Tibet is a high-altitude mountainous plateau with most of its land over 12,000 feet above sea level. Often referred to as ‘The Roof of the World’, with the contrasting terrain of deep valleys and high mountain peaks, with lakes, waterfalls, cliff and rock outcrops, the soul of the landscape within the Tibetan plateau lends itself to Tibetan arts’ unique and specific visionary quality.
With a small population that has remained at one million people over time, traditional ways of life for most ordinary people i.e., farming and stockbreeding, did not encourage the use of furniture. The monasteries had the greatest need to store or display goods and offerings.
Large quantities of this priceless furniture had been destroyed and the contents dispersed under Chinese occupation (1959) and the pursuing Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). As many of the older monks had been killed or exiled during this period it has proven difficult to know the full extent for which the furniture was used in religious context, although some basic knowledge remains.
The furniture tradition began very simply in the 7th century and little had changed for 500 years, research confirms. Completing a piece would typically include three guilds to produce one piece of furniture, i.e., the carpenter would build the furniture, an artisan would do the painting, and a metalsmith would mount hinges, handles, etc.
Furniture was designed to provide strength and conceal methods used to hold the parts together where no nails or clamps were ever used in the carpentry. The typical structure of Tibetan cabinets was a frame joined together, with or without wedges, that would hold the panels in place. The back and sides were very simple, while the frame for the front panels was decoratively carved, often divided into compartments, and attractively painted. The doors of the cabinets could swing open and shut on wooden pegs and be removed when opened at 90 degrees, and easily slotted back into place. It was not until the late 1980s to 1990s that Tibetan furniture of any kind showed up in the international market where most was sourced out of Kathmandu and sold by major Nepali dealers to Western collectors, although dealers were also based in Lhasa and Shigatse.
The role of the monastery in Tibetan history cannot be overemphasized as the monastic establishments directed and controlled the country. The monasteries were mostly constructed some distance from the villages, and very frequently on the summit of hills in a commanding position. In Tibet, where trees are very scarce, the walls are made either of stone -which for larger buildings are regularly shaped-or of unburnt, sun-dried bricks, which are cemented with imperfectly made lime, or even with clay only.
Once the preparation of the furniture’s surface was complete, the decoration of the furniture began, with the most popular background color used on trunks and cabinets being red which was attained from cinnabar or vermillion. Green was more frequently used than blue in backgrounds and derived from closely related minerals, malachite and azurite.
The Lhasa government strictly controlled the mining distribution of the pigment (azurite) due to the importance of painting, where artists usually obtained it directly or indirectly from a government office.
Orange came from a synthetic minimum and had to be imported from Nepal and India and was especially used for coloring flowers. An intense yellow was formed from orpiment and is relatively rare when used as a background. Various minerals were used for the white pigments, and black pigment came from different forms of carbon. Real gold was used to enhance the beauty and value of painted furniture to retain its luster, and powdered gold was most often used for outlines. The softer shades are usually vegetable and lower dyes that can last for years and remain attractive and captivating.
Once the preliminary design had been prepared and the pigments mixed, the decoration would begin, starting with the background, followed by the shading, details and outlines.
An extremely important technique used in the decoration of furniture was the raised gesso technique known as Kyungbur. The height of splendid kyungbur decorative effect was achieved on eighteenth and nineteenth century boxes and cabinets. Using gesso (yak’s glue and stone minerals), sugar and linseed oil, the thick mixture of perfect consistency was carefully applied to create a textural relief line effect in goose-bump’ style and was popularly used for the scales of the dragons’ body which would often start with large bumps and become smaller as they reached the tail. The resulting raised gesso pattern would usually be gilded, or if not possible, painted using the Dutch gold ragdul.
For practical reasons each piece of furniture is finished with a shiny, hard, waterproof coat to protect the painted surface.
As wood was scarce in Tibet, the manufacture of precious cabinets, trunks and reading tables were costly affairs that also needed to take into account the hire of skillful painters and craftsmen. Monasteries possessed furniture as they had the greatest need to store and display religious goods and offerings.
Iconography was an extremely important means of communication, to spread and confirm various belief systems, and the alliances, practices and outcomes associated with them.
It is not unusual to find a mixture of items from various auspicious symbols on the same piece of furniture, with all the traditional auspicious symbols continuing to be important today in TibetanBuddhist culture and art, but the most commonplace are the Eight Auspicious Symbols.
Snow lions are considered the protectors of Tibet and are portrayed on the Tibetan flag which remains outlawed in Tibet.
Floral motifs are favored subjects of Tibetan artisans. The lotus flower symbolizes purity as even though the flower stems from mud, it grows elegantly out of the water, straight and proud. Within Buddhist philosophy, the lotus is regarded as a paradise where the soul stems from.
The Triple Gem or triratna represents the trinity of Buddha, dharma (Buddhist teachings) and the sagha (the community of believers) that form the Buddhist trinity of boy, speech and mind.
Snakes are considered as the guardians of the underground where jewels are found. Dragons can be associated with wealth and status as well as with luck and happiness. On Tibetan furniture dragons are frequently portrayed guarding flaming jewels or the wheel of the Dharma.
The mongoose is considered an auspicious and wealth-giving animal within Tibetan culture because the stomach of the mongoose was useful as a money bag.
Some Tibetan furniture features the 'long-life man' (old man of longevity) of the 'long-life vase' where he is usually shown with deer, birds, water, rocks and a tree.
Other symbols are associated with improving spiritual practice and to realize blessings for all sentient beings; these include tigers, skin offerings, cadavers, and skeletons.
It is the meanings of the images and the use of the furniture that is most important in the context of Buddhism.
Cabinets took on a wide range of beautiful patterns and designs, with doors in the front that were used to store religious and other more practical items decorated with floral motifs, dragons, birds, auspicious symbols, flowers, foliage and brocade patterns. Besides the food bowls and robes needed for everyday life, religious ritual implements such as silk dance costumes, masks, and scroll painting (thangkas) were often stored in chests or cabinets.
From the late eighteenth century onwards, decorative cabinets were being used more widely in town houses and monasteries alike, and it is from this period that one finds the best examples of this furniture.
The name derives from the Tibetan word for books ‘peca’ and box ‘gam’ and is a distinct Tibetan furniture type. It is usually a small low cabinet with three raised sides characterized by a scalloped panel at the back and molded panels at the sides, especially designed to hold an honored space upon which loose leaves of a religious text or manuscript could rest. An important feature of the smaller reading desks was that they were finely painted on both sides.
View full collectionTorgams were used to store torma, a ritual offering cake made by monks from barley, flour, and butter, offered to the deities in ceremonies. Torgams were constructed specifically to protect the religious and perishable torma, to keep away the mice, as these were offerings to wrathful deities. Dependent on the chosen deity to be worshipped, their full image or attributes are often depicted on torgam, many were painted with tantric imagery such as the wrathful face of Black Mahakala. Other typical decorative motifs on torgams include skull cups brimming with offerings of the sense organs, garlands of freshly cut human heads and skulls, tiger and elephant skins, as well as more benign animals and objects associated with various deities and garlands of jewels. Only once a year are the tormas brought out from the torgam and replaced with new offerings.
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Also known as a ‘gam’ or box. Wooden trunks are usually painted most elaborately on the front and sometimes on the sides. The finer and more extensive the work the more likely the piece was used by or for a high personage, probably a lama.A special relationship was first established between the Mongol ruler Godan Khan and his spiritual adviser, the Tibetan lama Sakya Pandita in 1244 that distinguished the lama’s commitment to the spiritual wellbeing of his patron and his patron’s subjects, and Godan Khan’s veneration and protection of the lama.
Such a relationship was continued by other Mongolian, Chinese and Manchurian rulers with other Tibetan lamas, that resulted in vast quantities of treasures from abroad coming into possession of many Tibetan monasteries.
The extraordinary aesthetic decoration on many of the trunks indicates the importance given to storing of religious accessories where from at least the seventeenth century through to the nineteenth century a distinct style can be observed on the trunks because of the magnificence of design found on some of these boxes. The significance of this period can be related back to 1942 where the Mongol Gushri Khan conferred on the Fifth Dalai Lama temporal authority over all of Tibet, the first time that a Dalai Lama had attained both temporal and spiritual rule. Shortly after, construction of the Potala palace commenced in 1645 as the new permanent residence of the Dalai Lamas.
Tibetan Monks Prayer chest used in Tibetan monastery by young novice. This utilitarian simple wooden table exhibits a captivating three-dimensional colorful motif of symbolic Buddhist images.
Simplistic design and complexity of carving add a meditative tranquility to this Museum quality Antique Tibetan Monks Table.
Ava Period and Art
The Ava period broadly spans from 1287 – 1752. The magnificent city of Ava, known in Burma as Ratanapure (City of Gems) was a wealth and magnificent city. In 1838 the city was almost entirely destroyed by an earthquake.
During the Ava period, Burmese art evolved independently from its Indian precedents. Sculptures were carved in the round, evident in the base. Often the full and fleshy body is depicted as seated with legs entwined in the lotus position. Eyebrows are usually dramatically arched upwards, and the half-closed eyes look down instead of outward where the features seem extremely child-like. This curious expression is explained by the Burmese as a way of indicating that the Buddha manifested the purity of an infant.
Mudra
The mudra,a subtle hand gesture has its origin as the spontaneous natural sentiment or expression of innate pristine awareness. The right hand of the Buddha is in bhumisparsamudra or calling the earth to witness his enlightenment. Complimenting this is his left hand in dyhanamudra, with the open palm resting on the lap, a mudrasymbolizing meditation. These two mudras are the most common form of expression Buddha statuary.
Religious Merit
The donor’s name and purpose of this commissioned Buddha statue is inscribed on the base of the Buddha. This is a typical Burmese act of worship. Wealthy Burmese would commission beautiful and elaborate Buddha statues to dedicate to certain monasteries, both as a gesture of accumulating merit and devotion. This is a collection piece.
The Mandalay period was very short from 1853-1885 and it was the last school of sculpture inRoyal Burma. However, the design and stylistics of Mandalay artisans extend edits influence past the 20th century. Even today, Mandalay remains the religious and cultural center of Burma.
Mandalay Buddha images often have a broad band across the forehead of the Buddha sculptured just below the hairline, inlaid with beautiful pieces of glass. The hair hugs the head in tight curls and covers a broad prominent ushinisha (topknot).The face is often a full oval face and with downward gazing eyes.
This Buddha has eyes made from porcelain and inlaid with black stone. The ear lobes are curved and elongated and reach the shoulders, a common design motif in Buddhist statuary. The elongated ears refer to the Buddha’s past life as a royal prince when he had to adorn heavy pieces of jewelry and earrings that had stretched is ear lobes.
The conventional imagery of the Buddha often presents the right shoulder bare, with his uttarasanga (robes) clad over his left shoulder. The focus of Mandalay style Buddha sculpture is often the edges of the robes, sanghati, which are intricately sculptured as multitudinous rippling, cascading folds across the body, and the ends, where they gather into beautiful folds.
