7.08.2009

TERRA COTTA WARRIORS - GUARDIANS OF CHINA'S FIRST EMPEROR

I've been waiting for this exhibit to come to Houston for months! I was finally was able to go last week and loved it. This tour is the first time that the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit, which includes one hundred artifacts and fourteen life-size figures, has been exhibited in the United States...........................Houston is the third stop on the tour...........................................
These figures and artifacts are so beautiful and have been painstakingly pieced back together.
The patina of a clay object dating back to the Qin dynasty (221-206 B.C.) is just incredible.


Limestone tile armor - too heavy to wear - used only to ward off evil spirits in the underground world................................
There have been about a thousand warriors excavated to date. It is estimated that another six thousand are still buried...............................
Quite a few bronze pieces are included in the collection.......................................
The exhibit has been at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California and The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia. It is currently at the Houston Museum of Natural Science from May 18, 2009 until October 16, 2009. The last stop will be the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C.
November 19, 2009 - March 31, 2010

Photo Credit: O. Louis Mazzetenta and Wang Da-Gang