Zanabazar Museum, Ulaanbaatar

Inside the Zanabazar Museum, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Inside the Zanabazar Museum, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

The Fine Arts G. Zanabazar Museum was established in 1966 and in 1995 named after the Buddhist teacher, G. Zanabazar (1635 - 1724). It is located along Juulchid Street in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar. It contains items that reflect the rich cultural history of Mongolia from earliest times until the beginning of the twentieth century.

The Museum houses many appliqués with Buddhist representations, which date to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As regards composition, colour and contents these textiles are comparable to the, normally painted, Buddhist thangkas. Many of the Mongolian thankas are in fact patchworks, which are made with templates for cutting out pieces of silk. These pieces are sewn together and applied to a silk background. Such a 'quilt' is often provided with strings at the top for hanging, and a dowel at the bottom for adding extra weight.

See also the TRC Needles entry on an embroidered thangka from Inner Mongolia.

Museum website (retrieved 10 August 2016).

YouTube film (retrieved 10 August 2016). 

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 10 August 2016).

WV

Last modified on Friday, 24 February 2017 18:55