The terra-cotta army in China is a collection of more than 7,000 life-size clay soldiers created in the third century BCE, each made with so much unique detail that some archaeologists believe they’re portraits of specific people. But there used to be yet another layer of detail: Originally, these figures were painted in various colors. After the statues were sculpted, fired, and assembled, artisans applied one or two layers of lacquer (derived from a lacquer tree), followed by one or two l...
