Description
A bowl heaped with gold ingots, a pair of chopsticks laid beside it, and a printed gift bag. This one does not go into a fire. It sits — on an altar shelf, a shop counter, a desk — and it is the only item in this batch that is meant to stay where you put it. Worth saying plainly at the top, because everything else on this page is burned.
What is in the box
The bowl itself, gold-tone with a raised rim and two loop handles. Inside, a heap of ingots in two shapes — the boat-shaped 元宝 and the round coin — packed tight enough that the bowl reads as full from any angle. Beside it, a pair of gold chopsticks with cast ends. The whole thing arrives in a printed gift bag with a ribbon, which is why it works as a gift without extra wrapping.
Where it belongs
On an altar it goes to the left of the ancestral tablet, below the incense line, never above it. On a shop counter it faces the door — the older placement rule is that the bowl should be able to see who comes in, so the mouth of the bowl faces the entrance rather than the wall. On a desk it is purely decorative and no rule applies. What you should not do is put it on the floor, or in a bathroom, or anywhere it will be knocked over weekly.
What it is not
It is not gold. The finish is gold-tone plating over a base metal bowl, and the ingots are moulded, not cast. It is not an antique and it is not blessed — we do not sell blessings, and we say so on the about page. And it is not for burning: metal in a burn pit is a hazard and, at a temple, a straight refusal. If you want something to send by fire, the paper goods on this page are the ones to order.
Care
Dust with a dry cloth. The plating dulls in humid air — a coastal apartment will do it in a season — and a wipe with a dry microfibre brings most of it back. Do not use metal polish on the ingots; it takes the tone off the moulded edges and leaves them patchy.
If you are building an altar set rather than buying one piece, the hand-painted five element talisman is what usually hangs above this bowl, and the paper money for the actual burns is here.
Questions we answer every week
Can I burn it with the money?
No. It is metal with a plated finish. Burn the paper, keep the bowl — that is the whole division of labour between the two.
Is the gold real?
No. Gold-tone plating and moulded ingots. Nothing in this listing contains precious metal, and nothing here has a resale value beyond the object itself.
Does it come in a gift box?
A printed gift bag with ribbon, yes — shown in the photos. If you need a rigid box for shipping it onward as a present, tell us before ordering and we will pack it in one at no extra charge.
