Hong Kong Palace Cultural Museum hosted a travelling exhibition of the latest excavations of Sanxingdui. Among the bronzes excavated was a tall, comical figure.
Kneeling Figure With A Twisted Head 扭頭跪坐人像
Bronze | The Late Shang Dynasty (c. 1300 BC-1160 BC) | Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Excavated from No.4 Sacrificial Pit of Sanxingdui in 2020 青銅｜商代晚期 （約公元前1300-公元前1100年）｜四川省文物考古研究院， 2020年三星堆四号祭祀坑出土
The statue is in a kneeling position, leaning slightly to the left front, with stubbed hair and his head slightly lowered and twisted to the right side of his body. His hands are half folded and stretch horizontally to left front. The statue sits on heels with knees and forefoot on the ground.
The three-piece clothes of the statue are presented in relief, including coat, skirt and a third piece of clothing, the hem of which is exposed above the skirt. The waistband is tied at the front. The statue’s center of gravity is located at the slot between his left shoulder and palms, exhibiting a strong sense of weight-bearing.
Preliminary radiocarbon dating on samples unearthed from the No. 4 sacrificial pit confirmed that it was dug between 1199 BC and 1017 BC, which means it could be between 3,000 to 3,200 years old. The statues are roughly dated to the late Shang Dynasty, identified as men of low status instead of priests.
The statue is in a good state of preservation, it can be observed that the limbs and the body were made by an integrated casting method with a lifelike form and rich details, showing a high level of bronze casting technology. The decorative patterns on the statue are rich in diversity, such as interlaced V-shape patterns, crest patterns and swallowtail patterns which are all discovered for the first time, while the feather patterns are also distinctive.
Both crest patterns and feather patterns symbolise birds, showing the prominent position of birds in the Sanxingdui culture, which is presumably related to the social and cultural beliefs at that time.
Swallowtail patterns are commonly seen on bronze wares of the same period in the middle and downstream areas of the Yangtze River, therefore are of great significance to the study of cultural exchanges between the Sanxingdui Culture and other regions.
About Chinese National Treasure Series
中華國寶系列 Chinese National Treasure series feature specific artefacts and relics from museums all around the world that are historically significant to be considered a National Treasure. The series covers the 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation from Neolithic periods before the Xia dynasty (c. 2070-1600 BC) to modern day.
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