White Copper Zhao Gongming Black Tiger Altar Pendant

Zhao Gongming is a martial god of wealth, riding a black tiger, styled Lord of the Dark Altar. His image usually runs: iron crown, black face, heavy beard, a whip in one hand and an ingot in the other, a tiger at his feet. The tiger should be couched. Couch it and the master looks like he has it under control. Let it look ready to spring and the piece turns fierce — not a wealth god but a door god. The wings of the iron crown should lie level; tilted up they look frivolous, and pressed down they sit steady. That is the old rule for the figure.

The composition is vertical: figure above, tiger below, joined through the hem of the robe. A vertical composition fears a heavy top; enlarge the shoulders and the lower half goes empty. So the tiger’s body and tail have to take up their share and weight the base. The fold of the robe hem is the transition, and its line must run through; break it and the piece divides into two halves. The ingot in the hand needs clean edges. Blur them and it is a stone, and the point of it goes.

In casting a figure in white copper there are two difficult places: the beard and the whip. The beard is fine, and metal that does not reach simply leaves a gap. The whip is long and warps as it cools. Good stock has the whip as one straight line and the beard separated into strands rather than a single clump. Antiquing leaves the dark between the strands, and the layering appears. A beard cast as a clump cannot be saved by antiquing. If the whip is bent, do not force it back: white copper is brittle and snaps at one bend, and the break is sharp enough to cut.

One version only, without a chain. The hole sits at the top of the iron crown, and on a cord the figure faces outward. The back is flat and lies against the chest. Pieces on this subject run heavy, so take a Chopin link a size up; a fine chain cannot carry it and pulls forward within two days. With cord, use waxed, tied at the nape so no join shows at the front, and it holds the weight. The plaque is thick with the weight low, so a shorter cord is steadier; too long and it slaps the chest as you walk.

Stories about the wealth gods differ by region, and Zhao Gongming’s origins have several tellings, so leave room when you talk about them. If a customer asks whether it works, say it is a folk image of a wealth god and that people keep it for the good omen. White copper dislikes sulphur, so keep it away from rubber and camphor. The tiger’s claws stand proud, so wrap the piece in soft paper when putting it away rather than dropping it in a box. Some ask whether the black tiger’s eyes should be opened; the answer is that the eyes are cast in, not painted. If a box is wanted, do not choose a shallow one — the claws push against the lid, and pressed long enough they flatten.