Chinese Toggle Depicting an Ancestor

A small gentle-faced figure with crossed arms tapers into a long smooth peg.

This toggle depicting an ancestor is from China, and dates to the 20th century. It is jade. Many toggles carried auspicious symbols drawn from wordplay, so a monkey, whose word can sound like the word for Marquis, suggested high rank, and a carp suggested success in civil service examinations. The upper end shows a head with a heavy brow and a mild expression, arms folded in front, and two small open holes at the sides. Below, a long rounded blade runs down with one hole near the tip. The color is a pale green with brown at the head. It is 1.5 inches wide, 1 deep and 4 high.

Arms crossed, patience fully in hand.