Chinese Toggle Depicting Fish

A slender fish with a lifted tail, simple fins and a pierced fin on the back.

This toggle depicting fish 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 body tapers smoothly from a pointed mouth to a ruffled tail, with shallow curves marking the gill and fin. A few tiny star marks decorate the flank. The surface is pale green, shading to cream at the tail. It is 3 inches long and 1.5 deep.

Streamlined, calm and in no hurry to reach the pond.