IDNO

P.147779.WIL

Description

Interior of the drawing room in the British Residency in Gangtok, where the Williamsons lived during Frederick's posting as Political Officer. The room contains a fireplace, a dresser, chairs, a sofa, wall hangings, a chintz armchair and curtain, bookcases, vases of flowers, and a lamp. On the walls there are Bhutanese weapons? and pictures on display and on the dresser and mantlepiece there are Bhutanese tea and chang pots on display among other objects. Above the fireplace there is a water carrier made from a tusk (possibly in the MAA collection). [Rebekah Hodgkinson 16/06/2021]

On album page above print P.97319.WIL: “Gangtok Residency, Spring 1934 (Peggy).” [manuscript in black ink; Margaret Williamson’s handwriting]

On album page next to print P.97319.WIL: “Drawing room.” [manuscript in black ink; Margaret Williamson’s handwriting]

On Cech’s list describing print P.97319.WIL:
“(Photos 16-61 were taken in and around Gangtok)
54. “Peggy's photos of the Residency, Gangtok, Spring 1934”
54i. “Drawing room”. Above the fireplace there is an assortment of tea-pots, a statue, a dril-bu bell, a mar-me lamp. Higher up there is a horn container and above that a Bhutanese shield (“dali”), sword (“patang-ben”) and helmet (“cham-sham”). There are than-ka paintings on the walls.
See MPOW: 52, 137-145 for a description of the residency and life therein.” [printed text]

Place

S Asia; India; Sikkim; Gangtok

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

None

Collector / Expedition

Date

March - May 1934

Collection Name

Williamson Collection

Source

Williamson, Margaret

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.147762.WIL - P.147806.WIL were located in an Army & Navy Stores envelope, now numbered C903/1/56.

Publication: Similar image published in 'Margaret D. Williamson, Memoirs of a Political Officer's Wife in Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan (Wisdom Publications, 1987)', between p. 32 and p.33, and captioned: "Interior of the Residency." [RH 16/06/2021]

Publication: An image of the Bhutanese sword and shield (pictured with a helmet and a beer container) is published in 'Margaret D. Williamson, Memoirs of a Political Officer's Wife in Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan, (Wisdom, 1987)', between p. 224 and p. 225, and captioned: "Bhutanese sword, shield, helmet and beer container." [RH 16/06/2021]

Publication: Image published in MAA's Digital Lab blog 'Tea and the Margaret Williamson Collection', 25 April 2023, and captioned: "Figure 2. Interior of the drawing room in the British Residency in Gangtok, Sikkim. Photographed and donated by Margaret Williamson in 1934. MAA P.147779.WIL." [Source: https://www.maadigitallab.org/blog/2023/04/25/tea-and-the-margaret-williamson-collection/, JD 11/07/2023]

Publication: Detail of image published alongside image of a copper teapot, D 1976.94, in MAA's Digital Lab blog 'Tea and the Margaret Williamson Collection', 25 April 2023, and captioned: "Figures 6 and 7. Left – A copper ཇམ་སྦྱིས (jam ji) with the a silver gilt handle in the shape of a dragon and a spout in the form of a ཆུ་སྲིན་ (makara). Bhutan. Presented to the Williamsons as a gift by the Maharajah of Bhutan, H. H. Sir Jigme Wangchuck. MAA D 1976.94. Right – Detail of the photograph of the Williamsons’ drawing room showing the copper ཇམ་སྦྱིས (jam ji) on one of the mantle pieces. Photographed by Margaret Williamson in 1934. MAA P.147779.WIL. Donated by Margaret Williamson.." [Source: https://www.maadigitallab.org/blog/2023/04/25/tea-and-the-margaret-williamson-collection/, JD 11/07/2023]

Related Object: The Water carrier? above the dresser could now be in the care of the MAA, reference D 1976.89 - 'Container - Water carrier made from tusk, decorated in silver and gold."
The teapot on the left hand side (on the dresser) is possibly the one gifted to the Williamsons by the Maharaja of Bhutan seen in Margaret's office in photograph P.147781.WIL. [Rebekah Hodgkinson 16/06/2021]