The largest and most involved pendant we build.

The 3D Diamond-Cut God of War & Dragon Fretwork Pendant is a pierced plaque — the whole background is cut through rather than filled, so the piece reads as an openwork screen with a sculpture standing in front of it. Light passes through it, which is the reason it looks the way it does on the chain.

The frame is built in stepped tiers, with squared tabs breaking out along both sides and a scalloped cloud-form crest across the top carrying a small circular medallion at its centre. The same cloud scalloping closes the bottom edge, so the outline is decorative on all four sides rather than a plain rectangle.

The God of War stands at the centre in genuine three-dimensional relief — not carved into the plate but standing off it. He is in layered armour with a plumed helmet, robes and sash falling and turning around the legs, and his glaive held on the diagonal across the body. Every plate of the armour and every fold of the robe is separately cut.

A dragon comes over his shoulder from the upper right — horned head, cut mane, scaled body — and its coils run down the right side and gather into the cloud and wave scrollwork filling the lower third of the plaque.

Behind all of it, the pierced ground is worked in fine diamond-cut rays fanning out from behind the figure. Against the satin finish on the frame and the figures, those cut rays are the only bright surfaces on the piece — so the light sits behind the sculpture instead of on it.

Guan Yu was a general of the Later Han deified for keeping his word at any cost. Shown standing in full armour with the guandao rather than as a portrait, this is the martial version of the image — the protector, not the sage.

Why You’ll Love It:

• Fully Pierced Fretwork – The ground cut through so the piece reads as an openwork screen
• True 3D Figure – The god standing off the plate, not carved into it
• Diamond-Cut Ray Ground – Hand-cut rays fanning behind the figure, the only bright surface on the piece
• Stepped Decorative Frame – Tiered borders with squared side tabs and cloud-scalloped crest and foot
• Dragon Over the Shoulder – Horned head and scaled coils running the right side into the wave scrollwork
• Solid Gold Throughout – No stones and no plating

The chain shown in the photographs is not included.

Made to order, turnaround time is typically 2-4 weeks.

Specifications

Estimated Weight by Purity