Chinese Toggle Depicting 2 Frogs

Two toads in a deadlock: one gazing down, the other eyeing the first.

This carved wood toggle depicting two frogs is from China, and dates to the 20th century. In Chinese folk imagery the frog is generally associated with abundance and good fortune, and it appears often in small carvings. Close up, a small group of two toads on a flat base, one with warty back and downturned head, facing a second whose snout rests against it. The surface is carved with fine bumps and is a deep reddish brown with a soft polish. It is 0.75 inches wide, 2.25 deep and 1 high.

Eye to eye, toad to toad, and neither one blinks.