Chinese Jade Toggle Bead

A stubby barrel bead with swirling brown streaks and a clean central hole.

This toggle bead is from China. It is jade. Many toggles carried auspicious symbols drawn from wordplay, so a monkey, whose word can sound like the word for Marquis, suggested high rank, and a carp suggested success in civil service examinations. The short cylindrical bead has softly rounded shoulders and a wide bore through the middle. The surface is a creamy white swept with brown streaks and pitting, giving a stormy, banded look. It is 0.75 inches in diameter.

Small, stout and weathered with real character.