Chinese Toggle with Archaic Motif

Little square carpet of interlocking scrolls with four small holes at the corners.

This toggle with archaic motif 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. Squared spirals run tightly across the face of this flat, pale plaque. A tiny drilled hole sits at each corner, with rusty traces around them. The edges are crisp and the color is a soft creamy grey. It is 0.25 inches wide, 1 deep and 1.25 high.

Neat, tidy and thoroughly spiral-minded, down to the corners.