S925 Silver South Red Agate Eight Symbols Pendant

The eight auspicious symbols are eight objects: the parasol, the golden fish, the treasure vase, the lotus, the right-turning conch, the endless knot, the victory banner and the dharma wheel. Their order shifts a little from region to region, and the division into four and four is the most common. They began as the eight emblems of royal ceremony in ancient India, entered Buddhism and became motifs of offering, and in Tibet they are everywhere, from door curtains to the bottoms of bowls. Each of the eight can be used on its own, or the whole set can be brought together, and only the full set counts as complete.

Fitting eight motifs onto one round plaque is a problem of density. Arrange them in two rings, five outside and three in, and the weight sits off centre; arrange them in one ring of eight and each is a third of a fingernail and nothing can be read. This piece sets four above and four below with a horizontal band between them, which separates the motifs so that each one can be recognised, and a fine line is cut along the band as a divider. The eight have to be even in size: one large and one small, and the eye goes to the large one first.

South Red is agate, deep in colour and opaque, and good material has a gelatinous quality, so that light entering it does not scatter. Here South Red forms the ground and silver lines outline the motifs, the red pressing against the white so that the white looks bright. The red varies, dark in places and light in others, and it is uneven even within a single piece. That is how the stone looks rather than a flaw, so do not use it to argue the price down. South Red dislikes sun, and long exposure dulls the red. Its red is warm rather than a true red, and held up to the light it is slightly translucent.

The dharma wheel is the hardest of the eight to make small. The spokes have to be the same length, the hub round, and the junctions between spokes and rim clean; blur them and the wheel becomes a gear. The endless knot is difficult as well, since each line has to press over the next, and a wrong pass turns it into a twist of dough. The ribs of the parasol have to be separated one by one, and if they cannot be told apart it is a mushroom. The mouth of the treasure vase has to be drawn in; drawn in, it reads as a vase, and not drawn in it is a jar. The golden fish have to be a pair, one facing left and one facing right, because a single fish is not the golden fish.

Do not knock it against anything hard. South Red is brittle, and a small chip cannot be put back. When the silver tarnishes, the recesses of the outline go black first, which sets off the eight motifs, and at that point it should be left alone. South Red dislikes heat: not on a radiator, and not scalded with boiling water, because a crack begins inside the stone. The silver outline is the finest work on the piece. A knock breaks it first, and a break cannot be repaired.