Page 11 - Tibetan Thangka Painting Methodsand Mat, Jackson

of cloth-sewing and leather-working. Many craftsmen A number of Tibetan texts exist that deal directly
required several types of expertise, and at the same with artistic theory and practice. Books that discuss the
time depended upon other artisans for their tools. making of sacred images form the largest part of a
Furniture makers, for example, used hammers, chisels branch of Tibetan literature called "technical treatises"
and saws made by the smith, and with them they built (bzo rig bstan beos). The main works of this sort
such things as tables, boxes and altars. Such wooden describe the dimensions and characteristics of sacred
objects often required detailed carving, which in turn figures, as well as giving similar information on such
was not complete until painted. Likewise the turners, other religious objects as stupas, mal)~alas, vajras and
whose lathes and metal tools produced various types bells. A few of these texts also give accounts of the
of wooden bowls, containers and churns, often returned techniques and materials involved, for example, in the
their products to the metalworkers to be lined with casting of metal images, the construction of clay and
silver or banded with brass. A thoughtful examination papier-mache figures or the painting of thangkas and
of even a single commonplace object such as a table or a murals.
butter-tea churn can thus reveal the complex interplay Besides such books that describe the major arts,
of the arts and crafts in old Tibet. there also exist a small number of texts specifically
It is still possible to visit areas of traditional devoted to the methods and materials of the lesser arts
Tibetan culture in the Himalayas where many of these and crafts. A splendid example is the Bzo rig za rna tog
arts and crafts are still cultivated, and the complexity of 'Jam-mgon Mi-pham-rgya-mtsho (1846-1912).2
and richness of the artistic and technical traditions of Not only is this book a remarkable source for the study
Tibet proper can be partially reconstructed on the basis of many little-known crafts and techniques, but it is
of the wonderfully crafted objects in museum collec- also a sort of compendium showing the astounding
tions and from the memories of older Tibetans. But in diversity of skills, methods and materials that were once
addition there exists another revealing window on cultivated by Tibetan' craftsmen. Consider the following
Tibetan artistic and material culture, one which until topics dealt with by Mi-pham-rgya-mtsho in 1906:
now has hardly been used: the written records that
survive within the literature of Tibet. 1. incense manufacture
2. ink preparation from nine different materials
3. penmanship
4. paper-making
5. stones for polishing paper, and the polishing
support
6. drawing lines for guiding calligraphy
7. the penknife
8. the pen and its characteristics
9. preparation oJ powdered gold for lettering
10. preparation of powdered copper, brass and
silver
11. imitation gold and silver inks
12. preparation of paints: grinding, mixing, etc.
13. preparation of a cloth painting support
14. imitation gold varnishes made with mica
15. varnishes used with paints
16. linseed oil and its uses
17. Chinese lacquer
18. shellac
19. dyeing silk, cotton and woollen cloth
20. felt dyeing
21. leather dyeing
22. paints for applying to iron and metals
23. various finishes
24. crystalline substances
25. fashioning objects from unmeltable precious
substances
26. casting of metals
27. powdering of gold for "cold" gilding
28. "hot" gilding by the mercury-evaporation
process
29. refining gold for various uses including gold
leaf
A craftsman making papier-macM masks in Ladakh, 30. borax soldering

ARTS AND CRAFTS 7