Chinese Toggle Depicting Shoes

Two shoes pressed together like a book, their sides covered in scratchy etched designs.

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. Seen straight on, a pair of rounded shoe shapes joined side by side, with open hollows at the top and a small hole near the opening. Fine engraved lines of leaf-like patterns cover the flanks. The surface is a warm honey brown with a satin finish. It is 0.5 inches wide, 1 deep and 0.75 high.

Etched with more enthusiasm than a shoe strictly requires.