The gourd is the one shape in this collection named by its sound. The word for gourd sits close to the words for fortune and for a salary, which is why the shape appears wherever there is a wish for either — carved in jade, strung in garnet, cut from yak bone.
Why two gourds, not one
Many pieces here double the shape — a smaller gourd sitting above a larger one, joined at the waist. The reading is old: the two halves are the two parts of a life, one above the other, and the narrow waist between them is what holds the two together. That is why the doubled gourd appears on the multi-wrap and double-wrap strands here rather than the single one.
What it is made in
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Jade — the most common here, in pale green, blue, and white. Jade takes the curve of a gourd well, because it can be carved thin without breaking.
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Garnet — strung around a jade gourd rather than cut into one, so the red frames the shape.
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Turquoise, amethyst, multi-stone — pavé-set or threaded, so the color changes across the surface.
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Yak bone — carved as a pendant or a bead, and left a natural cream rather than dyed.
Choosing
Take the jade if you want the shape read on its own. Take the garnet or the turquoise if you want the color noticed first.
The jade collection is where most of these are cut.
