Square silver pendant decorated on both sides with texts. According to the person who sold this pendant and two similar ones to us, this is definitely a lock. We have not yet been able to find a comparable piece so we accept his belief. The lock originates in Fujian and has the following text on one side ‘Wugu Guanyin Xiandu Fuzu’. According to Chinese folklore, a man called Wugu Dixian begged Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, for grains to plant when his people were starving. The Goddess gave him five gourds filled with five grains (wugu), rice, millet, sorghum, wheat and beans which he planted and thus saved his people. On the other side is the name ‘Wuhui Zunwang’ who is a Deity who protects the wearer of this amulet. Also depicted are Plum flowers (meihua) and Narcissus (shuixian) which are a pun ‘May the heavenly Immortals honour you with a long life (tianxian gongshou). The lock is marked but we can only read the first character Xiang (祥) and Wen Yin (纹银) for Silver. It dates from the late Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1912) and is of a heavy quality. Width 3.5 cm. Height 2.8 cm. Depth 0.65 cm. Weight 21.1 grams.