Page 92 - Tibetan Thangka Painting Methodsand Mat, Jackson

·Notes II. 'Jam-dpal-rdo-rje, p.37.
1. Here we are concerned only with painted thangkas 12. R. J. Gettens and G. L. Stout, Painting MateriJ:LIs,
(bris thang). The term thang ka itself is much wider, A Short Encyclopaedia (New York, Dover, 1966),
as it includes any Tibetan work of religious art p.163.
made up into scroll form. Dagyab, vol. I , pAO, lists
the following types of non-painted thangkas: 13. In the mid-13th century Sa-skya Pa~~ita (1182-
1251{2), the Tibetan representative to the Mongols,
1. tshem drub ma: embroidered
2. lhan drub ma or dras drub rna: applique advised the Tibetans that among other things
vermilion (mtshal) and madder (btsod) would be
3. lhan thabs ma: glued applique
acceptable as tribute to the Mongols. See Sa-skya
4. 'thag drub rna: woven Pa~~ita Kun-dga'-rgyal-mtshan, Bu slob rnams la
5. dpar ma: block-printed on cloth
spring ba, Sa skya bka' 'bum (Tokyo, 1968), vol.5,
pA02A.I.
2. In some black thangkas, however, only the back-
grounds were done in nag-thang style, and the Also in the biography of Chag lo-tsa-ba Chos-rje-
figures themselves were painted in full colour. dpal (1197-1264) one finds what appears to be a
reference to the dye trade. When Chag lo-tsa-ba
3. The deposits at Snye-mo had been worked since at went to Gnyal Lte'u-ra he brought so many mdzo-
least the 15th century, when the saint Thang-stong- loads of books with him that some doubted that he
rgyal-po is said to have obtained azurite pigment could have so many scriptures. They said he must
(rnthing zhun) from there. See Lo-chen 'Gyur- have a lot of raw sugar (bu ram) and dyes (if one
med-bde-chen (b. 1540), Dpal grub pa'i dbang reads tshos instead of chos). See Chos-dpal-dar-
phyug brtson 'grus bzang po'i rnam par thar pa kun dpyan, The Biography of Chag lo-tsd-ba Chos rje
gsal nor bu'i me long (Bir, 1976), p.125a. This dpal (Dharmasvamin), edited by Champa Thubten
passage was brought to our attention by Mr Cyrus Zongtse (New Delhi, 1981), p.189.5. Here Zongtse
Stearns. Rinpoche has retaine'd the spelling chos, although
tshos seems demanded by the context. See also
Tucci, voLl, p.278, also mentioned that in the 17th G. Roerich (transl.), Biography of Dharmasvdmin
century when Taranatha flourished, merchants
(Chag lo-tsd-ba Chos-rje-dpal) (Patna, 1959), p.104.
coming to Tibet from India brought spangCmthing. Here the translation was probably meant to read
These were probably green and blue copper
"dyes" instead of "dried" for the Tibetan equiva-
pigments, and not indigo (rams).
lent cited in a note is tshos. See also the Tibetan
text, ibid., p.39, line 13.
4. 'Jam-dpal-rdo-rje, Gso byed bdud rtsi'i 'khrul med
ngos 'dzin gso rig me long du rnam par shar pa Tucci, vol. I, p.278, also mentioned that merchants
mdzes mtshar mig rgyan (New Delhi, 1971), p.55. in the time of Taranatha (fl. 17th century) when
'Jam-dpal-rdo-rje gives mthing zhun as another name coming from India to Tibet used to bring spang-
for azurite. mthing (not indigo, but green and blue pigments)
and li-khri (not carmine, but minium) "which would
5. Ibid: spang mthing dang zangs rdo phan tshun seem to have been required as part of the taxes to
rgyud gcig par mthong. See also Dil-dmar dge-bshes be paid as passage fees to the custom officials
Bstan-'dzin-phun-tshogs, Bdud rtsi sman gyi rnam (sgo dpon)."
dbye ngo bo nus ming rgyas par bshad pa dri med
shel phreng (Leh, 1970), p.136A. 14. Mehra, p.208.
6. 'Jam-dpal-rdo-rje, p.55. 15. Gettens and Stout, p.166.

7. Mgon-po-skyabs, Sman sna tshog gi per chad [sic], 16. Mehra, p.208. These were thangkas nos.306 and
trilingual xylograph, British Museum, f.8. 308.

8. Mi-pham-rgya-mtsho, Bzo gnas, p.86.2. 17. GettensandStout,p.113.

9. These characteristics of ground azurite and mala- 18. Gettens and Stout, p.154f.
chite were taken advantage of in a different way by
traditional· Chinese painters, who allowed the darker 19. Sum-pa mkhan-po, p.398.6; Mi-pham-rgya-mtsho,
and lighter shades to settle as separate layers in the Bzo gnas, p.86.3. We might add that some verdigris
same paint bowl. See Chieh Tzu YUan Chuan may have reached Tibet via Nepal. B. H. Hodgson,
(1679-1701), The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of writing in 1831, estimated that about one-eighth
Painting, translated and edited by Mai-Mai Sze of the verdigris exported from India to Nepal was
(Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1977), re-exported to Tibet. See his Essays on the
pp.37f., 579f. Languages, Literature and Religion of Nepal and
Tibet, Together with Further Papers on the
10. Tucci, voLl, p.269. See also Chogyam Trungpa, Geography, Ethnology and Commerce of Those
Visual Dharma (Berkeley, 1975), p.17. Countries (New Delhi, 1972), p.109.

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