Chinese Toggle Depicting Rat

A small rodent in cream and plum-gray, nose down and shoulders hunched.

This toggle depicting rat is from China. 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. The animal crouches with a pointed snout, a round eye and a plump arched back. The body is smooth cream and the head and forepaws darken to a plum-gray tone. Edges are soft and the polish is gentle. It is 1.75 inches long, 0.5 deep and 1 high.

Sniffing out something far more interesting than us.