Chinese belt toggles called 'zhuizi' are small carved ornaments used as counterweights on the cords of pipe bags and other small bags which were usually hung on men's belts.

Chinese clothes were not well provided with pockets, so bags which could be suspended from a belt were useful articles of attire. In order to fulfil its primary purpose of securing things to a belt, a toggle must have what the Chinese called a 'string eye', which could pass a string or cord.

Toggle wearing disappeared from China in the 1940s, when western style clothing replaced traditional clothing.

This dress toggle was made in China between 1700-1940. Women are rarely depicted on the toggles, except in one small group of 'doctors' toggles which are carried by old-style Chinese doctors to help them in diagnosing female illnesses. The female figure is usually shown as being ill with a fever, lying on a huge banana leaf. The banana plant was thought to relieve fever therefore such a toggle might have served as a charm against fever and illness and may have been worn by a country doctor as a sign of his profession. It is also possible that the subject was considered erotic and to act as an aphrodisiac.

(reference)
Cammann, Schuyler, Substance and Symbol in Chinese Toggles, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1962, London, pp.144-145.

This toggle is part of a group that was collected in Peking by Hedda and Alastair Morrison between 1940 and 1942. Most of them were purchased from markets outside Chongwenmen Gate, and in Liulichang, a street known for its antique shops.

Dress accessory, toggle, woman in banana leaves, pearl shell, maker unknown, China, c. 1700-1940

Toggle made of opalescent pearl shell carved in the form of a female/deity figure lying sandwiched between two leaves.

Made: China; 1700 - 1940

Owned: Morrison, Hedda;

Owned: Morrison, Alastair;

none

92/441

1700 - 1940

20 mm

50 mm

28 mm