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. This toggle would have been an appropriate wedding gift. The gourd contains many seeds and is therefore a symbol of fertility in this context. A pair of shoes can symbolise a married couple living together in harmony. Brooms and scrubbers are well-known features in Chinese and Japanese rites of exorcism against evil spirits, the broom is also a symbol of wisdom, insight and is able to sweep away bad weather.

(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.137-140

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, gourd and household implements, agate, maker unknown, China, c. 1700-1940

Toggle made of translucent honey coloured agate relief carved into the form of a double bottle gourd with a raised cord around the mid section. Two sections from the outer opaque crust of the stone are carved into a pair of shoes, a broom and scrubber that sit at the upper sides of the gourd. Three drilled holes through the upper half of the gourd for attachment.

Made: China; 1700 - 1940

Owned: Morrison, Hedda;

Owned: Morrison, Alastair;

none

92/468

1700 - 1940

20 mm

52 mm

40 mm