Shou/Chai #2

July 2006
Sterling silver

The Chinese character 壽 (shou) and the Hebrew word חי (chai) both basically mean the same thing ("life") and are both common motifs in art and jewelry in their respective cultures. I had combined the two words in a few designs for a pendant that a friend was giving to her bridesmaids, and this is one of the designs that she didn't choose. I thought that this one deserved to be committed to metal as well, so here it is! I modified a seal script rendition of 壽 to include a חי at the bottom for the final design.

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