S925 Silver Pixiu Pendant

At pendant size a lying pose works better than a standing one. A standing beast takes up ground and looks thin when it is shrunk onto a plaque; lying curled into a ball gives a round outline, and that holds up. Judge the pose by the paws: front paws crossed is couchant, four feet planted is standing, one foot lifted is playing. The couchant pose is compact and steadiest in a small piece. On a lying beast the side the head turns back toward should carry one or two folds at the neck; without them it reads as a rock.

Pixiu come single-horned and double-horned. Folk saying has it that one horn is pi and two is xiu, while elsewhere the single horn is called tianlu and the double bixie. The accounts don’t agree, each region tells it its own way, and none wins. Don’t fret over the number of horns when buying; the overall presence is the more solid test. A large head, an open mouth and a full chest: get those three and the beast stands up. Pixiu are made in jade, bronze and silver. Jade is warm, bronze heavy, silver bright. The material changes the character a great deal, so work out what the recipient normally wears before giving one.

Silver beasts most often fail by going muddy. Muddy means all the modelling sits on one plane, so light travelling across it finds neither light nor shade. In good relief the beast’s back turns clearly into the belly, there is a groove between leg and body, and the mane is a few masses rather than individual hairs. Shrink the photograph when you look at it: if it still reads as a beast when small, the work is sound. On a pixiu the horns, ears and tail are the three places that blur together first; find the boundaries between them in the photograph, and if they separate, the work is good.

The head faces outward and the chain runs through the back. Bright silver stands out best against dark clothing and looks clean against off-white. It suits either sex, though a woman is better with a small size. Folk custom has the pixiu’s mouth facing outward. Believe it or not as you like, but someone will always say something if it is worn the other way, so wear it right from the start.

The body has many recesses, and once oxidised the light and shade separate and actually look better. If it bothers you, polish the raised surfaces only and leave the recesses. Don’t use an ultrasonic cleaner: vibration loosens solder joints over time, especially where the legs meet the body. Lay it flat when you take it off, and don’t let the head bear on the table. If the hole sits behind the head the pendant tips forward when worn, and only a hole in the back hangs it straight. That much you can see in the photographs.