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Hello All,
An attractive yellow stone chop seal with red/ brown inclusions, "dragon bird eating" finial with soft edges for a tactile feel in the hands
Size: 7.9cm H x 1.9cm square
I would greatly appreciate your comments so that I may learn more about this piece, many thanks
Kind regards

Kevin

Looks like a nice piece of shoushan stone, nicely carved top. Pity about the crude and artless printing face. 祿 means happiness, but is relatively meaningless in this context.

Many thanks for the post

Hi Kevin & Mike,

This character, pronounced "Lu", is the name of one of the Daoist "Star Gods" trio, Fu-Lu-Shou (福, 祿, 壽), who respectively are arbiters of Good Fortune, Career & Salary, and Longevity. I wonder if some innovative seal-carver might only be selling them in sets of three, figuring nobody would want to risk an offense by purchasing just one.

Cheers,

Bill H.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanxing_(deities)

Luxing

The star of Lu (禄), Luxing 禄星, is ζ Ursa Majoris, or, in traditional Chinese astronomy, the sixth star in the Wenchang cluster, and like the Fu star came to be personified. The Lu star is believed to be Zhang Xian who lived during the Later Shu dynasty. The word lu 禄 specifically refers to the salary of a government official. As such, the Lu star is the star of prosperity, rank, and influence.

The Lu star was also worshipped separately from the other two as the deity dictating one's success in the imperial examinations, and therefore success in the imperial bureaucracy. The Lu star is usually depicted in the dress of a mandarin.

All,

Many thanks for your posts- truly grateful for the experience

Kind regards

Kevin

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