Corks Crew

The sun was shining, so I decided to do another bit of the Kids' Club Craft Preparation. All those holey corks needed painting, to be the heads and tails of the bottle top snakes. I put on an apron and gloves, covered the garden table with a tarp, and set to work with a can of red spray paint.
As they stood there, in their red rows, nearly 200 of them, I couldn't quite work it was...they reminded me of something - but what?

Then I realised, it was the Terracotta Army! This amazing collection of 8000 soldiers, dating back to the 2nd century BC was discovered by farmers, 45 years ago, in Xi'an, Shaanxi in China. As well as the soldiers, there are horses, chariots, musicians, acrobats and strongmen! The detail is incredible, each character is unique.
The figures were amazingly well preserved - but experts had to be incredibly careful as the artefacts were uncovered. Some of the figures were painted - and after just 15 seconds exposure to the dry air of Xi'an, the paint begins to curl up, and in just four minutes it flakes off.

About 20 years ago, Bob's friend Steve went on a business trip to China, and brought back three replica figures for us. 
I took them out into the sunshine, and stood them at the front of my Corks Crew. They don't look too happy about this!
[pleased to note that the paint is not curling or flaking on the corks]
Update: Viv has commented below that they reminded her of Antony Gormley's figures (here)