Chinese Jade Toggle or Bead

A dark spindle-shaped bead with coiling forms rising from the surface.

This toggle or 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 elongated body is tapered at both ends with a hole at the right end, and raised scrolling forms run along its length. The color is deep brown with gray patches and a dull, aged finish. It is 2.5 inches high and 0.5 in diameter.

Dark, dense and decorated with real confidence.