Page 146 - Tibetan Thangka Painting Methodsand Mat, Jackson

Writing the sacred syllables on the back of the painting. Cutting out the completed painting.

artisans. Such burnishers continued to be used in China the thangka was painted on a cloth support, any pressure
down to the present century, for instance by the silver sufficient to burnish the gold involved the danger of
gilders of Kansu Province. Daniel V. Thompson, an gouging the painting surface. Therefore, while burnishing
authority on European medieval painting methods and the canvas with one hand, the artist used his other hand
materials, visited Western China in the first decades of to press a support against the back of the canvas. Objects
this century, and there he discovered how highly the nowadays used as burnisher supports include smooth flat
Chinese artisans valued their gzi-stone burnishers: pieces of glass, small mirrors, and small smooth pieces of
wood.
One of the industries of Lanchow is the manu- Burnishing was executed only when the painting
facture of silver-gilt ornaments, a sort of was finished in other respects. The painter proceeded
monopoly of that city. There is one street which from one deity and its surroundings to the next, and in
is occupied by silver-gilders, and they were all that way systematically covered the entire painting
supplied with exquisitely made and finished surface. As he burnished he held the canvas at an angle
burnishers which they used in their profession. that reflected light so that he could easily gauge his
These burnishers were not of hematite, but of progress. Where gold had been used only .for outlining
some sort of agate, beautifully veined and striped, and detailed line drawings, most or all the gold - such
and mounted in delicate ivory handles, with things as the light rays in the nimbuses, outlines of
ferrules of silver. Offers even of fantastic prices leaves and rocks, and details on fabrics - received
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met with blank refusal from every worker. burnishing. Similarly in black thangkas the painters
burnished all the gold line drawings. For burnishing such
Nowadays, Tibetan artists use various types of lines accuracy was not essential and the work proceeded
burnishers besides the gzi stone, including animal teeth, very quickly. The artist simply rubbed along the gold
other siliceous stones, and suitably shaped pieces of lines (and inevitably over 'some of the surrounding
metal. painted area too) with the burnisher until the gold began
The second necessary tool was a burnishing to shine. By contrast, the drawing of designs on larger
support (gzi rten). When burnishing gold one had to areas of gold was done slowly and deliberately, as when
bear down on the gold paint with some force, and since painting similar details.

142 FINISHING DETAILS