Any of you excellent painters done a unit of Tibetan Matchlockmen ??

[chicklewis]

I've been looking at my based, primed Copplestone Tibetan Matchlockmen (and they have been looking back at me through unpainted eyes) for nearly two years now.  I need inspiration to paint them. 

Have any of the many excellent painters on these boards painted up a unit?  I would purely LOVE to see photos. 

I searched this list for 'tibetan matchlock' but didn't come up with any such photos. 

Please give me a pointer, or, photograph and post your miniature tibetans.

I'll be grateful.

Chick

[Emir of Askaristan]

Last year the BBC ran a programme(s) about Tibet which showed some colour cine film of Lhasa before the Chinese occupation. The clothing worn would be pretty close to that worn by the copplestone figs. there were shots of processions with monks and horsemen, some of whom were wearing armour.

Unfortunately I can't remember the name of the programme but it featured the Dalai Lama as a very young child with his family. The presenter (Dan Cruickshank I think) showed the Dalai Lama and his sister the footage on a portable DVD player in Dar Es Salaam. I can't reccommend the programme highly enough - its wonderful, even if it turns out to be not much use from a figure painting viewpoint.

It may be available via BBC Iplayer.

They also ran a series about Albert Kahn - a rich frenchman who sent teams of photographers round the world in the early 1900's and took colour pics for a library in france. These should be available via the net. I'm sure Tibet would have been on his list of places to visit. India was.

Hope this helps.

[Drunkendwarf]

At the bottom of this link there are some picture of painted mounted tibetans.

http://www.steve-dean.co.uk/2007-images/copplestone-bob/a-cop-bob.htm

DJ

[chicklewis]

thanks, Drunkendwarf.   I love Steve Dean's painting.  Years back I used exactly those photos to inspire me to paint my own mounted Tibetans.  Now I'm looking for photos of the matchlockmen who are on foot. 

Can anybody help me with those?

Chick

[sukhe_bator]

Not much to help with costume I know, but for other Tibetan A&A you may find these of interest
http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/tibet-armor/intro.html
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tbar/ho_36.25.2174.htm
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tbar/ho_36.25.25,.28,.351.htm

[dandiggler]

I've always seen the Copplestone Tibetans (in bare metal) and wondered what was on the front of their muskets. I guess I always assumed it was some sort of bayonet specific to that region, but now that I've seen SD's Tibetans, I guess I have to ask. What are they?

[sukhe_bator]

Its a bipod rest for when they go hunting. Makes a good sniping weapon too. The Pathans on the NW Frontier had something similar. You don't want to miss that tasty looking bunny/deer if its the only game to be had in 100 miles!

[sukhe_bator]

Googled these images by way of illustration
A Tibetan matchlock and rest in action

Museum examples

[sukhe_bator]

There's a deluxe book about Albert Kahn's photographic collection out now. I saw a copy in 'Ripleys Believe it or Not' shop last year, which had a few colour plates of Stephane Passet's Mongolian photos from 1911-13

[dandiggler]

Its a bipod rest for when they go hunting. Makes a good sniping weapon too. The Pathans on the NW Frontier had something similar. You don't want to miss that tasty looking bunny/deer if its the only game to be had in 100 miles!

Thanks! It's difficult to tell from the photos, what would they have been made out of?

[sukhe_bator]

The Museum examples I've seen are all made out of carved wood with steel fittings and elongated prongs at the ends of the feet. They are attached to the weapon about 2/3 of the way down the barrel to a rectangular protusion from the stock with a largish drilled hole. The Met ref I posted shows it.
They also often have leather weather-covers that wrap over the firing mechanism when not in use that are riveted to one side of the stock, some with studded decoration a bit like the horse armours etc.

[chicklewis]

I've seen photos of a Tibetan matchlock which used long, thin antelope horns for the two prongs of the rest.  Therefore I cut the horns off of a Partha Ibex and used them to make one of the rests for my Tibetan Cavalry.  It looks pretty sweet, imo.

Chick

[sukhe_bator]

Yep, I'm sure they would have done that too. Anything available given that materials were in short supply...

[sukhe_bator]

Spotted this rather useful photo source on Tibetan and Ngolok tribesmen
http://drjosephrock.blogspot.com/2006/10/butsang-ngolok-chief-with-his-wife.html

[chicklewis]

Spectacularly cool site !