Chinese Toggle Depicting Buddha Based

Smiling seated figure in glowing amber holds his round belly with great contentment.

This toggle depicting Buddha based is from China, and dates to the 19th century. It is 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. Warm honey-yellow in color, the seated figure has a broad smiling face, bare chest and a rounded belly, one hand resting on a knee. A pale halo-like disc rises behind the head. It sits on a dark carved base with a geometric key-fret border. It is 1 inches wide, 2.5 deep and 2 high.

Pleased with life, and happy to share the feeling.