Chinese Toggle or Cong Bead

Squat pale tube with square shoulders and a small hole in the top.

This toggle or cong bead is from China. It is jade. People of all social classes in old China, from rickshaw drivers to court scholars, used toggles as counterweights to help hold small bags in place on their sashes. Short, four-sided column in soft greenish white, with a stepped foot and a narrow circular opening at the top. The corners are crisp but gently softened, and the polished surface shows a few small blemishes. It is 0.5 inches long, 0.5 deep and 1.5 high.

Tidy geometry, quietly holding on to its one question.