Chinese Toggle Depicting a Bear with Turtle

A shaggy, curled-up animal with every strand of fur combed into place.

This toggle depicting a bear with turtle is from China, and dates to the 20th century. It is jade. Toggles originally worn for practical use later became valued gifts and artworks, and the article notes that the netsuke of Japan, a similar counterweight for kimono sashes, originated with Chinese toggles. A rounded, coiled body is covered in dense incised hair strokes, with a small horned head tilted up at the top. A smooth plain lobe sits to the left. The stone is a yellowish green fading to brown at the lower edge. It is 2.25 inches wide, 0.75 deep and 2.25 high.

The grooming effort here is truly heroic.