Chinese Toggle Depicting Two Fish on Lotus Pod

Fish swim head to tail around a lotus pod in soft grey-green.

This toggle depicting two fish on lotus pod is from China, and dates to the late 19th or early 20th century. It is jade. Many toggles carried auspicious symbols drawn from wordplay, so a monkey, whose word can sound like the word for Marquis, suggested high rank, and a carp suggested success in civil service examinations. Carved in a smooth bluish-grey green, the rounded oval has two fish curling around a central pod, with scales and fins finely incised. Cloud-like scrolls and leaves fill the gaps. A small bud rests at the top. The polish is soft. It is 2 inches wide, 0.5 deep and 2.5 high.

A circular swim, with no beginning and apparently no end.