Barbola, to be more precise, is a fabric art form using the technique of embroidery. As recorded in History of Chinese Arts, barbola was developed out of embroidery.

Originated in the Tang Dynasty, its predecessor was barbola made of silk brocade, whose first emergence dates back to the Northern and Southern Dynasties in the Yangtze Valley.

For a long time there has been no conclusive evidence about the exact time when barbola initially appeared to the public. Is has been used on clothes of some ethnic groups, such as the Miao nationality. Among the cultural relics unearthed in Dunhuang, religious thangka scroll paintings made with the technique of barbola were also discovered.

In ancient Tibetan religious scriptures, the skills of sculpture, painting, barbola and architecture, etc, have been found, indicating the long history of Tibetan barbola.

The Procedures of Making Lhasa Thangka Barbola ?

1.Find the required draft according to the order, often provided by the thangka master. ?

2.Divide the patterns on the draft according to colors, such as clouds, flowers or pedestal. Copy those pieces respectively onto transparent paper.

3.Prick along the outline of the patterns with a needle.

4.Prepare silk in the required colors. Cover the transparent paper with needle holes onto the silk. Leave dots on the silk through holes with paints and link those dots. Cut along the lines. ?

5.Divide one ply of silk threads into eight and then make them into four plies to fasten the hemming threads. ?

6. Wrap up the horse tail hair by silk threads and combine them into one ply. This is the uniqueness of Lhasa thangka barbola, in that horse tail hair is durable and will not melt in the later ironing process, as fishing lines would. (Strips of silk cloth will be used in making big thangka.) ?

7. Hem the pieces with the prepared silk threads. (Unlike common embroidery, hoops are not used when making thangka barbola. Barbola is being held by hand.) Stitches on the back of the silk are called pearls, which means they ought to be as well-distributed as pearls. Before being qualified to hem, usually a starter has to practice thousands of times on cotton without threads. ?

8.Combine the parts according to the draft and stitch them together. In order to increase the representation of depth and solidity, fillers are often put inside the big thangka while small ones do not have to. Subtle gradients in color such as the eyes of the Buddha or the sapphires are manifested by embroidery. If required, real precious stones are used in thangka as well.