S925 Silver Gilt Wealth Longevity Figure Display Piece

The three stars of Fu, Lu and Shou are widely known among the people, generally Fortune, Office and Longevity. Sometimes the wealth deity is swapped in to make Lu, Cai and Shou — office, money and years — set together, which says the thing more plainly: all three at once. This grouping is common among desk ornaments, and both shopkeepers and scholars can display it without worrying about the setting. Households order the three differently; some put Fu first, others lead with Lu or Shou, according to local habit.

Shou is the easiest to know: a high, long forehead, white beard, one hand on a staff, the other holding a peach, the body leaning slightly forward. Lu is dressed as a mandarin, red robe, jade belt, holding a ruyi sceptre or a tablet, with a well-fed face. The wealth deity usually holds an ingot, or sometimes a golden toad, depending on the carver's line. Set the three together and the direction of the robe folds has to agree, or they look like pieces from three different stalls. Shou's staff often carries a gourd and Lu's belt hangs jade; these small extras are where the work shows.

Gilding is a layer of gold on the surface. The old method used a gold-mercury amalgam, gold dissolved in quicksilver, painted on and then heated so the mercury drove off; today gold plating is more common, close in appearance but different in wear. Ornaments do not get handled much, so either will last. Whether the gold layer is even shows at the edges and in the recesses, and where the silver shows through at a corner the plating is probably thin. Never use silver dip on a gilt piece: the silver under the gold turns black and shows through from beneath.

Placement matters. A desk, a bookcase, a hallway cabinet all work; do not face the toilet door, and do not tuck them into a damp corner. As a set of three, Shou goes in the middle or on the left, depending on how wide the surface is; a single piece should be the one you are short of. The base has to sit flat, with a thin felt pad under it so it does not slide when moved. Leave a little space in front rather than pushing it against the wall, and it will look less cramped.

The gold layer is thin and dislikes hard edges. Dust with a dry soft cloth, never an abrasive paste. Exposed corners of the silver body will dull first, which is the silver oxidising rather than the gold coming off, and a light pass with a silver cloth handles it. In a dusty cabinet, dust once a month rather than letting it cake. Lift by the base when moving, not by the head, which is the finest part. Clean dust out of crevices with a soft brush, because a feather duster will scratch.