S925 Silver Wealth Mouse Earrings

The jewel-spitting mongoose appears in almost every Tibetan wealth deity: Yellow Jambhala holds one in his left hand, Vaishravana has one too, and mani jewels pour from its mouth, turning into treasure where they land. In Tibetan country the animal is not a pest but the exit through which wealth arrives, which is a nice reversal. Made as a stud, the body curls into a ball, the tail coils at its side, and the mouth is left as a small hole or a single bead — that is the whole idea. In Tibetan drawing the tail is often coiled into a ring like a coin; that detail tends to be dropped at small scale, and this pair keeps it.

The animal here is round, with a full belly, the forepaws tucked under the chin, small round ears and a single arc for the eye. At this size the features can only be given in a few lines; more would turn to clutter on an earlobe. The tail comes around from behind to the front, its tip lifting slightly, and that small hook is what makes the whole creature look alive. Two horizontal lines are cut across the belly for the layering of fur; they are the deepest cuts on the piece, and after antiquing they read as two black strokes.

The silver is lightly antiqued: recesses darkened, raised areas left bright. The degree is hard to hold — too dark and it looks like flaking paint, too light and it might as well be new, with no depth in the relief. This is a shallow antiquing: silver-white at a distance, the dark lines in the recesses only visible up close, which I think is the right measure. The depth varies slightly from batch to batch, and even within a batch, because the pieces are dipped by hand for different lengths of time.

The post sits high on the back of the animal, so the head faces forward when worn and does not droop. Keep the silver backs; a plastic back widens with every use. On a thin lobe, do not leave the post too long — a long post rocks back and forth and the animal hangs crooked. The joint between post and body is a solder seam, and a seam does not like lateral force: pull the earring straight out, do not lever it upward.

These can be worn singly or as a pair. Worn singly, put a plain hoop in the other ear and the two will not compete; worn together, there is a mongoose on each side of the face, which is a bit of fun. Silver darkens with wear, and these are small: two pinches with a silver cloth and they come back, no need to dip the whole piece. The ears are the thinnest part of the casting, so hold the body when you take them off, not the ear — a squeeze there and it bends.