The creation of fabric thangkas, mostly made of silk, some of them woven, some embroidered and others made using a technique similar to appliqué, goes back many centuries in Tibet. The appliqué artists at Norbulingka do their finest work when they make silk thangkas. Constructed of hundreds of hand-cut pieces of silk and brocade, these elaborate creations require many months of work.
Tibetan applique wall piece - detail
Silk thangka and appliqué work were revived at Norbulingka Institute under the guidance of the Master Thangka Painter, Temba Chöphel, who had briefly trained under Gyeten Namgyal, the 13th Dalai Lama's Master Tailor. Later, Temba Chöphel trained as a thangka painter, but he never forgot the sewing skills he had acquired earlier. He understood how beneficial it would be for the appliqué artists to undertake the same basic training as a thangka painter before beginning to sew, for this would make them less dependent on the thangka painters. This training programme started in 2003
Tibetan applique wall piece
To start with, a stencil of the desired image is prepared by drawing a full-size image on paper and perforating the lines with a needle. This stencil is placed over the cloth that will form the background and is dabbed with a cloth laden with powdered white chalk to render the drawing visible. The individual figures assembled from silk brocade are stitched onto this background and outlined with silk-wrapped strands of Mongolian horse tail. The completed image is mounted on a plain white cotton backing before finally being framed in a brocade border.
This piece is 64 x 65 inch and is available for sale