By: Jack MacNamara, Staff Writer
What is sure to be an exciting exhibit, the Tomb Treasures: New Discoveries from China’s Han Dynasty, is set to go on display at the “Asian Art Museum” of San Francisco. The museum will showcase artifacts from the Chinese Han Dynasty, including two sex toys estimated to be more than 2,000 years old.
The two sex toy pieces are made of bronze and were discovered in 2009 and 2012 during an archeological dig in the modern-day Jiangsu Province near Shanghai. The phallic pieces—one of which has a metal ring attached like a handle—were found in tombs belonging to an aristocrat in the West Han Dynasty (206 BC-8 AD) and to the Chinese imperial Liu Fei (169 BC-127 BC).
“One of the most powerful civilizations of the ancient world, China’s Han dynasty achieved profound cultural and artistic influence, technological advancements and military might. Two thousand years later, discoveries of royal tombs allow us to glimpse these extraordinary accomplishments firsthand,” the exhibit’s description reads. “Emulating their grand palaces, Han royals built lavishly furnished tombs so that, in the afterlife, no need would go unmet. Daily utensils, kitchen vessels, royal symbols, weaponry and even toiletries were all accounted for. And the nobility spared no expense preserving the tools of earthly pleasures—food, music, wine, sex—in anticipation of an afterlife to surpass this world.”
The “Tomb Treasures Display” will be on display Friday Feb. 17 through Sunday May 28. For ticket information, visit AsianArt.org.
