Asian Jade & Toggles

A Chinese robe had no pockets. A gentleman tied what he needed to a cord, and the cord needed an anchor.

Jade and toggles solved it: small carvings in jade, wood, bamboo, horn, coral, silver and mammoth tusk, slipped behind the sash to hold a pouch, a purse or a seal. Each carver packed a meaning into a form that closes in the hand. Fish stand for abundance, by a play on the word yu. A pair of shoes means harmony. The cicada, emerging from the earth, means rebirth. Monkeys, frogs, dragons, foo lions and seated Buddhas carry wishes for rank, wealth and protection.

Most date from the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Stone has softened and wood has polished under years of handling; horn and old wood turn honey-brown.

A man’s whole wardrobe, it turns out, once fit in a fist.