Colour, Craft and Repair: How the Terracotta Warriors Were Made and Preserved

The warriors are life-sized ceramic figures, but their scale does not mean they were made as one solid statue. Bodies and limbs were formed, joined and finished; individual faces, hairstyles and equipment distinguish figures. The exact workflow could differ between workshops and batches, so no single simplified recipe should be treated as universal. UNESCO notes that the figures preserve evidence of Qin pottery and bronze-working techniques. Repeated forms made a vast commission possible, while modelling and finishing created visible variation. Bronze weapons were manufactured separately, connecting the clay figures to metalworking and military equipment.

The figures were originally painted. The Qinshihuang Mausoleum Site Museum reports that a Chinese lacquer ground supported the pigment layer. Their appearance today therefore reflects both ancient manufacture and the loss of fragile surface layers after excavation. Understanding the sequence of clay, lacquer and pigment is essential to understanding why conservation has been difficult.

The museum’s conservation account describes a painted surface with a Chinese lacquer ground beneath pigments. It reports that the lacquer layer was highly sensitive to environmental change: after excavation, paint could curl, lift and detach. Researchers at the museum formed a conservation team in 1987 and worked with the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation. Over more than a decade, they studied the layers and materials, identifying Chinese lacquer and pigments including barium copper silicate purple.

The museum reports two successful approaches: treatment using polyethylene glycol with polyurethane emulsion, and monomer penetration followed by electron-beam polymerization. These were developed through sustained research and testing to protect fragile polychromy. The account describes techniques used on a batch of painted figures; it does not mean every warrior receives an identical treatment. Conservation aims to retain surviving original material, not to repaint figures into an imagined complete state.

A 2024 report by the Xi’an municipal government describes a conservation system linking excavation, on-site emergency treatment, restoration and storage. In Pit 1 the excavation area connects directly to a conservation laboratory; at Pit 2 an excavation cabin and experimental cabin form a joint platform. The report says that once a painted figure is unearthed, conservators use nitrogen-filled moisture preservation, ultrasonic testing and 3D imaging, followed by systematic documentation, cleaning and reinforcement. It describes a terracotta head being fitted onto a pre-assembled body by several pairs of hands.

These steps turn repair into a documented sequence. Environmental conditions are managed as objects move from their buried context, while imaging and records preserve information about condition and treatment. Fragments must fit the surviving object; a plausible silhouette alone cannot establish that pieces belong together. On-site work also allows excavation and conservation teams to respond together as new material appears.

The museum’s record frames conservation as a question of continuity as well as repair: the lacquer ground and pigments are distinct layers, and the exposed paint can change after excavation. Keeping those material relationships in view matters when protecting a surface whose colour cannot be treated as a detachable finish.

Conservation continues over time. Some figures have been reassembled; traces of pigment remain vulnerable; newly excavated objects require controlled treatment and storage. The warriors on view are ancient objects whose survival also depends on modern research, careful records and skilled work.