Bronze Knife

This bronze knife, from Northwestern China, dates to between the 13th and 11th century BCE. Photograph courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, New York

A Map of the Steppes

The Mongolian Steppe

Living in the Grasslands

About the Ancient Bronzes of the Asian Grasslands Exhibition

Enjoy this video from when the bronzes were on display at  The Everhart Museum – Scranton, PA.

Ancient Bronzes of the Asian Grasslands reveals how the ancient, horse-riding nomadic cultures of Mongolia and Central Asia during the late second and first millennia BCE used the animal world as a source of symbols to indicate tribe, social rank and connection to the spirit world. Ancient Bronzes illuminates their influence both on and by the culture of dynastic China, as well as how the steppe peoples facilitated trade and travel along the Silk Road across Asia. Organized and on loan from the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation (NYC), this traveling exhibition features more than 80 masterpieces of Eurasian steppe art, including bronze belt buckles, plaques, pendants, ornaments and weapons. Animal motifs such as antlered stags, wild boars and birds of prey are a primary theme and visitors will be enchanted by the artistic expression found in a functional form. These objects were made to be practical and conform to a nomadic lifestyle yet they were created with an artistic sensibility that transcends centuries of time.