Chinese Toggle Depicting Shoes

Pair of chunky little clogs fused at the hip, each with a deep open mouth.

This toggle depicting shoes is from China, and dates to the 19th century. It is wood. Chinese decorative arts often use objects and their names as symbols, and a shoe or slipper is sometimes read as a pun on wishes for harmony. Two small shoe forms joined side by side, with rounded toes curling upward and wide hollow openings on top. Incised lines trace a stylized outline across the sides. The surface is a warm reddish brown with pale residue in the grooves. It is 1 inches wide, 1.5 deep and 1 high.

Tiny footwear for a very small, very patient wearer.