Chinese Toggle Depicting a Phoenix

A white bird holds a magnificent wing curl like a sail in a light wind.

This toggle depicting a phoenix is from China. It is carved jade. Traditional Chinese clothing had no pockets, so people of all social classes, from rickshaw drivers to court scholars, used toggles as counterweights to help secure small bags hanging from their sashes. A plump, rounded bird perches with its head turned forward and a large wing sweeping up in layered ridged strokes. Its tail flares to a point at the right. The finish is smooth and ivory-pale, with a faint russet patch low on the flank. It is 2.25 inches wide, 1.25 deep and 2 high.

All that carved plumage, and not a feather out of place.