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

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

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.