- Collection type
- Object
- Description
- One of two lids belonging to storage chests, part of of a model nomadic tent. For the base to which this lid belongs see [2009.150.30 .1]. For the other constituent parts of this model tent see [2009.150.1 - 31]. [CW [OPS Move] 26/6/2017]
- Long description
- Storage chest [.1] with lid [.2], one of two [see 2009.150.31 for the other], for model nomadic tent. The storage chest [.1] is made from six pieces of soft plywood. The outside of the box is painted with red paint. The bottom and the insides of the box are left unpainted. The inside edges of the chest have been painted green. The front of the chest has been covered with a silver metallic floral patterned paper as has the top of the chest. The lid to the chest [.2] is made from three pieces of soft plywood. One rectangular piece and two narrow strips of plywood secured to either end of the lid to be slotted into the top of the storage chest. The inside of the lid has been painted with green paint, one of the 'legs' has been painted red. The narrow strips of plywood have been attached to the lid with metal tacks. The front of the lid is covered with silver metallic floral patterned paper. [See 2009.150 .1-.31 for all parts of tent]. [FC 10/11/2009]
- Geographical reference
- Date / Period
- Date made: By 1948
- Date collected
- 1948
- Acquisition information
- Donated: 28/10/2009
- Materials and processes
- Material Wood Plant, Material Metal, Material Pigment, Material Paper Plant, Process Carpentered, Process Nailed, Process Painted, Process Glued
- Dimensions
- Depth: max 13 mm, Width: max 69 mm, Length: max 149 mm
- Object numbers
- Accession number: 2009.150.30.2
- Research and responses
Clare Harris [Reader in visual Anthropology, Pitt Rivers Musem]: Although the object has been described by the donor as a yurt, technically speaking this is not correct as this is a Turkic term used in Central Asia and then exported to the West (hence commonly used). (See the Wikipedia entry for Yurt for more information on this.) Mongolians call the tent a gyer or ger and Tibetans call a white tent a gur. In fact there are many different terms for these portable dwellings in Tibetan - depending on their shape and colour. I suspect that the same will be true for Mongolia. The problem with the model we have been donated is that it was given to Arthur Hopkinson by a Mongolian-Tibetan trader and so could be either Mongolian or Tibetan. I don't know enough about the designs of these tents to be able to say which it is without doing some research. The other issue is that (if I remember correctly) it was presented to Hopkinson in India (probably Darjeeling or Kalimpong) and might have been made there. I am pretty sure that there was a Tibetan handicraft establishment in Kalimpong in the 1930s... The fabric used to make the internal fittings (eg bed covers) suggested to me that it might have been made in India. Monisha Ahmed has a lengthy discussion about the type of tents used by nomads in Ladakh and Western Tibet in her book "Living Fabric" (should be in the Balfour library). However, our model is not of this variety. [FC 12/11/2009]
Search terms: Model, Dwelling, Furniture Dwelling, House, Furniture, Tent, Lid