Chinese Toggle Depicting Shoes

Twin shoe forms on a thick shared sole, with one small hole drilled by the toe.

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. Set together, two squared shoe shapes sit side by side on a heavy, banded platform. Each has a shallow oval hollow on top, and a tiny round hole pierces the back of one. Panels are outlined by shallow grooves, and the surface is a muted reddish brown. It is 1 inches wide, 1.5 deep and 1 high.

A sturdy sole for a pair that goes nowhere.