Mask List # 71

Narrator

This mask from Jinsha is significantly smaller than ones found in the Sanxingdui pits. But the technique used to create it–hammering a thin layer of gold–is consistent with the earlier pieces from Sanxingdui.
This face has a more rounded, more human look than other masks found at Jinsha, such as the one on your screen. [SFX] [Image]

But both pieces share the same unnerving, otherworldly appearance that binds the two sites together as a singular culture. So did the materials they used.

Suzanne Cahill

One of the most striking things about both the Sanxingdui and the Jinsha sites is the prominence of gold objects. Gold masks have not been found anyplace else in China. And gold itself is very rare anywhere else. Narrator The mask on display is too small to have been worn by a person. It might have been attached to a bronze head, or to a wall, or to something else entirely.

Suzanne Cahill

This one isn't as exaggerated and strange. We don't know what the eyes would have looked like when the whole thing was all put together, but at least in the little mask, we don't have those protuberant eyes. And the nose isn't that prominent compared to the Sanxingdui pieces. In fact, it looks kind of like a friendly little monkey.