Dalai Lama's portrait of enthronement fetches £152,800 at Bonhams auction

A rare portrait of the 14th Dalai Lama related to his enthronement, painted by noted Indian artist Krishna Kanwal, was sold for £152,800 at Bonhams in London on Thursday. This was part of an auction featuring the collection and personal archive of Sir Basil Gould, who was a British Political Officer in Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet from 1935 to 1945.

In 1940, Gould attended the installation ceremonies of the 14th Dalai Lama in Lhasa, Tibet. Gould brought a gift of a Meccano set for the young Tenzin Gyatso who was enthroned as the 14th Dalai Lama. In 1941, Gould was knighted by King George VI. In 1945, the British Mission under Gould helped to start a school in Lhasa, but it was soon closed under pressure from Tibetan religious authorities.

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The portrait captures the moment when the 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), then just four years old, was formally enthroned in Lhasa, Tibet, on February 22, 1940.

The auction’s paintings were a series of 40 original watercolours by Krishna Kanwal depicting Sir Basil’s 1940 diplomatic mission to Lhasa. These works, many shown publicly for the first time, offered an intimate and vivid portrayal of the enthronement ceremony, surrounding dignitaries and ceremonial life in Tibet. The collections all together were sold for £457,600.

Also, in the auction was Sir Basil Gould’s personal archive, which included seven photograph albums containing more than 1,500 images from the 1936-37 British Mission to Lhasa. This visual documentation of early 20th-century Tibet fetched £57,550. Additionally, a collection of rare Tibetan manuscripts and books, notably Gould’s 1941 report on the recognition and enthronement of the 14th Dalai Lama both in English and Tibetan was sold for £14,080.