Pair of Miniature Lucky Cat Figures with Gold Ingot (加薪)

A sweet pair of tiny cream lucky cats, sold as a pair. One sits upright with both paws raised, wearing a little gold ingot on its head, and has 加薪 written on its tummy. The other lounges playfully on its side with one paw in the air and a happy closed-eye grin, decorated with red and pink flowers. Both have red-lined ears and pink whiskers. Each is about the size of a fingertip, so they're perfect for a desk, a shop counter or a gift for someone hoping for good news at work. Maker unmarked. They're in good condition.

加薪 (jiā xīn) means "pay rise" in Chinese, so this little cat is a good-luck charm for your salary. In Chinese communities the lucky cat is known as zhāocái māo, the "fortune-beckoning cat", and it often holds or wears a gold ingot, the boat-shaped yuanbao once used as money in imperial China. The Japanese maneki-neko usually holds an Edo-period koban coin instead.