Late Prehistoric China | Bronze Age China | Chu and Other Cultures | Early Imperial China

Teaching Activities | Resources | Chronology | Pronunciation Guide/Glossary

object 9 Bronze human head with gold leaf H 42.5 cm Late Shang Period (c. 1300-1100 B.C.) From Pit 2 at Sanxingdui, Guanghan, Sichuan Province Excavated in 1986 Sanxingdui Museum, Guanghan

previous | next     object 9 of 20      Table of Contents

The features on this bronze head are similar to those of the Bronze standing figure and appear to follow a prescribed format. The neck is very long, the chin very short. The mouth is thin-lipped but wide. Coiled shapes define the nostrils as well as the ears, which are pierced to hold ornaments. Heavy eyebrows and cheekbones accentuate the eyes, which are almond-shaped and heavily slanted. The gold leaf is applied in a thin layer to the front of the head, but, for some reason, not to the eyes and eyebrows. The line for the eyelid suggests that the eyes are depicted as closed.

The importance given to eyes in all the Sanxingdui masks and heads is intriguing -- eyes, no doubt, had a significant role in ritual.

Traces remaining on these bronze heads suggest that they were placed on wooden poles or ceramic bodies, possibly resembling that of the Bronze standing figure. Among the forty-plus heads found in Pit 2, only two had gold leaf, and they may have served a slightly different purpose.

previous | next     object 9 of 20      Table of Contents