Chinese Toggle Depicting Shoes

Engraved scribbles cover the sides, and a rolled toe curls up like a wave.

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. Shaped as a pair of shoe forms with oval hollows on top and rolled, scroll-like toe caps. The flank carries fine incised characters or foliage in a loose, scratchy hand. The surface is glossy, reddish brown with a worn, rounded base. It is 0.5 inches wide, 1.5 deep and 0.75 high.

Handwriting that nobody asked the shoe to wear.