The Bowers Museum

The Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California, recently released some of the world’s most important treasures and most astounding works of art to date. The museum just released their most prized possession this past October which features China’s Lost Civilization: The Mystery of Sanxingdui. This new exhibit features many skillfully crafted sculptures and masks that many consider today to be ‘"the ninth wonder of the world" and acknowledged by many scholars as one of the greatest archaeological finds ever to be unearthed’ (Bowers Museum). According to the archeologists at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, these collections of mysterious artifacts were found accidently in 1986 by construction workers digging pits about 24 miles outside of the

Sichuan Province capitol of Chengdu, China. In these pits workers found over 200 ancient jade sculptures, ivory artifacts, scorched animal bones, weapons, pottery, elephant trunks, and monumental bronzed sculptures which are believed to date back to 1200 BC. Many of the sculptures and masks were skillfully assembled out of bronze and were conceived in strange forms. There was one particular area of the exhibit that featured three giant masks that resembled part human and part supernatural forms. These masks illustrated protruding eyes, winged-ears, and decorative attachments. What makes these masks and other ruins so mysterious is the fact that the Sanxingdui culture did not leave any type of inscriptions, writing, or even human remains behind considering they existed for about 350 years. It is almost as they just somehow disappeared into thin air with no history of existence, until recently.
The iconography I found the most astonishing was the Mask of a Human-Animal Composite Creature.

Archeologists believe this mask dates back to about 1250-1100 BCE. The mask is completely made out of bronze and stands about 66cm high and 138cm wide. This mask consists of many different forms that differ from most of the art we have reviewed in class. It resembles many human and supernatural features such as protruding eyes and halberd-shaped ears. The protruding eyes definitely stand out on the mask and resemble a form that seems celestial. The true purpose to why the eyes protrude is still under debate, but it is definitely something we have not explored in our readings so far. Most of the artifacts we reviewed in class have been mostly human in nature or represent their gods in human forms with animal like features, like the sphinx. The ears are in the shape of a bronze wing or halberd which is a hacking weapon that was commonly used in Northern China during this time. What makes the ears significant in this piece is how they are in the shape of a weapon and not of a human or animal. Besides the ears and the eyes, the entire mask was molded, chiseled, and fused together which is why there are several rectangular holes on the sides and forehead of the mask. The front rectangular hole is possibly believed to once hold a large bronzed conspicuous feather, trunk, or other decoration while the rectangular holes on the sides of the mask were probably once used to fasten

the mask to a large statue, column, or architectural feature.
What makes this piece so remarkable is the way they assembled it together. They casted and molded it separately and fussed it together to make it a single piece. It took much time, physical and intellectual skill, and creativity to complete this artwork and is definitely fine craftsmanship to have lasted for thousands of years. What makes this artwork different from the other types we have studied is the fact researchers know so little about this time period in China. The ancient Chinese culture during this time has only recently been discovered and we are still learning so much about life, art, and architecture during this time. According to April Holloway, author of The Mysterious Ancient Artifacts of Sanxingdui that have Rewritten Chinese History, “no similar finds has been made anywhere else, and there are no inscriptions at the Sanxingdui site to shed light on its culture, which was apparently a distinctive Bronze Age civilization, unrecorded in historical texts and previously unknown.” Other studies we have researched like the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians have been discovered and thoroughly explored and so we know more about their culture. However, the Chinese during this time had exceptional craftsmanship and many of these sculptures and masks during this time period greatly resemble the Egyptian masks that caped their tombs. The Mask of a Human-Animal Composite Creature also resembles the same techniques that the Akkadians used to create their head of an Akkadian ruler which features a life-sized hollow-cast of the king. Molding, chiseling, and fusing bronze and other materials together during this time were not unusual considering most of the artifacts that were found in these pits consisted of many other bronzed masks, sculptures and weapons.
The Mask of a Human-Animal Composite Creature, tells us so little about the history and meaning behind the piece because of how new this ancient culture is.

There are no historical records or inscriptions left behind which leave researchers wondering what the core purpose of these artifacts are supposed to represent. In 1986 when the construction workers in Chengdu accidently discovered the artifacts, they found that they were bent, broken, burned and carefully buried in the pits. Holloway believes that the objects were placed in sacrificial burial grounds because they found many “animal-faced sculptures and masks with dragon ears, open mouths and grinning teeth; human-like heads with gold foil masks; decorative animals including dragons, snakes and birds; a giant wand, a sacrificial alter; a 4-meter tall bronze tree; axes, tables, rings, knives, and hundreds of other unique items.” This is very similar to the Egyptian burial grounds where the pharaohs would be buried with their prized possessions that they would want with them in the afterlife. It is possible that these ancient Chinese ancestors may have also wanted their luxurious items buried with them for similar purposes. Holloway also believes that the large bronze head with protruding eyes and wing-like ears, also known as The Mask of a Human-Animal Composite Creature, may have been portrayed as Cancong, the first semi-legendary king of Shu whom assembled the Jin Dynasty which took place between 265-420 AD.

Many believe that the giant mask was purposely placed in the sacrificial burial grounds as a place for ancient Shu people to offer their sacrifices to “Heaven, Earth, mountains, rivers, and other natural gods” (Holloway). The giant bronze masks with protruding eyes and wing-like ears may have represented the gods the Shu people worshiped and was done so by withholding sacrificial festivals to attract other people of different religions to come and join their worship.
Before, I would have probably been withdrawn and uninterested in early artwork, but after some research I find it quite amazing that ancient man was able to construct remarkable pieces of art. Ancient man left countless amounts of monuments, statues, architecture, and unique artifacts that already explain so much about their life style and culture. Even though historians are still exploring and discovering China’s lost civilization, it is still incredible how far society has come since this ancient time and it makes me realize how intelligent ancient man was. They were extremely precise on their artistic ability and mathematic talents which were skillfully used to create magnificent works of art that lasted for thousands of years. Without these artists and their artwork we would not be where we are today in society. Ancient art set up the fundamentals which grab the attention of many individuals that center around pop culture and gives us the ability to decide what is visually attractive or not. Many artists in today’s society are influenced by ancient man’s imaginations and capabilities to illustrate the world around them and we will continue to explore their creativity to influence future generations.