Metal Fortune Bowl Shovel Tassel Charm

A small bowl with a shovel, the bowl mouth up, the shovel resting against the rim, a tassel hanging below. The rim of the bowl is given a thick edge, the body draws in, and the foot is small. The shovel has a short handle and a broad head, and the blade is blunt so it will not cut. Both are small pieces, joined by the tassel; apart they are two loose parts. The base of the bowl is round, and it turns if you stand it on the table and only hangs steady; the thick rim holds it down and keeps it from looking adrift. The proportions are cut for a small piece, and enlarging them would spoil it.

Bowl and shovel are a pair in subjects about gathering wealth. The bowl holds and the shovel scoops inward, and the two actions together are taking in and keeping. The combination is common in small folk charms, and people in small trade like to hang one by the till, for the meaning that shows on the surface. Meaning is meaning; do not expect it to guard anyone's money. The handle of the shovel has a few ridges across it so it does not slip in the hand, and the head is set at an angle rather than flat, so it looks as though it were really shovelling.

Metal, with a brownish cast rather than true black, which shows in the light. The thick rim of the bowl is the brightest part of the piece; the polishing stops there, and further in it goes into the hollow. The joint between handle and head is dressed, so no step can be felt. The hanging ring is on the base of the bowl, facing down, so the mouth comes up true once the cord is on. The inside of the rim is bright in fact, being where hands have been, and that brightness from wear is not the same as polish.

It can hang at a till, on the corner of a shelf, on a door handle; low is better, with the bowl mouth up and never upside down. Metal dislikes sweat, and a hand with cream on it leaves fingerprints, which a dry cloth takes off. A dirty tassel can only be changed; washed strands knot and will not comb out. Dust in the bowl comes out with a cotton bud run round it. Do not hang it too high, where the bowl mouth cannot be seen and the thing is wasted, and not in a draught, where the tassel swings all day. Pieces like this go green first in humid weather; wipe with a dry cloth before hanging.

The inside of the bowl is the hardest to polish, and the hollow is left slightly dark, which sets off the bright outside. The flat of the shovel scratches easily, and scratches do not show against the dark ground. The proportion of bowl to shovel matters: too large a bowl looks clumsy, too small and it cannot hold the shovel down, and this set is fairly evenly weighted. The tassel joins the ring on the base, so a movement sets bowl and shovel swinging together, and the life is in the swing. Bowl and shovel are not fixed to each other and come apart, which makes cleaning easier.