Page 158 - Bonhams Indian and Himalayan Art September 2013

245
245
A group of photographs from the Younghusband Mission to Lhasa
(1903-4)
Comprising 70 photographs, many of them with manuscript annotations
on the reverse, divided into groups of: 1) 22 photogravures, approx
190 x 305mm, taken by John Claude White, including a linen bound
folding panorama with stamp “M. D. Parr, Doone House” on the interior
of a full morocco cover, 2) 36 contact prints from roll film placed in a
panoramic camera onto silver gelatin, of which 6 have applied hand
coloring oils, approx 80 x 140 mm, 3) 12 contact prints from roll film onto
silver gelatin, approx 85 x 85 mm; among the total group are approx 10
prints of duplicate subjects with varying impressions. Accompanied by a
true copy of a letter dated 1907 from the Kashmir Residency Office to
Sir Francis Younghusband and similarly dated manuscript letter signed
by Younghusband addressed to “My dear Parr” regarding the latter’s
nomination for the Tibet Medal, as well as photocopied excerpts of letters
written by Parr to his wife whilst on the expedition.
$10,000 - 15,000
A Tibetan almanac prophesized that the year beginning February 1904
would see “a great coming of robbers, quarrelling and fighting, full of
many enemies...” (see Allen, Dual in the Snows, London, 2004, p. 51).
On 12 December 1903, the Younghusband Expedition advanced from
the Tibetan frontier, an action which soon escalated into a controversial
moment in colonial history between the British and the Tibetans.
The former was led by the ambitious and celebrated Colonel Francis
Younghusband (1863-1942), while the latter consisted mainly of peasants
coerced into fighting by threats to their families and homes by Tibetan
lamas who were ill-equipped to serve as military commanders.
Fueled by false speculation, the expedition aimed, in conversation with
the Chinese, to preserve Tibet as a buffer zone between Russia and
British India. Although evidence of an alliance between Tibet and Russia
remained unsubstantiated, Younghusband advanced on Lhasa, frustrated
that his wish to parle with the Dalai Lama and Tibet’s senior government
officials was persistently denied. By the time he reached Lhasa, and after
a number of battles, the then intimidated Tibetan government promptly
signed the Lhasa Convention in 1904, a deal which effectively turned the
country into a British protectorate. Two years later, a separate treaty with Thence by descent
China saw Britain agree not to annex Tibet in exchange for a covenant
from the Chinese to prevent anyone else from doing so.
156 | Bonhams
Major William Randall McDonnell Parr (1865-1938), to whom these
photographs and excerpts belonged, was brought on board as Chinese
Joint Commissioner to receive Younghusband at the frontier post of
Yatung and facilitate diplomatic negotiations with Tibetan and Chinese
ambassadors. Parr had spent the majority of 16 years stationed in China,
where he served during the Yangtze Riots in 1891 and the China-
Japan war in 1894. Employed by the Chinese government as Customs
Commissioner, Parr was an invaluable resource to the expedition, given his
extensive knowledge of Chinese language, customs, and bureaucracy. The
fact that he was served under Chinese authorities at the time made him
ineligible for the Tibet Medal as described in the accompanying letter and
manuscript sent by Younghusband, despite the “hard & risky time”.
At times intimate, at times recording significant locations or moments, Parr’s
photographs offer snapshots of the British advance across Tibet. Among
them are several high quality photogravures taken by the expedition’s Joint
Commissioner Jean Claude White, produced from contact prints affording
no loss of detail before the advent of enlarging technologies. The majority
show views of Khamba jong (fort), where Parr’s role was essential during
five months of diplomatic negotiations which eventually collapsed with the
mission advancing onto Gyantse (ibid., p. 31).
In addition to White’s official photographs, Parr’s own amateur prints
offer informal portrayals of officers and the mission’s cosmopolitan
personnel, of Chinese officials, and of Tibetan people and landscapes
as he documented the expedition’s progress. The photographs, which
most likely accompanied the many good-humored letters he sent to his
wife, seem to echo certain excerpts. One image capturing a group of
Tibetan monks in fearful poses mirrors his observation that after arriving
at Gyanste “the natives seem cowed”. Another mentioning a “palaver
with the Chinese and Tibetan officials” seems to reflect the expressions of
three Chinese officials lining a doorway, one of whom is identified on the
reverse as General Ma, a representative of the Chinese Amban included in
the negotiations. The present lot provides a remarkable first-hand account
of this historic collision of powers.
Provenance:
From the collection of Major William Randall McDonnell Parr