Mongolian
Sakhius (Tsakli) Paintings

Dear Scholar,

We are researching the small, Buddhist paintings from Mongolia which they call sakhius (vghnev in Cyrillic.  In Tibet they are known as tsakali, tsakli or tsogli.)  These intimate works of art have a variety of uses: they are worn as talismen; housed as icons in amulet boxes; utilized as teaching aids like our modern 'flash cards' and used in divination and initiation rites as part of the Mongolian Buddhist religious tradition which is based on Tibetan practice and philosophy.

Below are a few 19th century examples of these small thangkas.  If you have knowledge or information about these types of paintings, their styles, the artists who painted them, or know of any collections of these paintings, I would like to talk with you.

My e-mail and United States telephone numbers are at the bottom of this page.