Chinese Toggle Depicting Shoes

Little pair of shoes hangs from a cord with a few striped glass beads.

This toggle depicting shoes is from China, and dates to the 19th century. It is wood. Chinese decorative arts often use objects and their names as symbols, and a shoe or slipper is sometimes read as a pun on wishes for harmony. Up close, a compact, squared-off pair of shoe forms with two slender slots on top, suspended from a dark thin cord. Small blue and white beads and a gold-toned bead are knotted at the lower end. The dull brown surface shows gentle wear. It is 1 inches wide, 1.75 deep and 0.75 high.

The smallest footwear going, with accessories to match.