Page 27 - Tibetan Thangka Painting Methodsand Mat, Jackson

Notes

1. Please note that the term distemper is used in the measure more or less what was considered to be a
sense given by the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Art standard "thangka size" (thang tshad): three spans
(1969): "Aqueous painting medium composed of and three finger widths by two spans and two finger
water, powdered colour, and size (glue) or casein." widths or about 25 by 16 inches. This "standard"
Distemper is sometimes confused with tempera, and size seems to have been what the artists in that
indeed the French word detrempe has both mean- tradition used when painting common sets of
ings. Tibetan painters are not known to )lave used thangkas or certain standard compositions. How-
egg tempera. However, in the past other sorts of egg ever, it was not obligatory, nor did artists of other
preparations were sometimes employed in painting. traditions adhere to it. A patron could specify any
Bo-dong (1375-1451) described the use pf an size of thangka that he or she wanted. Elsewhere
egg-white glair as a protective coat for paintings. one hears of thangkas measuring an "arrow's
See his Mkhas pa, vol.2, p.262.1. The later scholar length" (mda' tshad, approximately four spans),
Sum-pa mkhan-po Ye-shes-dpal-'byor (1704-1788) the "height of a man" (mi tshad, about eight spans
mentioned the use of an egg mixture when pre- or about five feet) and the "height of one storey"
paring vermilion for application with varnish (pra (thog tshad, approximately nine or ten feet). The
rtsi). See his Sku gsung thugs rten gyi thig rtsa same measures were commonly applied also to
mchan 'grel can me tog 'phreng mdzes, Collected statues.
Works (New Delhi, 1975), volA, p.399.3. See also
Mi-pham-rgya-mtsho, Bzo gnas, p.90.2, which 6. According to Ms Ann Shaftel (personal communi-
here is based on Sum-pa mkhan-po. cation) some recent painters of Khams did not size
their canvases. However, Mi-pham-rgya-mtsho (a
Nowadays some forgers of antique thangkas are 19th-century scholar and artist from Khams)
said to be using an egg-white glair to coat the front described the practice as standard. See his Bzo
of the paintings. A supposed test of the antiquity gnas, p.89.6. Mi-pham here followed the earlier
of a thangka is to rub some of its paint with a
account of another Eastern Tibetan, Sum-pa mkhan-
moistened finger to see if any colour comes off. po (volA, p.399).
The egg glair forms a waterproof protective coating
over the paint. 7. L. S. Dagyab, Tibetan Religious Art (Weisbaden,
1977), pA5.
2. These two binders are mentioned below in connec-
tion with gold and inks. Another adhesive used by 8. One painter from the Lhasa area used to add a
Tibetan artists was made from the root of a plant little dbang-Iag-root adhesive to the hide glue.
called dbang po 'i lag pa o"r dbang lag. In the recent This was thought to reduce the danger of cracking.
Bod ljongs .rgyun spyod krung dbyi'i sman rigs On dbang lag see above, note 2.
(Peking, Bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang,
1973), illustration no.346, this plant is identified 9. Ms Ann Shaftel in a personal communication
as Gymnadenia crassinervis Finet. informed us that some Khams-pa painters also
used slaked lime.
3. We have not seen the term hang tshon in any text.
The spelling given is based on the pronunciation of 10. This technique was commonly used by painters
Wangdrak from Shekar Dzong. Perhaps its written working in the Karma-sgar-bris and the Sman-bris
equivalent should be hal tshon. The latter occurs in gsar-ma styles of Khams. It was particularly effect-
the phrase "zhal thang hal tshon rna", which is ive there because these techniques used thin washes
found in a biography of the Third Dalai Lama. See and the minimal application of paint. The ground
'Phags pa 'jig rten dbang phyug gi rnam sprul rim itself showed through in places and a plain white
byon gyi 'khrungs rabs deb ther nor bu 'i 'phreng ba ground would have been glaring and unpleasant.
(Dharamsala?, n.d.), vol. 2, p.81, lines 1-2. Some
painters differentiated rich or full-coloured paint- 11. Pallis, p.292. The approach of the Ladakhis con-
ings from light or pale-coloured ones using the tinues to be above all practical. Nowadays some
terminology snum tshon for the former and skya artists there use thin bendable metal rods in their
tshon for the latter. For the pronunciation of these inner frames.
and other Tibetan terms see the Glossary.
12. Bo-dong, Mkhas pa, voU, pp.254A.-255.3. See
4. Ms Ann Shaftel, a conservator specializing in
also Sum-pa mkhan-po, p.399, and Mi-pham-rgya-
Tibetan paintings, informed us that most of the mtsho, Bzo gnas, pp.89.6-90.1.
marked horizontal cracking that is characteristic of
many damaged thangkas probably resulted from 13. One can also find considerable differences among
improper handling during rolling and storage.
the supports and grounds of thangkas from other
periods. See Huntington.
5. In the tradition of Legdrup Gyatsho, a single
painting executed on a cloth of this size would

NOTES CHAPTER TWO 23