Description
Dress accessory, toggle, frog or toad, wood, China, c. 1700-1940.
Polished wood, 3-dimensionally carved into the form of a slender frog on a flat, rectangular base. Three long lines stretch along the frog's back, with spots dotted on both sides.
A hole was drilled through the centre of the base for attachment.
Significance statement
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.
Production notes
Since ancient times, frogs and toads (often indistinguished by the Chinese) have been revered as mysterious creatures due to their strange life cycle, ability to live in two elements and powers of fertility.
It was used for medicinal purposes and is believed to have spawned from heavenly dew and is therefore called, "heavenly chicken."
Although the animal depicted in this toggle is four-legged, it should be noted that there exists a creature in Chinese folklore called the "money toad", which is considered to be the symbol of money-making and good fortune.
(references)
Cammann, Schuyler, Substance and Symbol in Chinese Toggles, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1962, London, pp.130.
Williams, C.A.S., Outlines of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motives, Dover Publications, 1976, New York, pp.401-403.
History notes
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.
Credit line
Gift of Alastair Morrison, 1992
Registration number
92/564
