HOME >> Souvenirs >> Terra-cotta Warriors Replica
General knowledge:
The terra-cotta warriors and horses have always been a magnet for culture and art aficionados from all around the world ever since its excavation in 1974. Many visitors come to Xian would like to take a Terracotta Warrior as souvenir. Many different types of replicas are available as souvenirs, from a few inches tall to life-size! Prices range as well, from one US dollar to several thousand dollars for the largest statues. The price of the life-sized statues usually includes shipping to the US or Europe. The life-sized statues cost a fraction of the price to make, usually less than 400 US dollars.
Different people usually have very different understandings and feelings after watching the wonder. Politicians may think of the emperor’s great achievement of uniting the country; Strategists are amazed by the lineup of the soldiers; Historians find inspirations for their researches; Philosophers and litterateurs observe the lightness of being and gravity of people’s life.
How to make:
At the first sight, you may think all the pottery works are from the same model, but as a matter of fact, each and every warrior is characterized by its own characters. According to different ranks and armed services, the uniform, cap, facial features, beard, hair, and buckle also vary. Taking a closer look at the warriors, you can find all kinds of real people more than 2,000 years ago ¨C be it beautiful, ugly, fat, slim, young or old.
The making of the bronze chariot was also a wonder. One chariot usually consists of more than 3,000 components, and it’s extremely hard to assemble all the parts together. Besides, the circular covering of the chariot is about two square meters, but only two to four millimeters thick. In order to produce it, the control of the temperature has to be very precise, and so does the portion of alloy. How people managed to produce that is still unknown today.
There are also some problems about the producing of life-size terra cotta warriors. Today’s process is to first fire different sections, and then glue them together, but the original warriors were all made as a whole. There are several technical problems for that. How to make sure the terra cotta does not break when it turns from wet earth mold to pottery? The thickness of a terra cotta varies in different parts of the body, how did people control the temperature of the heat? How did people manage the proportion of some ingredients like quartz in the earth? Answers to these questions are still left for you to give.
Characteristics:
Looking at faces of warriors, you can read all kinds of facial expressions: happy, angry, sad, proud, foxy, or humorous. People’s internal worlds are delicately expressed. Among the soldiers, it’s obvious that there are also a number of ethnic groups.
If you compare terra cotta warriors with ancient Greek and Roman sculptures, you may find its artistic achievements not as impressive, but no one can match the scale and the layout of terra cotta warriors. Altogether, there are more than 8,000 terra cotta objects unearthed, and sheer large number contributes greatly to the magnificence and awe.
