White Copper Antique Pixiu Pendant

In legend the pixiu has a mouth and no anus, so what goes in does not come out, and folk take it as a beast that gathers wealth. The idea is coarse, but it has travelled widely, and the people who carve follow it: mouth open, belly out. Believe it or not is one thing; worn on the body it is a keepsake, and it should not be expected to earn anyone money. Lean on it for that and you are making a joke at your own expense. The shop never tells anyone that wearing one will make them rich; saying so would be a lie. Accounts differ from place to place — some have the pixiu managing wealth, some guarding the house — but the carving follows much the same lines.

The head is made large and the body short, four legs tucked under the belly, crouching. The horns lie back; brows and mane are cut as rows of short lines, and after the antiquing the recesses go black while the raised parts stay bright, which is what makes the face stand out. The mouth is open, three teeth cut, the tongue pressed underneath where you only see it up close. The tail curls up against the rump and takes no space; the hole is at the top of the head, set back, so it hangs head forward. The ears lie flat and are short, so nothing knocks. The paws are cut with four toes, and the grooves between them are deepest at the front.

The antiquing is not dirt. The recesses are oxidised first and then fixed, and the raised parts are polished. Treated this way, the pattern reads at a glance without leaning in. The drawback is that the black in the hollows will not survive rubbing; it fades, and after a year or two the piece is back to half-worn. There is no going back, so do not plan on touching it up. Some find it not old enough and work it with sweaty hands, which is quick but uneven: wherever the palm does not reach stays pale. The colour runs brown rather than true black, which you can see in the light.

Pendant alone or with a flat-link chain. That chain is flat, its links close-fitting, so it does not catch hair, and it holds a three-dimensional piece like this more steadily than a fine cable chain. The pendant alone suits anyone who already has a chain; the hole sits at the back of the head, so the chain threaded through it needs a small clasp, or the piece will hang crooked. Chain colour follows the piece: an antiqued finish takes an old-bronze or a black chain. Too short a chain and the pixiu sits right under the Adam's apple and digs when you turn your head. Better long than short.

Do not pick at the antiqued grooves with a toothpick. What comes out is the oxidised colour, and it leaves a bright patch that looks worse than before. Press with a dry cloth day to day, and sweep the dust out of the seams with a soft brush. Bag it on its own when it comes off; the horns and claw tips are thin, and jostling against other things rounds them. A small ding does not need attention — an old piece can carry that much. Pieces like this are not harmed by age; they are harmed by cleaning too often, which thins them until the copper shows through.