Fortune Dog
旺財狗
Faithful heart,
fortune at the door.
In Chinese everyday life, dogs are often given auspicious names such as Wangcai (旺財), Laifu (來福), or Xiwang (喜旺) — names filled with wishes for good fortune and a prosperous life.
My Wangcai began from something much more personal. Its earliest inspiration was Dou Dou (豆豆), the dog who stayed with me for sixteen years. Yet I never wanted the doll to resemble one particular breed, or even to look exactly like Dou Dou.
Over time, Wangcai became less a portrait of one dog and more a small container for affection, memory, and the familiar warmth of having a dog beside you.
I wanted Wangcai to carry a rougher, more direct visual language — something closer to woodcut than polished illustration. The face became slightly feral and mischievous, with the kind of imperfect expression that made the character feel more alive.
On its body are two unexpected companions: a chicken and a mouse. They came from the many humorous expressions in Chinese folk language where dogs appear alongside chickens and mice. Instead of illustrating the sayings literally, I let those fragments of language become pattern.
That is the spirit of Fortune Dog (旺財狗) for me: not polished prosperity, but a quieter kind of luck — affectionate, slightly strange, a little stubborn, and full of life.
Made by Hand
Original patterns are screen-printed onto fabric, then each piece is cut, sewn, filled, and finished by hand. Small variations are part of the process, making every zodiac companion slightly different.
Zodiac Years
People born in the Year of the Dog include:
1934 · 1946 · 1958 · 1970 · 1982 · 1994 · 2006 · 2018 · 2030
Your zodiac year returns every twelve years.
For those born in the Year of the Dog, 2030 is one of those special years.
