing photographs of their time in Tibet. The open pages containing images of Lhasa including Cho-khang, the main temple, and various street scenes. View of the Himalayas and the Potala, palace of the Dalai Lama, can be seen in the distance.” [Alex Nadin 09/12/02]

Place: Jokhang is “Situated at the heart of old Lhasa town, the Jokhang is Tibet's most sacred shrine. Founded by Queen Bhrikuti, the Nepalese consort of King Songtsen Gampo, on the site of the Othang lake, it was completed in 647 CE. It houses a number of important images which are the object of devotion of thousands of Tibetan devotees who come every year to pay their homages. Features very importantly in the New Year celebrations that are visually documented in the photographs taken by Hugh Richardson [held at the Pitt Rivers Museum].” [Info Source: Pitt Rivers Museum, Visual Tibet, http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/glossary, JD 28/7/2008]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Caspian James 19/8/2008]