Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice

Figure 4. Detail IR-riiflectogram from A
Mahasiddha and Taklungpa Lamas, show­
ing the color code pkya on a landmass. Los
Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Ange­
les (M. 81.206.12).

82

red lead and calcium carbonate. Historical references given by Jackson and

Jackson state that Tibetan painters did not use the natural mineral minium

( 32 ). Instead, the synthetic lead tetroxide was imported from China, Nepal,

and India. Calcium carbonate was available in Tibet, particularly in Rinpung,

an area north of Lhasa and the seat of government in the sixteenth century

(33). In certain parts of Tibet, the cost of calcium carbonate was prohibitive

and less expensive white pigments were often used. It is unknown why cal­

cium carbonate was used to lighten the red lead. Other pigments were mixed

with kaolin. The choice may be due to the purity and color of the calcium

based pigment.

Summary of palette and color notations fo r the Shambhala set

Pigment identification determined that the notations on the ground layer

directly correlate to the pigments used, supporting the belief that these no­

tations were a guide fo r the artist(s) and apprentices. Pigments used fo r the

respective color notations are similar throughout, which is not surprising giv­

en that the Shambhala paintings belong to one set.

The artist's palette fo r the Shambhala paintings from the Museum of Fine

Arts, Boston (BMFA) consists of pigments derived from minerals or synthetic

mineral analogues with the exception of two organic dyes, indigo and lac

(Table 1). The pigments identified in this investigation deviate little from the

modern-day painter's palette, as documented by Jackson and Jackson. The

pure blue and green colors were painted with coarsely ground, unadulterated

mineral pigments. All other colors were mixed with a white pigment either

to lighten the color or to achieve translucency. The orange color is unique

in that it was created by mixing calcium carbonate with red lead. In all other

cases kaolin clay was used, perhaps due to its availability and low cost.

All color notations are handwritten in Tibetan dbu. med script on the ground

layer. Some derivative colors are indicated by additional dbu. med characters

to the root notation. Figure 2 is an infrared reflectogram depicting such a

color notation. In this case, kya is added to the root notation ngo. The entire

notation, ngo kya (s ngo skya), indicates a light blue color. The second character,

kya, is used to indicate whitening of the existing color, ngo. Another notation

fo und indicates the darkening of an existing color. The notation has the

additional characters na and ga, pronounced nag. These additions represent

the Tibetan word fo r black (nag po). In the case of jang nag �jang nag), nag

indicates darkening of the existing green color, jang.

Comparative paintings

Comparative paintings from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Los

Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) were examined using infrared

reflectography (34,35). Only a few pigment samples, however, were taken.

The LACMA nineteenth-century commemoration thangka fo r the bhimaratha

rite from Tashi Lhunpo monastery in central Tibet did not reveal any color

codes.

Another LACMA painting, A Mahasiddha and Taklungpa Lamas (ca. late 1700s)

from Taklung monastery in central Tibet, revealed color codes written in

Tibetan dbu. med script. Many of the notations were similar to those docu­

mented on the BMFA Shambhala paintings. One distinct difference, however,

is in the manner of differentiating derivative colors. For a light green color,

fo r example, the notation used was pkya (spang skya). A subjoined kya is added

to the root character pa to indicate the addition of white (Fig. 4). Three other

paintings examined using IRR revealed color codes in dbu.med script. These

were Shakyamuni with Disciples and Dharmatala, two paintings from a set

of five at the BMFA accepted as sixteenth-century eastern Tibetan; and

LACMA's Portrait oj the Fifth Karmapa, accepted as originating in eighteenth­

century Kham, a region of eastern Tibet.

Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice