by Liz Mckendrick

The final article in a series of three on Tibetan postcards, their subjects and makers originally published in 2009 in Picture Postcard Monthly.

9/ TIBET THE DALAI LLAMMA’S WHEEL OF EXISTENCE
Another card by D. Macropolo showing the Dalai Lama’s wheel of existence. Paintings of the Wheel of Life (as it is more commonly known) can be found in the entrance to most of Tibet’s monasteries. It shows the endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth. The wheel is held in the mouth of Yama, the Lord of Death. The six sections of the wheel symbolise the six realms of life and death with hell at the bottom. The images around the edge of the wheel show images representing life experiences which perpetuate the cycle.

10/ TIBET A MOMENT OF SUSPENSE
‘A moment of Suspense’ is one of the set of six Wide Wide World postcards from the Tibet series number 7327 produced by Raphael Tuck. They were all taken from paintings by Henry Savage Landor.The reverse of the card has the following printed on it: 'A most novel way of transporting animals from one trail to another is accomplished by suspending two poles on ropes from parts of the rock from one side of the precipice to the other, and then by means of ropes the animal is pulled across.'

11/ TIBETAN DANCE AT HOTEL MOUNT EVEREST
This wonderful postcard titled ‘Tibetan dance at Hotel Mount Everest’ shows a group of dancers posing outside the hotel with the famous mountain in the background. Considering the distant view I would imagine the photograph was taken in Darjeeling but as yet I cannot find a reference to the hotels' location.
The dancers in this postcard look as if they are performing the Yak Dance, a traditional dance of welcome, where two performers share a yak-skin costume (one in the front shaking the head and horns with the other at the back wagging the tail). The yak will often perform back-rolls or even charge the audience with its horns!

12/ A TIBETIAN ORCHID SELLER
This Tibetan orchid seller has baskets loaded with orchids for sale and was probably photographed in Darjeeling. At the beginning of the twentieth century exotic plants such as orchids were in great demand in Europe.

The east of Tibet (having the highest rainfall of the country) has an amazing range of both flowers and trees many of which are familiar to us in the UK. They include oak, elm, birch, bamboo, rhododendrons azaleas magnolias and orchids. During the 19th and early 20th century plant hunters travelled in Tibet collecting seeds and cuttings. F M Bailey travelled with the Younghusband expedition and Frank Kingdom Ward was commissioned by A. K. Bulley of Bees seeds to collect hardy plants from Tibet to grow in English gardens. He managed to bring back about 200 different species including 22 new to science from his 1911 expedition. As well as sending back seeds for cultivation to Bees he also sent some to Kew Gardens herbarium in London.

13/ MOUNT EVERST FROM THE BASE CAMP
No article on Tibet would be complete without a mention of Mount Everest. This postcard shows the world’s highest mountain from the Tibetan base camp. The original photograph was taken by Captain Noel, who was a member of the 1922 (unsuccessful) attempt on the summit. The caption on reverse of the card reads ‘telephotograph of the upper heights of the mountain from the base camp 14 miles distant. The first climb party in 1922 reached the rectangular patch below the NE shoulder shown by arrows 1. The second party reached the point a few hundred feet higher but much nearer the summit shown by arrow 2.’