Chinese Toggle Depicting Shoes

Very small pair, its sides busy with scratchy carved scrolls and borders.

This toggle depicting shoes is from China, and dates to the 19th century. It is wood. Wood is a lighter and warmer material than jade for toggles, and carvers shaped it with small tools into compact forms that sit comfortably in the hand. At first glance, a tiny, squat shoe pair with ridged outlines around two narrow openings. The sides and toes carry shallow carved scrolls and bands in a reddish-brown surface. The edges appear worn, and the form is compact and boxy. It is 0.75 inches wide, 1.25 deep and 0.5 high.

Little feet, big ornamental ambitions.