Chinese Archaic Toggle Depicting a Bird

A moss-green bird with a pierced back and a beak that points straight ahead.

This archaic toggle depicting a bird is from China, and dates to the 20th century. It is jade. Jade was generally the most preferred and valued material for toggles, a precious stone integral to Chinese culture since the Neolithic Period and often called the stone of heaven. The bird is carved in a low, streamlined posture with a lifted head, a short hooked beak and a long flat tail. A round hole passes through the shoulder. The surface is matte and lightly pitted, in a mossy gray-green. It is 5 inches wide, 1.5 deep and 2.5 high.

Weathered, wary and still very sure of the heading.