“This eleventh Anyang expedition, in the spring of 1935, can be taken in retrospect as the climax of our field work. The financial costs were great, but, more impressive, the results were the richest. The expedition represented the best-organized team work and also the highest executive efficiency. More important for the general public, the achievements successfully confirmed the truth that scientific archaeology not only promotes verifiable knowledge, but also provides an assured means to find buried treasures and give them legal protection.” (Li Chi, Anyang, p.79)

From 1928 to 1937, the IHP conducted fifteen seasons of large-scale excavations at Yinxu in Anyang, Henan Province, uncovering the palaces and ancestral temples and royal cemetery of the late Shang dynasty capital. Liang Ssu-yung (1904–1954) led archaeological work at the royal burial sites from 1934 to 1935, during which the three excavations uncovered ten larger tombs, one “large square pit,” and over 1,200 tombs smaller in scale. All ten large tombs had repeatedly been looted, yet still yielded numerous exquisite artifacts. Among them, Royal Tomb M1001, excavated under the direction of Liu Yao (later renamed Yin Da, 1906–1983), is relatively early and larger in terms of size and number of unearthed artifacts.

Those unearthed from Royal Tomb M1001 are most notably characterized by marble sculptures of animals, including an anthropomorphic figure with a tiger head, a larger standing owl, two crouching tigers joined at their hips, a pair of ornaments with two owl heads, and this smaller standing owl—all categorized as “national treasures.” This standing owl was discovered on April 2, 1935, during the eleventh excavation in a previously disturbed burial pit of a depth of 9.05 meters. The excavation, a large-scale endeavor which yielded innumerable discoveries, simultaneously unearthed Royal Tombs M1001, M1002, M1003, and M1004, alongside over four hundred smaller tombs. The IHP Director Fu Ssu-nien (1896–1950) specially accompanied French Sinologist Paul Pelliot (1878–1945) to Yinxu to inspect the progress.

Owls, known as xiao in ancient times, are a common motif of bronze, stone and jade artifacts in the Shang dynasty. Among stone artifacts in the shape of owls from Royal Tomb M1001 include the large Marble Sculpture of a Standing Owl (R001756), the Small Marble Sculpture of a Standing Owl (R001610), Marble Crouching Owl (R005054), and Jade Owl (R001293).

This smaller standing owl is 17.1 centimeters tall and weighs 2.5 kilograms. Its vivid form and refined crafted position it as one of the representative marble sculptures unearthed from Yinxu, leading to its categorization as a “national treasure” under the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act on June 30, 2009. The artifact features a flattened, rounded head with ears bent. A ridged crest extends from the crown to the back of the head. It has two round eyes, a hooked beak, and a slightly protruding abdomen. The two wings on the back converge, while the tail hangs downward, forking into two branches that curl upward on either side. The legs are upright cylinders. The entire body is embellished with intricate motifs. The front of both ear features relief lines, whereas the tops display incised insect motifs. Each side of the head is adorned with kui dragons, and symmetrical bird patterns can be found on the chest. The spine has even more insect patterns, and each wing has five feathers decorated with incised animals. Finally, the front of the legs featured incised patterns, and each fork of the tail also has kui dragon motifs. The archaeological excavation report reads: “Its polish is the finest of those unearthed at Hsi-pei-kang, with even the inner surface of the deep groove between the claws and tail being remarkably smooth.” Despite the craftsperson’s meticulousness in creating such an exquisite small marble owl, its purpose regrettably remains unclear to us today.

In April 1937, the Ministry of Education held the Second National Fine Art Exhibition at the National Art Museum in Nanjing, where a room was dedicated to the display of artifacts excavated by the IHP at Yinxu, Anyang. Liang Ssu-yung was responsible for selecting the exhibition objects, writing descriptions, and pairing them with field photographs. Those selections included the marble sculptures of various animals unearthed from Royal Tomb M1001. Scholar Hu Houxuan (1911–1995) was deeply impressed after his visit, remarking: “To today find so many stone sculptures at Yinxu is truly an extraordinary discovery. [...] Had archaeologists not been the ones to unearth them from beneath the ground, we would never have believed that these artifacts are from the Shang dynasty over three thousand years ago.”

In 1967, the IHP collaborated with the National Palace Museum to launch a long-term exhibition, which concluded in 2000, at the National Palace Museum featuring artifacts excavated from Royal Tomb M1001 at Hsi-pei-kang. Then in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the IHP in 2008, the “Hsi-pei-kang Tomb M1001: Special Exhibition for the 80th Anniversary of the Anyang Excavation Project” was organized which featured marble sculptures and other artifacts unearthed at Royal Tomb M1001 and other burial sites at Yinxu. The 2012 “King Wu Ding and Lady Hao: Art and Culture of the Late Shang Dynasty” exhibition brought together artifacts from across both sides of the Taiwan Strait for the first time at the National Palace Museum. This exquisite Small Marble Sculpture of a Standing Owl stood at the exhibition room entrance welcoming each visitor. Now the “Approaching National Treasures” exhibition allows everyone stand face to face to admire this precious marble sculpture from Yinxu.

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The Small Marble Sculpture of a Standing Owl can often be found on the catalogs, postcards, and is featured as a hand-illustrated watercolor in the “National Treasures: Notebook” series.