4 day Weekend update part 2 - Saturday
Saturday: Headed to the British Museum nice and early to see the Terracotta Warriors exhibition at 10.30. It’s the first time I have been since the central atrium area was created by incorporating the reading room and covering it all with a glass roof. It’s a fantastic space but there were things about the architectural finishes that I didn’t like that much.
Anyway, the exhibition was awesome and fascinating. They had built a suspended floor over the reading room for the display so it was in the round with the magnificent domed ceiling above. The layout steered you around the space so you didn’t get to see the majority of the warriors until you were familiar with the background of the man they were built to protect and his achievements. Basically, the first emperor ruled one of 9 tribes that made up China as we know it today. His tribe, the Qin, pronounced Chin, were brilliant warriors and conquered all the other tribes to unify the country.
He ordered a magnificent tomb to be built for himself which was protected on 3 sides by mountains and a river, but was protected on the open side by a terracotta recreation of his army. There were different terracotta figures made for the different ranks and types of soldier. At the beginning there was a single kneeling archer as an introduction, but when we got round to the main area, there were generals, light infantry, heavy infantry, and charioteers with teams of four horses. All the figures are slightly larger than life-size which translates to 6 ft to 6 ft 5 ins. They are also incredibly human - this was no abstract representation of an army. You believe that each figure is based on a unique individual, down to their preferred hairstyle, facial hair and ethnic background. You can tell that some are based on the smooth skinned northern peoples with striking bone structure. Standing face to face with a decorated bearded general was an almost spiritual experience.
The emperor’s tomb recreated everything about his kingdom so there are also figures of the local administrators, and acrobats, strongmen, musicians and dancing birds to keep him entertained in the afterlife. We were enthralled by it all - there was even a superb model which showed how the figures were made from clay by slaves and prisoners. They believe there were up to 700,000 people working on the tomb - the scale of it is unbelievable. The most amazing thing is that the army was buried over a mile away from the central mound and was found, by chance, in 1974 by a local farmer who was digging a well and found a head.
After the exhibition we stopped and had a sandwich in the café and mooched around the shop, but all the warriors souvenirs were extortionate. The catalogue of the exhibition was a glossy coffee table book which only cost £25 in paperback and £40 in hardback. We passed. We had a quick trip upstairs to see the Sutton Hoo treasure (as my sister had never seen it before ) and the Lewis chessmen.
We left at about 2.30 as we were heading out to the 02 arena (the dome), and had heard that tube services heading that way were suspended. We went to Bank station and asked about getting to the dome - it was suggested that the best way was to take the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) to Canning Town and then catching a shuttle bus from there. Getting to Canning Town was fine - we were worried we would get stung for a fine as our travelcards didn’t cover that far out but the guards were understanding and we went to find the bus. Half an hour later, we were part of a huge crowd waiting for a shuttle bus that looked like it was never going to come. It eventually did and we all squeezed on for the bumpy ride to the dome. As I said to my sister after we got off, “I feel violated.” Just hideous.
Had a restorative cup of tea and a banana before heading into the dome for the Tutankhamun exhibition. This was billed as the first time artefacts had been in the UK since the major exhibition in 1972 which I went to but don’t remember. Unfortunately though the artefacts they had were not the world famous ones that we all associate with Tutankhamun. It was interesting but took too long to get to things from the actual tomb (they spent the first half of the exhibition showing you things from the tombs of his ancestors), and then it was a mixed bag of exquisite jewellery and models of boats. Also, I had backache and sore feet by this time so it really wasn’t holding my interest as much. Among my favourite items was a wooden mannequin of Tutankhamun which made him into a real person for me. He was only 19 when he died and this boy stares at you with all the weight of his office on his shoulders. The final gallery covered the X-rays and MRI scans done of the body which have still not given the archaeologists a definite cause of death. No mention of the ‘curse’ at all - it felt like an opportunity missed.
Dome done we headed back into the city which we knew was going to take a long time. We’d spotted a bus back to Holborn and thought that was a better idea than cramming onto the shuttle again. I think we may have got it wrong. It went the right way but a very long way round - through Greenwich, Bermondsey and Elephant & Castle where it stopped not far from the tube station and we were all told to get off as the bus had a problem. We ended up catching the tube from there back to St Paul’s by which time we were starving hungry. We were going to get a takeaway but ended up having a lovely dinner in Café Rouge instead. I can recommend the seafood casserole - yummy.
Anyway, the exhibition was awesome and fascinating. They had built a suspended floor over the reading room for the display so it was in the round with the magnificent domed ceiling above. The layout steered you around the space so you didn’t get to see the majority of the warriors until you were familiar with the background of the man they were built to protect and his achievements. Basically, the first emperor ruled one of 9 tribes that made up China as we know it today. His tribe, the Qin, pronounced Chin, were brilliant warriors and conquered all the other tribes to unify the country.
He ordered a magnificent tomb to be built for himself which was protected on 3 sides by mountains and a river, but was protected on the open side by a terracotta recreation of his army. There were different terracotta figures made for the different ranks and types of soldier. At the beginning there was a single kneeling archer as an introduction, but when we got round to the main area, there were generals, light infantry, heavy infantry, and charioteers with teams of four horses. All the figures are slightly larger than life-size which translates to 6 ft to 6 ft 5 ins. They are also incredibly human - this was no abstract representation of an army. You believe that each figure is based on a unique individual, down to their preferred hairstyle, facial hair and ethnic background. You can tell that some are based on the smooth skinned northern peoples with striking bone structure. Standing face to face with a decorated bearded general was an almost spiritual experience.
The emperor’s tomb recreated everything about his kingdom so there are also figures of the local administrators, and acrobats, strongmen, musicians and dancing birds to keep him entertained in the afterlife. We were enthralled by it all - there was even a superb model which showed how the figures were made from clay by slaves and prisoners. They believe there were up to 700,000 people working on the tomb - the scale of it is unbelievable. The most amazing thing is that the army was buried over a mile away from the central mound and was found, by chance, in 1974 by a local farmer who was digging a well and found a head.
After the exhibition we stopped and had a sandwich in the café and mooched around the shop, but all the warriors souvenirs were extortionate. The catalogue of the exhibition was a glossy coffee table book which only cost £25 in paperback and £40 in hardback. We passed. We had a quick trip upstairs to see the Sutton Hoo treasure (as my sister had never seen it before ) and the Lewis chessmen.
We left at about 2.30 as we were heading out to the 02 arena (the dome), and had heard that tube services heading that way were suspended. We went to Bank station and asked about getting to the dome - it was suggested that the best way was to take the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) to Canning Town and then catching a shuttle bus from there. Getting to Canning Town was fine - we were worried we would get stung for a fine as our travelcards didn’t cover that far out but the guards were understanding and we went to find the bus. Half an hour later, we were part of a huge crowd waiting for a shuttle bus that looked like it was never going to come. It eventually did and we all squeezed on for the bumpy ride to the dome. As I said to my sister after we got off, “I feel violated.” Just hideous.
Had a restorative cup of tea and a banana before heading into the dome for the Tutankhamun exhibition. This was billed as the first time artefacts had been in the UK since the major exhibition in 1972 which I went to but don’t remember. Unfortunately though the artefacts they had were not the world famous ones that we all associate with Tutankhamun. It was interesting but took too long to get to things from the actual tomb (they spent the first half of the exhibition showing you things from the tombs of his ancestors), and then it was a mixed bag of exquisite jewellery and models of boats. Also, I had backache and sore feet by this time so it really wasn’t holding my interest as much. Among my favourite items was a wooden mannequin of Tutankhamun which made him into a real person for me. He was only 19 when he died and this boy stares at you with all the weight of his office on his shoulders. The final gallery covered the X-rays and MRI scans done of the body which have still not given the archaeologists a definite cause of death. No mention of the ‘curse’ at all - it felt like an opportunity missed.
Dome done we headed back into the city which we knew was going to take a long time. We’d spotted a bus back to Holborn and thought that was a better idea than cramming onto the shuttle again. I think we may have got it wrong. It went the right way but a very long way round - through Greenwich, Bermondsey and Elephant & Castle where it stopped not far from the tube station and we were all told to get off as the bus had a problem. We ended up catching the tube from there back to St Paul’s by which time we were starving hungry. We were going to get a takeaway but ended up having a lovely dinner in Café Rouge instead. I can recommend the seafood casserole - yummy.