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. Cowries were used as money in Ancient China and until recently, among the tribes in the southwest. and they have served as a form of jewellery, wealth and status symbol. They have also served as fertility charms among the outlying people of Yunnan and Burma till the present time. The cowry is also believed to be able to cure disease, most specially to clear vision and to remove inflammation of the eyes.

(reference)
Morrison, Hedda and Alastair, Chinese Toggles: A little Known Folk Art., Arts of Asia, March/April 1986

Cammann, Schuyler, Chinese Belt Toggles, Oriental Art. New Series Vol.8 No. 2 Summer 1962

Cammann, Schuyler, Substance and Symbol in Chinese Toggles, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1962, London, pp.46-47

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, cowry shell, maker unknown, China, c. 1700-1940

A toggle made from a natural snakes head cowry shell, cypraea caputserpentis, with cream and brown stippled markings and a toothed fissure on the underside. A small hole for attachment is drilled at one end.

Made: China; 1700 - 1940

Owned: Morrison, Hedda;

Owned: Morrison, Alastair;

92/444

1700 - 1940

9 mm

30 mm

25 mm