S925 Silver Beast Pattern Gourd Pendant

It holds medicine, it holds wine, and in Daoist painting it hangs at the waist of immortals. The gourd appears very early among Chinese objects. Ordinary people took the pun on blessing and salary, and also the image of a vine that runs long and bears many fruit from the single root. One hung on the door at the fifth day of the fifth month to keep off bad air; one painted on a dowry chest asked for descendants without end. The shape points at neither men nor women, and either can wear it without awkwardness.

The word yantai in the name is the supplier's term. I have not found any craft process on the object that corresponds to it, so I will not invent a history for the word. What can be confirmed is the form: small above, large below, the waist drawn in tight, a short neck at the top and the cord hole opened at the side of the neck. The beast mask is pressed into the belly and takes up most of the front, with two eyes, a single bridge of nose, and no jaw. That is the old rule for a beast mask: eyes and nose, no chin, which is what keeps it from becoming a portrait of one particular animal. Taking only the brow and the eyes and leaving off the jaw is how a beast stays a beast.

The beast mask comes from Shang and Zhou bronzes, where it was once called the taotie: two eyes standing proud, the design opening to either side, symmetry throughout. Moved onto silver, symmetry is harder, because shrinkage adds a little to one side. To judge whether the work is even, look at the distance between the eyes, then at whether the two horns are the same length. Half a millimetre out and the front sits crooked.

The two characters on the piece mean dissolving worry, and they bring to mind Cao Cao's line: what is there to dissolve worry, only Dukang, which is a wine and not a pendant. The association is still useful for a gift. Given to someone in the middle of a hard stretch, it needs no speech; hand over the two words and they will understand. A plain cord in the box is enough. Too many small extras only clutter it.

Use a thin cord. The waist of a gourd is narrow, and a thick cord laid over it hides the waistline entirely. The recesses collect sweat, and the eye sockets of the mask are the worst of them: work a soft brush in with a little clean water, never a needle. Tarnish comes off as usual, but do not clean the black out of the sockets, because that is where the mask keeps its gaze. The waist is the thinnest part and a knock there will break it, so support the base when you put it away. Avoid elastic cord. The gourd has weight, and elastic will pull it down the wrist.