Made in China

As a conservator of ceramics, glass, stone and metal, specialised in archaeological objects, it was not only a pleasant surprise for Connie Formosa from Recoop Ltd to come to the lab and find two actual terracotta antiquities waiting to be restored, but also a privilege to work on such beautiful artefacts.

THESE CHINESE terracotta horse and ox figures were made as grave goods to be placed in tombs.

From the Han Dynasty up until the Ming Dynasty, figures of horses were commonly found in burial chambers. It was believed they would become available for the service of the deceased in the afterlife.

This Tang Dynasty horse, restored by Recoop Ltd, is covered in a white slip with cold-painted tack.

The Tang Empire was an imperial dynasty of China spanning the 7th to 10th centuries from AD618-907. From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the horse was a symbol of political power, military strength, mobility and multiculturalism, as well as a reflection of the wealth and rank of the deceased in whose tomb these miniature ceramic figures were placed.

During the Tang Dynasty, the horse also played a major role in recreational activities such as polo and hunting. The position of a person in society was often reflected in how many horses he owned and was demonstrated in the colourful and detailed dressage of the dancing and prancing horses, displayed in court ceremonies.

The figures are made of moulded earthenware. They were usually mass-produced with the use of moulds and varied in size from miniature to life-size as can be seen in those of the mausoleum in which the famous Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, was discovered in 1974.

Where the colouring was cold-painted with coloured pigments over a white slip, it has often not survived, but in many cases, it was in sancai [three-colour] ceramic glaze, which has generally lasted well.

The paint of the horse restored at the lab was, in this case, fairly well-preserved. But because it was a mass-produced object, the firing of the clay was done at a relatively low temperature, making the terracotta very fragile, resulting in the horse being broken in five pieces: the torso, the base and three legs. The damage occurred a while ago and had signs of previous repairs that had become undone again.

Following documentation, the first job was to clean the figure from old adhesives and fillers so that the fractures could be properly reattached. Some repairs and fillings were hard to remove, and great care had to be taken not to damage the fragile terracotta.

After all extra material was removed, the pieces were reassembled. Missing areas were filled in a way that would have a similar finish to the dry terracotta and slip surface, which has a matt appearance.

The terracotta ox, on the other hand, is slightly older than the horse; it is from the Northern Qi Dynasty [AD550-577].

The Chinese state of the Northern Qi Dynasty was the strongest of the three main Chinese states. However, it was plagued by violence, incompetent emperors and corrupt officials. After a war in AD577, the army deteriorated, and this marked the end of the dynasty.

Faced with the threat of the Göktürks from the north, from AD552 to 556 the Qi built up about 1,600 kilometres of wall from Shanxi to the sea at Shanhai Pass. Over the course of the year 555 alone, 1.8 million men were mobilised to build the Juyong Pass and extend its wall by 450 kilometres. The Great Wall of China, as we know it today, was rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty close to this wall.

This ox figure is cold-painted in various earth tones and has been made to a very high standard, beautifully moulded with ornate tack and expressive eyes and features

From the Eastern Han Dynasty onwards, ox-drawn carts became the preferred mode of transport of the upper classes [probably due in part to the devastation of decades of war and the closure of the Silk Road leading to a shortage of horses], and this practice was to continue until the beginning of the Tang Dynasty. Terracotta ox carts, therefore, began to decorate the burials of the period.

During the Northern Qi, the ox cart was the focus of aristocratic processions, and the most handsome depiction of oxen arguably comes from this era. Terracotta oxen, richly caparisoned with straps, painted and gilded, are a common part of the tomb set, along with the accompanying cart.

By the early Tang, ox carts came to be used mainly by women, and they can be seen represented both by rare sancai, as well as white slip-painted models. With the re-opening of the Silk Road and the developing passion for horses after the beginning of the dynasty, ox carts disappeared altogether.

This ox figure is cold-painted in various earth tones and has been made to a very high standard, beautifully moulded with ornate tack and expressive eyes and features. It does have a cart and people with it, but these did not come to the laboratory as they were not in need of restoration.

Only the ox had little damage to the horns, with one detached from the base and the other broken in the middle, and there were signs of previous repairs.

Once again, the old repairs had to be removed carefully as the terracotta was soft and brittle. After the cleaning, the horns were reattached and small losses filled.