Chinese Toggle Depicting Deer

Deer-like animal looks back over its shoulder inside a pebble-shaped frame of scrolls.

This toggle depicting deer is from China, and dates to the late 19th or early 20th century. It is jade. Toggles originally worn for practical use later became valued gifts and artworks, and the article notes that the netsuke of Japan, a similar counterweight for kimono sashes, originated with Chinese toggles. Raised in low relief among scrolling vines and tiny dots, a deer-like animal lifts its head on a rounded teardrop plaque in pale grey-green. Orange and rust veins cross the edge and upper curve. The finish is smooth and gently worn. It is 1.25 inches wide, 0.25 deep and 2 high.

A modest scene, quietly well made and gently framed.