Money Hook Motif, 38.2×13.5mm, pitch-black agate, bloodspots (At-070726-MHBS)

✦ Every piece at Ancient Dzi Shop is photographed unretouched and described exactly as found. ✦

The motif on this bead doesn't resolve from a single angle — the front face shows the hook completing its loop, and the back face shows it opening again, as if the line never stopped moving.

This antique Tibetan money hook dzi bead is set against a pitch-black ground, confirmed across all white-background photographs. The cream motif lines carry a warm sandy-tan interior — not uniform white, but a graduated fill that deepens toward the centre of each curve. Two vertical stripe separators flank the central motif on each face, a compositional convention consistent with the crafting tradition of antique Tibetan nine-eye dzi beads of the same period and school.

The bead is fusiform in profile — broad through the midpoint, tapering cleanly toward both drill ends. The end caps are pitch-black and undamaged. The drill channel is standard gauge. No chips, cracks, or surface damage are present anywhere on the piece.

The cinnabar inclusions (硃砂, zhusha — mercuric sulfide) are documented in the macro photographs. The warm reddish-brown and golden-tan saturation is concentrated within the cream-white motif zones, with a deeper concentration at the interior of the hook curves where the cream fill is thickest. Distribution is cream-zone focused scattered, with the reddish core most dense at the centre of the central hook and fading toward the stripe edges. These inclusions are sub-surface and diffuse rather than discrete pinpoints, which is consistent with long-term mineral interaction within aged agate.

At 38.2×13.5mm, this bead sits comfortably as a centrepiece or focal bead in a bracelet or short necklace. Its proportions are substantial without being unwieldy, and the pitch-black ground gives the cream motif maximum contrast at any wearing angle.

The Money Hook Motif

The money hook (sometimes called the wealth hook or ruyi hook) is among the auspicious symbols found on traditional Tibetan dzi beads. The motif's looping, curved form is associated with the capacity to attract and hold wealth, drawing resources toward the wearer. In Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhist iconography, hook forms also carry associations with the ritual implements used in offering and invocation — connecting this bead to a broader tradition of protective and prosperity-bringing objects carried across generations.

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Motif: Money Hook (wealth hook)
Length: 38.2mm
Diameter: 13.5mm
Form: Barrel, fusiform
Material: Agate
Age Estimate: 200–300 years
Condition: No chips, cracks, or damage. High surface gloss. No flaws to disclose.
Bloodspots: Tier 3 — cinnabar (硃砂/zhusha, mercuric sulfide). Warm reddish-brown and golden-tan saturation concentrated in cream motif zones; cream-zone focused scattered distribution; densest at hook interior curves.
Product ID: At-070726-MHBS
Collection: Antique Dzi / Bloodspot Dzi

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Browse related pieces:
→ Antique Dzi Beads
→ Bloodspot Dzi Beads
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Further reading:
→ Tibetan Dzi Beads — Luck, Fortune & Meaning
→ Dzi Motifs and Their Interpretations

Each piece at Ancient Dzi Shop is offered as found — no restoration, no enhancement, no retouching.

✦ Unretouched photographs. Honest descriptions. Every piece exactly as it is. ✦

All photographs are unretouched. Colours are represented as accurately as camera and lighting permit.

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