Chinese Toggle Depicting Horse with Monkey

Two animals nuzzle in a circle with a hole between their heads.

This toggle depicting horse with monkey is from China. 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. A flattened, rounded composition in pale celadon shows a larger animal with a smaller one clinging near its head, the openwork gap between them. Soft incised lines mark the tail and haunch. Small brown flecks and rusty patches dot the edges. It is 2 inches wide, 0.25 deep and 1.75 high.

A cuddle with a built-in window.