Page 89 - Tibetan Thangka Painting Methodsand Mat, Jackson

that was a little more involved than the method gold there. The names of some of their establishments,
described by Mi-pham-rgya-mtsho. First of all the soot, such as the Blue Doors East and West (sga sngan shar
glue solution and medicinal decoctions were combined nub), were known to most of the painters in the l1J.asa
in a porcelain basin, and they were stirred to make a area.
thick paste-like mixture. This was then kneaded by hand The Newar gold workers kept their"' technique a
and formed into balls, which were next wrapped in secret. Nevertheless it is probable that their method
cotton cloth and steamed. After steaming the material for powdering gold had a lot in common with the
was pounded in a stone mortar with a wooden pestle. technique used by Tibetans when preparing gold for
It was then alternately steamed and pounded for some the "hot" mercury gilding. 47 In the latter process a
time. When it had become flexible and homogeneous small piece of solid pure gold was beaten into gold
it was rolled into long strips, which were then cut into leaf, which in turn was cut into very thin strips. The thin
small pieces weighing about one and one-half ounces strips were then snipped with scissors, producing tiny
each. These small pieces were then moistened and rectangular specks. These specks, however, were still
hammered, one at a time, on a piece of iron. Finally, too coarse to be used in paint, and they had to be
following the addition of musk and camphor, the pulverized still further by some grinding process. It was
smooth material was rounded, shaped, and pressed into, this last and crucial step in the technique that was one
wooden molds. These molded ink sticks only required of the main secrets of the Newar gold workers.
final drying, after which they could be wrapped and Because of its plastic qualities gold cannot be
45
then stored for later use. ground directly like other pigments; hence the
In addition to the Tibetan or Chinese inks made difficulties at this stage. 48 Some intermediate substance,
from soot, the analysis of Tibetan painting materials such as stone or a special liquid medium, had to be
by Mehra also indicated the presence of some other used to keep the particles of gold from adhering to
blacks, namely bitumen (asphaltum), "carbon black" each other and to the mortar and pestle. The need for
and bone black. The latter pigment, now popularly such an effective grinding medium was painfully realized
also called "ivory black," is made by charring the bones not many years ago by some Tibetan artists painting
of animals. Its presence was indicated in two thangkas, temple murals in Bodhnath near Kathmandu. They tried
one described as "l1J.asa style, 18th or early 19th for a long time to grind a quantity of gold to the desired
century", and the other as "sNar-thang school, .early consistency, but only succeeded in producing a dull,
17th century.,,46 None of our informants used these. dark mixture that was totally unsuitable for painting.
After thus blackening about five ounces of gold, they
finally went to the Newar proprietors of one of the
Gold (gser) "Blue Doors" who are still doing business in Kath-
mandu, and bought from them the required amount of
Gold, a substance recognized almost universally as a powdered gold. (Another problem may have been that
symbol of wealth and beauty, was highly prized as a the gold was not sufficiently pure to begin with. The
pigment by both artists and patrons in Tibet. Pure gold Newars were also experts at purifying gold).
not only possesses its own inimitable colour and lustre, When Tibetans did prepare their own "cold gold",
but also it does not tarnish and it is extremely workable. they commonly used small pieces of crushed stone as
It can be drawn into very fine wires, or it can be beaten their grinding intermediate. L. S. Dagyab described the
so thin that light can pass through it. Such qualities lend basic process as follows:
themselves very well to the purposes of an artisan, for
even when applied in very thin layers the reflective metal Small ribbon-like strips [of gold] ... are in turn
imparts to any surface the lustre and beauty of solid mixed with some powdered bits of stone or glass.
gold. This mixture is ground with a rounded stone and
Tibetans used various forms of gold for artistic a little water is added now and then till the mix-
purposes, including gold powder (gser rdul), gold leaf ture acquires a liquid consistency like moist clay.
(gser shag) and mercury-gold amalgam. In thangka The bits of stone and glass can then be washed out
painting, however, the artists used only a paint of finely leaving the gold liquid. 49
powdered gold. Gold applied in the form of a paint was
known as "cold gilt" (grang gser), as opposed to "hot Artists in Eastern Tibet had developed a slightly more
gilt" (tsha gser) - gold applied by the process of involved technique. Mi-pham-rgya-mtsh0 50 described
mercury gilding in which the gilded object had to be the process:
heated to evaporate the mercury.
Tibetan painters prepared cold gilt paint in a [Pound] the gold into leaf that is so thin that it
number of ways, depending on which form of gold was can be cut with the fingernails. Then, thoroughly
available to them. Often they obtained it in a finely grind it in a stone [mortar] together with mkhar
. powdered s.tate that needed only the addition of some gong [a siliceous mineral?] .51 Next, encase the
binder to ready it for use. In Central Tibet the painters ground gold in bovine dung, and when it has
usually obtained their gold from Newar merchants in dried, burn it. Gently stir the ashes in some water,
l1J.asa, who nearly monopolized the sale of powdered and the stone powder and gold will separate.

MINERAL COLOURS 85