Tibet is home to a rich artistic heritage, including some of the world's most treasured works of material and textile art. Particularly well represented within the Tibetan tradition are carpets; metalwork, including poles, singing bowls, and tingsha prayer chimes, and furniture, especially intricately painted trunks and cabinets. This book is an attractively presented, authoritative overview.
Drawing on a private collection, From the Land of the Snow Lion brings together breathtakingly beautiful examples of traditional Tibetan material and textile art from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries. Many of the objects pictured play a central role in Tibetan culture, but their uses have remained relatively little known. Hand-woven or hand-knotted sheep's wool rugs, for example, were often crafted for seating or riding, while highly ornamented poles were sometimes designed to support paintings. This lavish, large-format book fills this gap in the knowledge about Tibetan art and culture, with 450 full-color illustrations, as well as essays by the collectors, Michael and Justyna Buddeberg, and contributions from a distinguished group of international specialists in Tibetan art: Koos de Jong, Christiane Kalantari, Petra Maurer, Ulrike Montigel, H. H. Neumann, Lisa Niedermayr, Bruno Richtsfeld, Rupert Smith, Friedrich Spuhler, Elena Tsareva, Hans Weihreter, and Thoma Wild.
Some of the most beautiful and historically significant works of Tibetan art are in the Buddeberg Collection, and From the Land of the Snow Lion makes them available to the public for the first time.
From the Land of the Snow Lion: Treasures from Tibet, Michael Buddeberg, Bruno Richtsfeld, Hirmer Verlag, Paperback, 2017, 360 Pages, $75.00
Michael Buddeberg is an art collector and vice chairman of the Preetorius Stiftung Munchen, a Munich-based trust that supports Asian art and cultural projects.
Bruno Richtsfeld is director of the East and Central Asia Department of the Museum Five Continents, Munich.
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Dedication to Karl Steiner
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Christine Kron Foreword |
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Bruno J. Richtsfeld, Stephanie Kleidt Tibetica -- The Collection of the Museum Funf Kontinente |
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Michael Buddeberg Fascination and Passion -- On Collecting Tibetan Rugs and Textiles |
36 |
Justyna Buddeberg 3 of 16 -- Our Travels in Tibet |
52 |
Petra Maurer Craftsmanship -- The Material Culture of Tibet |
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TIBETAN RUGS AND TEXTILES |
60 |
Elena Tsareva With Perfection and Many Tricks -- Tibetan Rugs in the Context of the Eurasian Carpet-Weaving Tradition |
128 |
Thomas Wild In Style and Time -- The History of the Development of Central Asian Rugs |
148 |
Koos de Jong Dragons and Horses -- Pile-Woven Horse Trappings |
168 |
Karma Trinley Darchen A Reminiscence about Old Times -- Tsuktruk Looped Pile Textiles |
178 |
Ulrike Montigel The Enlightened Dragon -- Chinese and Tibetan Symbols |
192 |
Christiane Kalantari Woven World Order -- The Textile Arts of Tibet between Buddhism and Protective Magic |
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METALWORK AND JEWELLERY |
228 |
Friedrich Spuhler End Caps for Thangka Rods -- A Special Group of Sino-Tibetan Metal Objects |
252 |
Hans Weihreter The Blessings of Sacred Signs -- Jewellery in the Tibetan Cultural Sphere |
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TIBETAN FURNITURE |
280 |
Helmut F. Neumann, Heidi A. Neumann Dragons and Tigers, Snow Lions and Flowers -- Tibetan Tables, Chests and Cabinets |
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APPENDICES |
304 |
Elena Tsareva Catalogue of Tibetan Rugs |
330 |
Britta Schwenck Textile-Technical Analysis of Nine Tibetan Textiles |
332 |
List of References |
338 |
Images and Concordances |
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