Exceedingly friendly, in a tongue-hanging out kind of way, this is the new snow lion from the Dropenling Handicrafts Center in Lhasa, run by the Tibet Artisan Initiative.
He was created by Susie Vickery, a former RSC costume designer, who visited Lhasa last year to work with traditional Tibetan tailors and applique workers to create the snow lion and other Tibetan dolls. The artisans are using traditional applique skills that are used for making religious banners and door hangings, but applied in a new way.
The snow lion is a traditional animal in Tibet, the seat of Vaishravana (Namtose), the god of wealth and the King of the Northern Direction, often seen in paintings in both secular and religious contexts, as well as in sculptures around Lhasa.
The snow lion has been such a hit that Susie is back in Lhasa right now, designing new animals for next year. The Dropenling team will be visiting Beijing later this month and attending some of the pre-Christmas bazaars and bringing some snow lions with them. I will be posting a list of the bazaars we will be attending later this month.
The Tibet Artisan Initiative's website is at www.tibetcraft.com
For those that can't wait, I have a few of these guys in my Torana store in the Kempinski hotel in Beijing.
He was created by Susie Vickery, a former RSC costume designer, who visited Lhasa last year to work with traditional Tibetan tailors and applique workers to create the snow lion and other Tibetan dolls. The artisans are using traditional applique skills that are used for making religious banners and door hangings, but applied in a new way.
The snow lion is a traditional animal in Tibet, the seat of Vaishravana (Namtose), the god of wealth and the King of the Northern Direction, often seen in paintings in both secular and religious contexts, as well as in sculptures around Lhasa.
The snow lion has been such a hit that Susie is back in Lhasa right now, designing new animals for next year. The Dropenling team will be visiting Beijing later this month and attending some of the pre-Christmas bazaars and bringing some snow lions with them. I will be posting a list of the bazaars we will be attending later this month.
The Tibet Artisan Initiative's website is at www.tibetcraft.com
For those that can't wait, I have a few of these guys in my Torana store in the Kempinski hotel in Beijing.
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