Chinese Jade Toggle Bead

A dusky gray drum-shaped bead with a pocked, stony face.

This toggle bead 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. The squat cylinder has rounded edges and a wide central hole. The surface is mottled in charcoal and pale gray with small pits and chalky flecks, and the finish is dull and aged. It is 0.75 inches in diameter.

Rough around the edges and proud of it.