[MSN] Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Chinese terracotta soldiers on display in Hamburg's Museum of Anthropology may be fakes and an inquiry into their authenticity is under way, the museum said.

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

Hamburg's Chinese Terracotta Warriors May Be Fakes, Museum Says 

By Catherine Hickley

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Chinese terracotta soldiers on display in Hamburg's
Museum of Anthropology may be fakes and an inquiry into their authenticity
is under way, the museum said. 

The exhibition will now be ``equipped with a warning that the authenticity
of the figures is disputed,'' director Wulf Koepke said in a statement on
the museum's Web site. ``An examination into the authenticity of the
terracotta warriors is continuing.'' 


The show ``Macht im Tod'' (``Power in Death'') opened in November and is
scheduled to run until Sept. 30, 2008. A description on the Web site says
there are more than 70 authentic exhibits from excavations in China,
including eight restored terracotta figures representing characters from the
emperor's court and army and two horses. 

The exhibition was organized in cooperation with the Center of Chinese Arts
and Culture GmbH, of Markkleeberg, near Leipzig. The museum statement said
the company is ``investigating the background of a news story from DPA,''
the German press agency. 

DPA yesterday reported that Chinese authorities hadn't approved the export
of the warriors for the Hamburg exhibition, and that the state office for
cultural property in Beijing said the exhibits were probably illegal copies.


The only current exhibition in Europe of the figures approved by Chinese
authorities is in London, DPA said. The British Museum is showing the
2,200-year-old soldiers in ``The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army,''
which runs through April 6, 2008. 

To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Hickley in Berlin at
chickley at bloomberg.net .