White Copper Instant Wealth Pendant

Rich on horseback is a pun, not an old motif. On the horse means immediately, and sudden riches is a phrase that only became popular in recent years. Carving the four characters along a horse's back is a bit of a stretch logically, but it reads smoothly, and younger buyers mostly take it as a joke rather than a promise. The phrase spread through online selling. Put those four characters in a title and more people click on it.

Actually making the thing, the difficulty is the layout. Four characters spread across the back of a galloping horse, and the spine is a curve, so the characters have to follow the curve without the spacing going off. Too big and they crush the body, too small and they cannot be read. Here they are split into two groups, the first two pressed behind the neck and the last two on the haunch, with the outline of the saddle breaking them in the middle so the eye pauses as it reads. That saddle outline was added for the break and was not there before. Cut shallow, it does not break the line. Cut deep, and it looks like a strap tied round the horse.

The horse itself is built another way, unlike a traditional galloping horse. Short legs, long body, thick neck. In proportion it is closer to a toy, which keeps it recognisable at a small size. Anyone who makes small pieces knows the reasoning. Shrink a true proportion and the legs become wires that will not cast, so the proportion has to change. Changing it is not cheating. Changing it badly is. Short legs have a practical benefit too, because they do not break. Long thin legs are the most fragile thing in a casting, and when the metal cools and shrinks, nine times out of ten that is where the trouble is.

Polished white copper is bright, and if the characters are cut shallow the light wipes them out. So either cut deep or antique the recesses dark. Hold the piece to a lamp when it arrives. The characters need shadow on their inner faces before they count as properly cut. Depth shows best from the side. Turn the plaque and the characters are little trenches, flat-bottomed where a machine cut them, curved at the bottom where a hand did. Dust collects in them over the years and goes black, which improves the look. Do not pick at it.

As a gift this is easier to offer than the traditional horse-arrives plaque. Nobody thinks you are wishing them promotion, and nobody thinks you are hurrying them into wealth. It is a joke, and they can wear it or leave it in the box. That tact is the only real advantage of this kind of pun piece. Wear it yourself if you like, on a bag or on a set of keys. People do both.