Brass Luo Pan Spinner

A palm-sized luo pan in solid brass, its centre free to spin.

A working luo pan is the feng shui practitioner's compass, the ring of readings a consultant turns to find which way a house faces and what sits in each direction. This is the pocket version of it, engraved on both faces with the eight trigrams, the twenty-four solar terms and the sixty-four hexagrams around a taiji at the centre. The bagua has long been kept as a guard against what should not come in, which is why a small one travels well.

The centre turns a full circle under the thumb, and that is the point of it: something to hold during a long call or a slow decision. Three forms, a 6cm disc, an 8cm disc, and one with a working compass needle where the taiji would be.

It lives on a desk or in a coat pocket, and is often bought for someone moving into a new office.