Chinese Toggle Depicting Bird

Plump little bird with a drilled eye wears a bead and red cord.

This toggle depicting bird is from China, and dates to the 19th century. It is jade. The dragon is a popular toggle motif symbolizing wisdom, ambition and prosperity, a five-clawed version represented the emperor, and a dragon with a phoenix suggested marriage and was a wedding gift. Creamy white and rounded, the small bird has a short beak, a dark round bead and a fine red cord at the head. The wings and tail are marked with reddish incised lines in a net-like pattern. The base is flat and smooth. It is 2.5 inches wide, 1 deep and 1.5 high.

Neat feathers, bright cord and no plans to fly.