The vast majority of surviving Tibetan art created before the mid-20th century is religious, with the main forms being thangka, paintings on cloth, mostly in a technique described as gouache or distemper,Effectively the same thing Tibetan Buddhist wall paintings, and small statues in bronze, or large ones in clay, stucco or wood. They were commissioned by religious establishments or by pious individuals for use within the practice of Tibetan Buddhism and were manufactured in large workshops by monks and lay artists, who are mostly unknown. Various types of religious objects, such as the phurba or ritual dagger,Rowland, 271 are finely made and lavishly decorated. Secular objects, in particular jewellery and textiles, were also made, with Chinese influences strong in the latter.Rowland, 271
Himalayan art is an overall term for Tibetan art together with the art of Bhutan, Nepal, Ladakh, Kashmir and neighbouring parts of Mongolia and China where Tibetan Buddhism is practiced.Guy, John. "Arts of the Greater Himalayas: Kashmir, Tibet, and Nepal." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. online (May 2021) Sino-Tibetan art refers to works in a Tibetan style and with Tibetan Buddhist iconography produced in either China or Tibet, often arising from patronage by Chinese emperors. The artists seem to have been a mixture of Tibetan and Chinese, with some Newari from Nepal,Rhie and Thurman, 277, 392 and the place of manufacture is often uncertain between the two. The less common term of Tibeto-Chinese may be used when the Tibetan element is the stronger.Rhie and Thurman, 278, 393. Patricia Berger writes "The series of neologisms or hyphenated terms currently in use among Western writers—Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Chinese, Lamaist, International Gelukpa style—all seem conspicuously designed to highlight the collage-like juxtaposition of representational intent these works represent." Berger, 7
Tibetan religious art has been described as "almost unbelievably conservative", to a large extent representing "the perpetuation of the forms and iconography of the last phase of Buddhist art of India", ending about the 12th century. This was the Pala-Sena art of north-east India, relatively close to Tibet, and the home of key figures like Atisha, a missionary from Nalanda in Bihar. After the decline of Buddhism in India soon after, very little survives from the Indian Buddhist art of this or earlier periods except monumental sculpture, and art historians must deduce much about this vanished culture from Tibetan works.Rowland, 268–269, 268 quoted; Kossack and Singer, 4, 11–14 Other influences on Tibetan art over the centuries came from Chinese and Nepalese Buddhist art.Rowland, 266–267 Landscape backgrounds were adopted from Chinese painting from about the 14th century for some thanka,Rhie and Thurman, 52, 64 and Chinese ornamental styles became dominant around 1700.Rowland, 270
The finest achievements are typically considered to be in painted thanka and small bronzes (often gilt-bronze), where the best works have very high levels of technical skill. These were generally private works, only seen within monasteries, and often specifically designed for meditation. More public art includes large statues for prayer halls, large appliqué thankas for temporary display during Tibetan festivals on thangka walls, and sand mandalas, also temporary.
Artists Painters and at least the modellers of sculpture were mostly monks, but less so for those made in China, or by the many Nepali artists who worked in or for Tibet. Many applied arts were made by lay craftspeople, sometimes working to designs for ornament supplied by monks. Apart from works from recent decades the names of the artists involved are unknown, except in the case of a few leading artist monks, such as Chöying Dorje, 10th Karmapa (1604–1674), and the Mongolian Zanabazar (1635–1715).Rhie and Thurman, 141, a statue by or in the style of Zanabazar; Kossack and Singer, 16 mention others
There have recently been rather controversial attempts to attribute some surviving works to a well-documented and significant Nepali artist called Aniko or Anige (1245–1306), who worked in painting, sculpture and architecture in Tibet and China, but it remains uncertain if anything by him, rather than his sons or followers, has survived.Weldon, David, "On Recent Attributions to Aniko", 2010, Asian art.com; Kossack and Singer, 22
Painting
Paintings come in several types and sizes. The most important is the thangka, a broad term for portable paintings on cloth or paper that can be stored rolled-up. Larger ones may also be called "banners", and the really large ones for display on thangka walls at festivals are mostly made from appliqué cloth, with only minimal painting."Textile: Applique Artwork Main Page", HAR Even relatively small thangkas which are much taller than they are wide may be called banners.Rhie and Thurman, 122–123
The usual painting technique is gouache on fine cotton, but other cloth may be used. Painting was over an underdrawing. Colours were originally bright, though many old paintings have faded. Most, and all before the 16th century, are square or have a vertical "portrait" format,Rhie and Thurman, 386–387 and most are under a metre tall.Rhie and Thurman, 355, commenting on the large size of one in Boston that is 137 cm high. There are also images in silk tapestry using the Chinese kesi technique.Rhie and Thurman, 126–127, 391 The earliest thangka to survive are some from the blocked-up cave near Dunhuang that date from a period of Tibetan occupation there in the 10th century.Kossack and Singer, 5; Rowland, 268–269
Tsakli or "initiation cards" are small painted (or sometimes printed) images on cloth, glued to a card backing, usually showing a relatively simple image of a sacred figure, or a pair. They were produced in sets of perhaps six to over a hundred, and used for instructing monks and also the temporary consecration and protection of sites or objects. The figure may be identified in ink on the back. They are one of a number of Tibetan forms without close comparators in neighbouring Buddhist countries.Li, Juan "Tibetan Ritual Miniature Paintings", March 17, 1995. Asian Art
Most monasteries and temples in Tibet had wall paintings, a large percentage of which have been destroyed or badly damaged. These were painted over several plaster-like layers of "clay, chopped-up straw, and dung" in the same technique as thangkas.Rhie and Thurman, 384–385 They usually cover the entire wall above a certain level, using much the same subjects and styles as thangkas. Paintings and other works were ritually consecrated upon completion.Kossack and Singer, 18
Book covers more often included painted decoration than the pages of the book. This is usually on the inside of the wood cover, so the painting is protected.Rhie and Thurman, 314–315 Initially books had the very long, thin, shape of Indian palm leaf manuscripts whatever material was used, allowing only a long row of tsakli-like single figures. Later different shapes were used, allowing larger thangka-style compositions.Behrend, 24–27 Murals on Tibetan Buddhist monasteries
Sculpture
The most common material for smaller sculptures is metal, usually "bronze", which is often gilded. Modern scientific analysis shows that the actual compositions of Tibetan "bronze" (or copper alloy) are even more variable than in bronze from other parts of the world, being very often brass and sometimes almost pure copper. The compositions sometimes vary considerably from one end of a statue to the other. Tibetan foundries seem to have used whatever base metal was available, and not to have been too careful in ensuring proper mixing. Pieces made in China or Mongolia are generally much more homogenous.Rhie and Thurman, 387–388
Precious metals may be used, especially for Imperial Chinese commissions,Rhie and Thurman, 142, with a silver figure made in China but figures mainly in gold or silver are very rare;Rhie and Thurman, 298 evidently some were made, but they have presumably been recycled as bullion later on. A very high-quality yab-yum pair in the Hermitage Museum with an inscribed date to the Ming Yongle reign of 1403–1425 is made of copper and about 40% gold, but this is a rarity.Rhie and Thurman, 233
Tibet has deposits of gold, but under the influence of Bon, mining was regarded as rather immoral, and only the meagre product of panning in rivers was acceptable. Large inflows of gold came from China only after the Mongol Yuan dynasty began to heavily patronize Tibetan Buddhism in the late 13th century.Jing, 215-216
Metal sculptures sometimes have colour added by a variety of techniques including inlays, partial gilding, lacquer paint, coloured wax, and using alloys with different metal mixtures, especially zinc to give different colours. Jewels may be inserted into the metal. The usual basic casting technique is lost wax casting; many works, especially in later periods, are cast in several pieces, then joined.Rhie and Thurman, 387–388 Small relics of distinguished teachers were often placed inside the hollow statues, wrapped in paper with writing identifying them.Rhie and Thurman, 351–353
Many of the common materials for sculpture are not often used in Tibet. Wood was expensive, and generally used for buildings, furniture and caskets rather than sculpture (the wood reliefs at the Jokhang in Lhasa are by Nepali sculptors brought in for the purpose).Slusser, Mary Shepherd, "The Lhasa gTsug lag khang ("Jokhang"): Further Observations on the Ancient Wood Carvings", 2006, Asian art Wood doorway surrounds in monasteries sometimes had figurative carvings.Kalantari, Christiane, Allinger, Eva, "The spiritual career of Buddha Śākyamuni on the portal of Khorchag (Khojarnath). Towards a reconstruction of the whole narrative cycle on a Royal Western Tibetan temple (early 11th c.)", 2018, Asian arts But small works in wood, ivory, terracotta and stone are found. Stone is mainly used for small steles carved in relief, or rock reliefs carved into cliffs beside paths, which were then painted.Rhie and Thurman, 387–388
Large sculptures, almost all sacred figures in a meditating or teaching seated position, are mostly for the altars of temples or prayer halls. The Tibetan prototype for these is the Jowo, a bronze statue of the Buddha in Lhasa, supposedly brought from China by a Tang dynasty princess marrying the Tibetan king. Most later Tibetan examples are made of clay or rammed earth over a hollow interior stuffed with straw, with wood supports for the largest. They are then painted and partly gilded, and often finished with varnish.Rhie and Thurman, 387
Tsa-tsa are small relief plaques or miniature chortens made in moulds with clay or rammed earth. Many are left in places considered holy, and the chorten-shaped ones play a part in funerary rituals. Some include ashes from the cremated remains of a deceased person, or objects symbolizing them. Others, like their Indian predecessors, work as souvenirs of pilgrimages, and are taken home to be displayed.Rhie and Thurman, 330, 393; Li, Juan, "Images of Earth and Water: The Tsa-Tsa Votive Tablets of Tibet", 1995, "Medium: Sculpture, Stamped Clay (Tsatsa)" HAR
Other media for Buddhist art