Art

The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army Recommended

Until Apr 6 British Museum, Stevenson Lecture Theatre Great Russell Street, London , WC1B 3DG

Rating:

The story being uncovered at the burial site of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, which was discovered by chance in 1974, is a clearly a seductive one: the British Museum took a record 105,000 advance bookings for this show – but 500 Terracotta Army tickets will be reserved each day for those who turn up on spec.

The sense of ongoing mystery plays a big part in the Terracotta Army exhibition's appeal. Only a tiny portion of the archaelogical site has been excavated and it will probably be generations before Qin Shi Huangdi's actual tomb is explored. Those who are most attracted by the idea of the 7,000 full-size terracotta army warriors discovered in three pits might be disappointed. Unlike previous shows devoted to the Terracotta Army, the British Museum exhibition is less about sheer visual spectacle than the way that the ongoing excavations are increasing our knowledge of the emperor and his times in which he lived.

But alongside a small group of warriors (infantrymen, archers, officers and generals) are two terracotta musicians, an acrobat, a strongman and two civil officials. A half-scale bronze carriage embellished with gleaming silver and gold is pulled by four half-size terracotta horses.

The exhibition is in the British Museum's spectacular Reading Room, the temporary transformation making it possible to stage a show on a scale that the BM would otherwise have difficulty accommodating. The beautiful domed ceiling soaring above is a real plus, reducing the sense of claustrophobia that can accompany a dimly lit historical blockbuster.

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