traditional chinese toggles: counterweights and charms

U.S. $95.00

The monkey, the badger, the Buddha, the three-legged toad, the temple, and the peaches of

immortality, are all represented in Traditional Chinese Toggles: Counterweights and Charms—the fi rst major reference book about these most personal and symbolically meaningful works of art to be published in almost fifty years.

Boasting close-up images of more than 1,500 toggles from six of the world’s finest collections, Traditional Chinese Toggles is characterized by great beauty and sound erudition. In this painstakingly researched book, author Margaret Duda draws on her numerous trips to China and consultations with many experts in the field to offer notes on the symbolism of each toggle certain to both charm and inform the reader.

A work of art about works of art, the book offers detailed color photographs of toggles wrought from most of the materials known to have been used in this art: from wood to nickel silver, from coral to stoneware, from seeds to jade. Each image is accompanied by notes about the materials used and the meaning of the rebuses represented, as well as the toggle’s measurements.

Comprehensive in its scope and detailed in its treatment of the individual toggles, Traditional Chinese Toggles is a must-have for anyone with a serious interest in Chinese art. Oriental-antique lovers, miniature-carving enthusiasts, historians of the art of personal adornment, collectors of toggles and netsuke, and all who enjoy charms and talismans will find this book a valuable resource and a treat for the eye.

Margaret DudaAuthor of Four Centuries of Silver, Margaret Duda has also published several articles on Chinese adornment in Arts of Asia, Ornament, and the brochure for the NY Arts of Pacific Asia Show. She sold her first short story at the age of 17, and her stories and articles have appeared in many publications since then. A graduate of the University of Delaware, she has traveled to more than forty countries, and this book is the culmination of eleven trips to China and eight years of research. Margaret is as much a photographer as a writer with photo credits in many books and newspapers such as The New York Times. She has also exhibited her work in a number of gallery shows. The mother of four grown children, she has enjoyed working on books, articles, and photography shows with her third son, Paul Duda.

Presenting close-up color images of more than 1,500 artifacts, Traditional Chinese Toggles: Counterweights and Charms by Margaret Duda is the first major reference book on these miniature works of art in almost fifty years.

Photographed by Paul Duda, the toggles are rendered in a wealth of materials comprising wood, ivory, bone, antler, horn, seeds, gourds, mollusks, jet, amber,

jade, old rocks, crystal, glass, stoneware, metal, and semi-precious stones. The author provides a rich text on the materials together with interpretations

of the symbols and rebuses that define each one.

This is a book to be treasured by Oriental-art lovers, miniature-carving enthusiasts, collectors of toggles and netsukes, and anyone who enjoys

the history of personal adornment and charms.

Paul DudaOwner of Studio Duda, Paul teaches at the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven, CT. He is an MFA graduate of Pratt Institute, New York City, and his work has been presented to the public in over thirty one-man exhibitions in cities such as Istanbul, Prague, and New York. He has also participated in over fifty group exhibitions. He has traveled to more than thirty countries for his fine art work and has been published widely. His book entitled The Vanishing Hutongs of Beijing is available on Amazon, and his photographs canbe seen on his websites: www.studioduda.com and www.dudafoto.com.

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TRADITIONALCHINESE TOGGLES

Counterweights and Charms

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Table of Contents

Forms and Materials 28 Natural Roots and Burls 34 Carved Roots 40 Carved Roots with Nails 42 Root Dogs 44 Bars 48 Buttons 49 Button Backs 50 Carved Buttons 52 Balls and Disks 54 Seals 58 Containers 62 Unusual Shapes

Subjects and Themes 64 Temples and Pull-Down Figures 66 Babies and Young Boys 68 Gods and Mortals 76 Lotus Pods 80 Lotus Seeds 82 Locks 84 Shoes 90 Mushrooms 94 Bottle Gourds 98 Tableaus 104 Fruits, Vegetables, and Legumes 108 Lions 112 Dogs 114 Monkeys 118 Bats, Birds, and Cicadas 122 Fish, Amphibians, and Reptiles 128 Other Animals 132 Drums 136 Dustpans 138 Baskets 140 Uncommon Replicas

Chapter 1

Wooden Toggles24

Introduction10 146 Elephant Tusks 153 Mammoth Tusks 158 Walrus Tusks 159 Warthog Tusks 159 Hippo Teeth 161 Whale Teeth

Chapter 2

Ivory Toggles144

166 Bone 172 Antler 175 Horn 180 Mollusks 182 Large Seeds 184 Gourds and Mandarin Oranges 186 Jet 187 Amber

Chapter 3

Organic Toggles164

194 Harmonious Marriage 196 Numerous Sons 199 Passing the Civil Service Examinations 200 High Rank 202 Wealth and Abundance 204 Longevity and Immortality

207 Sing-Song Girls

Chapter 4

Jade Toggles190

242 Brass246 Leaded,Silvered,and EnameledBrass248 Iron249 Copper250 LeadedBronze251 Silver252 NickelSilver253 MixedMaterials

Chapter8

Metal Toggles238

Glossary255

Works Consulted260

264 ListofChineseDynasties

Toggles from Other Private Collections

264

Appendix to Chapter 8:Metal Alloys

262

Index265

210 Serpentine212 SteatiteandSoapstone213 Marble213 ArgilliteandBakedShale214 Rhyolite215 Basalt215 Pegmatite215 VolcanicAsh,Breccia, andConglomerates216 Mudstone217 FossilizedCoral

Chapter5

Old Rock Toggles208

220 Agate222 Carnelian222 Quartzite223 Amethyst224 RoseQuartz224 TigerEye225 LapisLazuli225 Fluorite226 Malachite226 Turquoise227 Coral

Chapter6

Semi-Precious Stone Toggles218

230 Crystal232 Glass236 Stoneware

Chapter7

Crystal,Glass and Stoneware Toggles228

10 | Traditional Chinese Toggles

Photo of a 57-year-old man taken in the 30th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, about 1905.

Fall. 1999. 5:30 a.m. Beijing. Panjiayuan, also known as the Ghost Market. I huddle close to my American friend who lives on the other side of the city, and also to my husband who can’t believe he got up this early. The

chill air pierces us to the bone. “Laojia, laojia,” the vendors cry in the semi-darkness, clearing a path for their flat-bed wagons loaded with boxes. Other peddlers have spread their wares on old blankets covering the ground along the walls and under the overhang. Each sits in the midst of his offerings, as if he were one of the treasures he hawks. “Olda, olda,” an old man cries, picking up a small carving and brandishing it my way. I shine my flashlight on it. “Ming Dy, Ming Dy,” he assures me. I smile, recognizing a polymer resin reproduction. When I finally find something I like, my friend bargains for me in Chinese. The cost drops dramatically. After numerous exchanges, she divulges the final price. It is much lower than I could even imagine offering. Playing the game, I grudgingly agree and reach for my purse. As I hand the bills to the dealer, he gives me a thumbs up and points to his eye, then to mine. I thank him for the compliment and move on. On this trip, I seek items to illustrate my book on Chinese silver adornment. I’m excited to find a dozen or so pieces I can use, but my husband does not share my enthusiasm. Bored, Larry finds he cannot ignore the dust, the random cough-ing and spitting, and the vendors bumping into us with their carts. Shopping at the Ghost Market is never easy. The sun comes up. The air grows warm. Buyers trickle in. I know that by 9 o’clock, I will be displaced by throngs of tourists. I need my time now, but my husband is miserable. “Why don’t you see if you can find something for our house?” I suggest. “We can meet at the lion gate at nine.” Larry looks skeptical, but finally agrees, meandering into the acres of vendors. At 9 o’clock, my friend and I approach the gate and the huge lion statue. My husband is already there. A broad grin covers his face, but he carries nothing. “You didn’t find anything?” I ask, disappointed.

Traditional Chinese Toggles | 11

Introduction

34 | Wooden Toggles

Undoubtedly, some artisans carved their root and burl toggles with

aesthetic and mythic resonance in mind. By adding eyes, a mouth, and occasionally a nose, the toggle maker could transform a clump of wood into the semblance of a three-legged toad, a snake, a turtle, a silkworm, or even a person. The knotty surfaces miracu-lously became the torsos of animals or the robes of human figures. In Figures 61 through 68, the arti-san carved feet, eyes, and a mouth to transform burls into knobby toads and frogs. The four-legged toads in Figures 61 and 62 represent a wish for longevity and immortality, while the three-legged toad of Liu Hai in Figures 63 through 65 offered wealth. The small three-legged toad on top of the larger one in Figure 66 was surely a wish for prosperity for the generations to come.

The worn burl in Figure 67 needed only a pair of eyes and a leather thong through its mouth to give the impres-sion of a frog. A marvelous frog-like creature hunches over a smaller one in Figure 68. The vendor who sold me this one assured me that it symbol-ized sexual bliss. At the very least, it is associated with fertility. Only eyes and a mouth were necessary to complete the root snakes (Figures 69–71).

Figure 61 1.7 cm × 4.2 cm










Forms and Materials

Carved Roots

Wooden Toggles | 35


By adding feet, a head, and a tail, a toggle maker could convert an old burl into a turtle (Figure 72). Facial expressions create humorous silk-worms (Figures 73–75). Long necks and beaked heads transformed burls into birds (Figures 76–79). In Figures 80 through 82, each carver watched as a rat, dragon, or even the Monkey King emerged from the block of wood beneath his knife.












Figure 169 5.6 cm × 2.3 cm

Figure 170 5.7 cm × 1.5 cm

Figure 174 4.9 cm × 2.7 cm

Figure 173 5.2 cm × 2.8 cm

Figure 171 7.4 cm × 2.5 cm

Figure 172 6.9 cm × 2.3 cm

Figure 177 5.5 cm × 3.5 cm

Figure 178

5.4 cm × 1.8 cm

Figure 1757.2 cm × 2.7 cm

Figure 176 7.1 cm × 3.5 cm

Figure 179 7.5 cm × 3.2 cm

Figure 180 5.8 cm × 1.8 cm

The Three Friends of Winter are often presented as a discrete en-tity, but many carvers liked to alter the meaning by adding other ele-ments. In Figure 175, the pine trees are shown climbing rocks, another symbol of longevity. Rocks can also be found in Figure 176, along with the narcissus, shuixian, representing the Daoist Immortals. The narcissus joins the Three Friends of Winter in Figures 176 through 178. Since zhu, the word for bamboo, is homopho-nous with the word “congratulate,” this changes the meaning to a wish for the Immortals to bring congratu-lations and longevity to the recipient on his birthday. In Figure 178, we see a tiny deer on the bottom left, adding high rank and another symbol for longevity.

Forms and Materials

Bars

44| Wooden Toggles

Bar toggles—carved from a root or a branch—traditionally hung hori-

zontally, but are best viewed vertically. To appreciate a bar toggle’s complex-ity, place it on end and rotate it slowly while examining the minute carvings. Occasionally you discover an obvious sash-cord hole drilled into a bar toggle, but usually the carver has incorporated the hole into the design, and so it’s difficult to spot. Look for the aperture under a tree trunk or flower.

Numerous bar toggles depict the Three Friends of Winter—the pine, the bamboo, and the plum trees, which together form suihan sanyou (Figures 169–174). The bamboo and pine are evergreens, whereas the plum is the first to bloom in the spring. Because of their hardiness in surviving snow and ice, these three trees taken togeth-er represent courage, perseverance, longevity, integrity, and enduring friendship. The motif was a favor-ite of Confucian scholars. Note the distinctive ways the carvers chose to render each tree.

Figure 184 5.4 cm × 4.0 cm

Figure 185 6.0 cm × 2.5 cm

Figure 186 5.8 cm × 2.8 cm

Figure 181 4.3 cm × 3.5cm

Figure 182 4.2 cm × 1.8 cm

Figure 183 6.1 cm × 2.6 cm

Figure 187 5.8 cm × 2.5 cm

Figure 188 6.8 cm × 3.3 cm

Figure 189 7.3 cm × 3.0 cm

Wooden Toggles | 45

Note how a lotus leaf and bud merge with the Three Friends of Winter and the narcissus to add fertil-ity and harmony to a wish from the Immortals (Figure 179). An orchid representing true friendship was add-ed to the trio in Figure 180. Figures 181 through 187 offer another popular theme. A paired bamboo and plum represent double happiness for a man and woman in Chinese iconography. Such a toggle would be a perfect choice for a wed-ding gift. At the other end of the life cycle, the plum and bamboo also rep-resent rejuvenation in old age. Note the “toggle on a toggle” as the own-er added a peach pit carving of Sun Wukong (Figure 187).

Artisans also loved to add mean-ing to the actual plum and bamboo. Lotus pods for fertility enhance the pair in Figure 188. In Figure 189, look for the narcissus and the ci-cada with the bamboo and plum to ensure immortality. The chrysanthemum, another lon-gevity symbol, is also favored as an ad-dition to the bamboo and the plum. The combination of the bamboo, plum, narcissus, and chrysanthemum in Figure 190 may be read as a wish for the Immortals to extend the own-er’s years. The chrysanthemum and cymbidium join the plum and bam-boo in Figure 191 to form the Four Gentlemen among Flowers, called si junzi, a quartet favored by Chinese artists. They are also known as the Four Plants of Virtue.

Figure 190 7.2 cm × 3.1 cm

Figure 191 5.6 cm × 3.1 cm

Figure 270 3.1 cm

Figure 269 4.5 cm

Figure 268 4.7 cm

Figure 265 3.6 cm

Figure 266 4.1 cm

Figure 267 3.6 cm

52 | Wooden Toggles

Wooden carved ball toggles ap-pear in several forms. The sim-

ple solid ball in Figure 265 was left unadorned and includes a sash-cord hole carved into the top. The heavily carved solid toggle in Figure 266 re-sembles the embroidered ball found beneath the paw of a guardian lion. Such artifacts represent fertility, as the ancient Chinese liked to imagine that lion cubs hatched from spherical eggs. The hollow “embroidered” ball toggles in Figures 267 through 269 feature a fretwork design and most contain a free-floating ball. The carver of Figure 268 added tiny nails at the junctures for decoration.

The most unusual ball toggle is the solid sphere covered with simulated embroidery in Figure 270. When you turn the ball, tiny “lotus seeds” fall for-ward and lodge in the openings. This carver left no doubt concerning the purpose of this fertility symbol. Most disk toggles include a flattened surface enhanced by carv-ings. The owner passed the sash-cord through the small hole in the center and knotted it on the other side, or the toggle could have hung from a cord loop. Figure 271 offers the most primi-tive example—a crude image of the God of Longevity with his deer.

Forms and Materials

Balls and Disks

Figure 273 4.6 cm

Figure 274 5.5 cm

Figure 275 5.7 cm

Figure 271 5.8 cm

Figure 272 6.2 cm

Figure 276 7.5 cm

Wooden Toggles | 53

The toggle in Figure 272 displays a bamboo stalk rimming a circle of leaves, which in turn girds six small rings orbiting the hole in the middle. Numerous geometric designs encircle the cord hole in Figure 273. Notice the heavy wear on the large central hole and along one edge. In Figure 274, the reverse resembles Figure 273, but the side we see depicts a large fish beneath a lotus leaf on a woven background for abundance year after year. The traditional shape of a coin with script declaring the reign of Em-peror Daoguang (1821–1850) in the Qing dynasty enhances the surfaces of the toggle in Figure 275. The hole in the center of the coin is called an eye, yan, and the word for coin is qian, a homonym for “before.” Together, they form (yanqian) for “eye coins” or “wealth before one’s eyes.” In addition, the Chinese also carried coins as a talisman to ward off evil spirits. Thus, a toggle in this shape protected the owner from poverty, dis-ease, and demons. Small wonder they were so popular.

Though it has eighteen instead of the usual eight spokes, I still believe the primitive toggle in Figure 276 represents the Buddhist Wheel of the Law, giving the owner a symbol for Buddha’s teachings and rules of con-duct, transmigration, and the cycle of life and death. By turning the wheel, the Buddhist repeated the doctrines of Buddha, which might have been rep-resented by the carvings on the rim, though unfortunately these are too worn to be read anymore.



Chinese artisans loved to depict the human figure, often using

mortal forms to represent the Im-mortals. Identifying the subject of a primitive carving on a toggle is some-times difficult, but more recent pieces are easily interpreted. One of the most familiar Immor-tals in Chinese lore is Shoulao, the God of Longevity, easily recognizable by his formidable brow, bald head, and long beard. He usually carries a peach or a staff, and he is often accom-panied by a deer. In Figure 366, we find Shoulao with his hand on a deer, but no sign of the staff that is so evident in Figure 367. A bat, fu, accompanies the pair for a rendition of the Fu Lu Shou also found in Figure 368. And whereas in Figure 369, Shoulao has a deer lying beside him, in Figures 370 and 371, he carries only a staff.


Figure 370 6.4 cm × 3.2 cm



Subjects and Themes

Gods and Mortals


68 | Wooden Toggles


The next four illustrations each de-pict one side of a single toggle that tries to portray the Eight Daoist Im-mortals collectively known as the Bax-ian. In Figure 372, we discover Zhang Guolao with his donkey and bamboo percussion instrument on the left. Be-side him stands Lan Caihe with the fa-mous basket of fruit or flowers. On the next side, Li Tieguai holds his gourd and iron crutch and is accompanied by Han Xiangzi playing his flute (Figure 373). Turning the toggle a bit more, we find Lu Dongbin holding his Daoist flywhisk and Cao Guojiu with his cas-tanets (Figure 374). The fourth side brings us to He Xiangu with her long- stemmed lotus (Figure 375). But then there is a problem: the eighth figure is not Han Zhongli, usually depicted as a fat man with a bare stomach who holds a palm leaf fan that can raise the dead. The character in the carving bears no resemblance to Han; if it re-sembles anyone, it is the Monkey King. For this reason, the toggle is an enig-ma. It will forever remain a mystery.









In Figure 376, the Eight Daoist Immortals can be seen relaxing on Panglai Mountain, the collective name for the three mountains on the Isles of the Blest in the Eastern Sea. All the gods are remarkably rendered and all carry the symbol of good fortune that defines them. The Eight Immortals, first depicted inside a tomb in 1210, are now one of the most popular sub-jects in Chinese art (Figure 377). Despite the heavy patina on this tog-gle, we can still identify each character. The Immortals can also be found as single figures on many toggles. Li Tieguai, Daoist Immortal of the sick and of herbal healers, adorns the tog-gles in Figures 378 through 381. Called by Laozi for a consultation, Li Tieguai abandoned his flesh and ascended to heaven. On returning, he found his mortal shell burned, and he was forced to enter the body of a crippled beggar. In the first three artifacts, Li Tieguai can be recognized by his iron crutch and gourd, and by the gourd alone on his back in the fourth.

Wooden Toggles | 69

In Chinese tradition, a baby boy re-ceived a silver lock on a chain for his

one-month birthday to “lock him to earth” and keep away evil spirits. Fol-lowing this folk custom, wood carvers created wooden locks to be worn as protective toggles or amulets. Large or small, thick or thin, scal-loped or rectangular, most of the lock-shaped wooden toggles include a crossbar for the sash-cord. The sim-plest are the small kidney-shaped locks and the rectangular ones. Some of these are utterly plain, as in Fig-ure 474. Others resemble rectangular silver locks and often offer a bit of calligraphy expressing a wish for longevity, chang ming, on the front and high rank and wealth on the back (Figure 475).




82 | Wooden Toggles




Most of the wooden locks are rect-angular or scalloped like the head of a wish-granting ruyi. And, we find nu-merous examples of a rectangular lock inside a scalloped one, such as the ex-ample in Figure 476. Two intertwined dragons cover the lock in Figure 477. Two dragons facing one another represent xi xiangfeng, which translates to the happiness of a reunion. Note the front paws shaped like the heads of wish-granting ruyis. The unusual toggle with a hexago-nal shape in Figure 478 denotes an identical message to the lock in Figure 475. Notice the calligraphy indicating long life on either side of the symbol between them. Calligraphy signifying wealth and high rank can be found on the reverse.

The Chinese loved to carve callig-raphy for auspicious greetings on a lock. In Figure 479, we find shoubei on one side and nanshan on the other side. The combined phrase, shoubei nanshan, represents a wish for the recipient of the lock to live to be as old as the Southern Mountain, which refers to Mount Zhongnan in Shaanxi province. It is also half of the phrase, furu donghai, shoubei nanshan, which translates to “May your blessings be as deep as the Eastern Sea, and may you live to be as old as the Southern Moun-tain.” Liu Ji, the Prime Minister of the first Emperor of the Ming dynasty coined the phrase. The Eastern Sea lies between China and Japan.

Subjects and Themes

Locks

Wooden Toggles | 83





Figure 481 5.9 cm × 6.6 cm


The toggle in Figure 480 boasts elaborate calligraphy that translates to fushou shuangquan, or “May you pos-sess both blessings and longevity” according to Terese Tse Bartholomew in Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art. On the unusual round lock, we find a symbol for longevity on the reverse, but on the side that I’ve shown, there is a wish for a heavenly Immortal to bestow a son on the owner (Figure 481). The owner of the next toggle was even more fortunate, since the lock wishes him to be blessed with distin-guished twin sons (Figure 482).

The calligraphy on the toggle in Figure 483 translates as “long life son,” which can be rendered as “May your son enjoy longevity.” It was probably presented to a friend after the birth of his heir. The scalloped lock appears to form the head of a wish-granting ruyi scepter, which offers the owner any-thing he wishes. As the sash-cord was threaded through the holes in the bottom of the scepter, the ruyi would have hung upside down. Pictorial carvings often cover the front of a lock. The Fu Lu Shou pic-tured in Figure 484 offer the owner a modern interpretation of wealth, good fortune, and longevity. The traditional translation for the three Star Gods is blessings, emolument, and longevity with blessings referring to good for-tune, and emolument offering rank and wealth.

The last lock, similar in shape to many silver artifacts but harder to find on toggles, offers a wish for the recipi-ent to have five sons who will pass the civil service exams. This motif origi-nated in the true story of the five sons of Dou Yujun who lived in Yanshan in the Five Dynasties period (907–960). The father tutored his sons himself, and they all passed the civil service exams and became high officials. His accomplishment became the ultimate aim of every father.

Subjects and Themes

Baskets

From the earliest times, the Chinese wove baskets in many shapes from

plant fibers such as bamboo, rattan, palm, grass, corn leaf, wheat stalk, and sorghum. The most famous such con-tainer in Chinese legend belonged to the Immortal Lan Caihe, who traveled the earth bearing a basket filled with flowers or fruit, warning mortals that life is fleeting. The basic basket toggle represents abundance, and because of its associa-tion with Lan Caihe, longevity. Note how the carvers depicted the elaborate weaving. In Figure 929, the toggle rep-resents the type of hand basket used for shopping in neighborhood pro-duce markets, which still open shortly before dawn in China.

138 | Wooden Toggles







Large full-sized baskets shaped like the toggle in Figure 930 would have been used to pay the land tax in rice or grain. Given this heritage, such toggles represent a wish for abundance and wealth. Toggles could even depict woven water baskets (Figure 931). Water—one of the Five Chinese Elements, the others being fire, metal, wood, and earth—was considered to be the elixir of life, and so it was used in many medicinal treatments. I believe, there-fore, that these toggles might have embodied a wish for good health or longevity. They could also represent fertility, however, if we equate the wa-ter basket with the water bucket found in the next section.

As with the dustpans, the artisans often depicted baskets holding various items, thus enhancing their meaning (Figures 932–940). Sometimes, we find a cluster of peaches, tao, for lon-gevity, and apples, pingguo, which puns on the word for peace, ping (Figure 932) as a wish for tranquility and lon-gevity. In Canton, friends love to take apples and oranges to friends as a gift, but it is not a good idea in Shanghai where the local dialect makes “apple” sound like “fatal.”



Wooden Toggles | 139





We find another fish on the next basket toggle (Figure 938). In this case, however, the fish, resembling a gold-fish, jinyu, forms a pun on the words for gold, jin, and jade, yu. Combined with the lotus leaf for “continual,” the trio forms a rebus for “gold in your pocket year after year.” In the basket in Figure 939, two toads sit side by side, wishing newly- weds longevity, whereas Figure 940 holds two monkeys for high rank huddling over a peach for immortality and longevity.

Fish, yu, is a pun on the words for “surplus” or “abundance.” In addi-tion, if the fish in the basket is a perch, guiyu, the “mandarin fish” represents wealth and honor. During the Tang dynasty, officials of the fifth rank even wore adornment in the shape of fish. Since fish swim together happily, they also denote connubial bliss. Thus, the toggle in Figure 937 represents a wish for abundance, high rank, and marital happiness.

A configuration of peaches, gourds, and a lotus (Figure 933) augers longev-ity and numerous descendants. Love and longevity come to mind when we see the peach blossoms, leaves, and fruit in the next basket (Figure 934). Some baskets hold a mixture of flowers and animals. Sometimes, a cat, mao, joins a plum blossom for longev-ity, joined in turn by a peony and chrysanthemum for honor and many more years of life, respectively (Figure 935). In Figure 936, a bat merges with the Three Abundances—the peach, pomegranate, and Buddha’s Hand cit-ron—to wish the owner good fortune, longevity, and worthy descendants.






Jade Toggles

Harmonious Marriage

194 | Jade Toggles

Until the latter half of the 20th century, most Chinese marriages

were arranged. Once the union had been set, however, both sides of the family worked to ensure a happy rela-tionship. Before, during, and after the wedding, many gifts were exchanged, including toggles featuring imagery that guaranteed the groom many years of amicability and even sexual bliss within his marriage. One such motif was the lotus rhizome—a section of the horizontal rootlike stem—called an ou, homo-phonic with the word for “spouse” (Figures 1–3). The rhizome is known for its strength, as the innermost fibers remain intact even when the stem is snapped. Thus, a rhizome toggle con-veyed a wish that, if forced to separate for a time, the couple would retain their bonds of affection.

Another common motif is the Hehe erxian, the Chinese Immortals of Harmony and Unity. Although these deities derive from two poet-monks, Hanshan and Shide, of the Tang dynasty (618–907), the Yong-zheng Emperor decreed in 1733 that they would henceforth function as symbols of marital unity. Eventually Hanshan and Shide underwent an-other evolution, becoming twin boys who together carry a lotus and guard a box, he, another pun on the word for harmony (Figure 4). Baihe, meaning “lily,” puns on the Hehe erxian, and so such flowers often graced wedding gifts, including jade toggles (Figure 5). Because bai means “one hundred,” this imagery represented a wish for the couple to enjoy bainian hoahe, “ten decades of harmony and unity.”







Jade Toggles | 195

Each of our next three examples offers a pair of badgers, shuanghuan, with paws touching. The postures vary: head-to-tail (Figure 6), head-to-head (Figure 7), and nuzzling noses (Figure 8). The word for bad-ger, huan, puns on the term for joy, so these toggles clearly reify a wish for marital happiness. Figure 9 offers a lovely pair of mandarin ducks, yuanyang. According to legend, these birds mate for life, so such a toggle made a natural wedding present. At first it appears that the arti-san has carved only one duck, but then we realize that the creature’s mate is present in subtle bas-relief.

Two bats, symbolizing double happiness, plus two talismanic scep-ters—ruyis—for the fulfillment of wishes, grace Figure 10. This toggle would please any young man on the brink of matrimony. Our final marriage-related toggle, Figure 11, represents two stalks of bamboo and a corresponding leaf. Such imagery helped secure a union characterized by fidelity and peace.

204 | Jade Toggles

While the desire for many healthy years of life is a universal hu-

man trait, the Chinese have always put a particular premium on longev-ity. Even as the elderly help raise their grandchildren—especially their grand-sons—they receive respect and honor from their sons, daughters, sons-in-law, and daughters-in-law. Unlike Western societies, in which senior citizens are commonly maneuvered into retire-ment villages and nursing homes, the Chinese invariably keep grandparents at home, arranging for them to receive nursing care and loving attention. On special occasions—the New Year, a grandchild’s wedding, a grandfather’s birthday—a son will often present a symbolically auspicious gift, such as a jade toggle, to the oldest living male in the family.

The Buddha’s Hand citron—the fragrant, inedible issue of the citron tree—has always enjoyed status as a longevity symbol, partly because the word for this fruit, foshou , puns on fu, “good fortune,” and shou, “longevity” (Figure 74). The creator of our Figure 75 toggle carved the head of a monkey, emblem of high rank, into the red vein between the tendrils. A large-eyed, long-nosed monkey perches atop the citron in Figure 76, while a leafy vine curls down the other side. The toggle wishes the owner longevity and the of-ficial rank of a nobleman.

Figure 77 is among the most com-plex toggles in this collection. Atop the large Buddha’s Hand citron, we find a badger, representing joy, near a string of coins, symbolizing wealth. On the bottom right, a monkey clings to both a tendril and the coin thong. Behind the fruit lies a carved gourd, represent-ing numerous sons and good health. Also depicted are ruyis, securing the owner’s most fervent wishes. This intricate piece was probably a birth-day gift for an elder. Collectively, the images bless the recipient with happi-ness, longevity, good health, ongoing prosperity, many male descendants, and the fulfillment of his heart’s deepest desires. The word for “cat,” mao, is homo-phonic with the phrase “aged eighty to ninety,” so this animal is a natural longevity symbol. The cat, bat, and ruyi resting on a leaf in Figure 78 con-fer longevity, luck, and granted wishes. In Figure 79, the artisan has cleverly sculpted the cat’s tail to suggest a ruyi. In Figure 80, we find a cat and a kitten with a shoudai, a “ribbon,” which puns on the word for “longevity.” A similar pairing, though without the ribbon, is shown in Figure 81.

Jade Toggles

Longevity and Immortality






Jade Toggles | 205







Figure 853.8 cm

The deities, animals, and plants we met when considering wooden, ivory, and organic toggles also grace their jade equivalents. Figure 82 gives us Shoulao, the God of Longevity, depict-ed here with his high forehead. His left hand, broken off before I acquired the piece, may have held either a peach or a staff. The peach, tao, embodies a wish for the owner to survive into old age, for it is the symbol of the God of Lon-gevity. Such fruit also grows in the orchard of the Queen Mother of the West, who shares her crop with other Immortals when it ripens every 3,000 years. Figure 83 offers three peaches of different sizes surmounting a large leaf, a configuration conveying a wish for the owner and his descendants to enjoy longevity.

In Figure 84 two peaches support a badger for joy, their connecting vines shaped like wish-granting ruyis. This counterweight was probably a wed-ding gift. Worn from fondling, the jade and copper button toggle in Fig-ure 85 is difficult to interpret at first. Close examination reveals a bat and a peach, bringing the owner good fortune and longevity.



By far the most numerous rock toggles in this collection are

carved from serpentine, a metamor-phic rock (Figures 1–16). In serpentinization, low-silica mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks are oxidized and hydrolyzed under low temperatures into serpentine, bru-cite, magnetite, and other minerals. Because the rock absorbs so much water during this process, its vol-ume and mass increase, making it a relatively soft material with suffi-cient weight for toggles. The rock varies from light greenish-brown to almost pitch black. Most of the ser-pentine found in China falls into the darker range. In Figure 1, we find a very old tog-gle with a large thong aperture. Two small indentations cut into the top suggest the eyes of an animal, possi-bly a horse, and two more at the tip represent nostrils. As a final touch, the carver added a line for a mouth. A styl-ized baby bird appears in the next tog-gle (Figure 2). Note the head and tiny beak on the left. Small grooves across the front and back represent wings.

Figure 65.5 cm

Figure 34.5 cm



Old Rock Toggles

Serpentine

Figure 3—with an old, but not original, cord still attached—is a bi disk representing heaven. Note the huge hole for the thong and the rough surface. The rounded piece of serpen-tine in Figure 4 is a disk symbolizing marital harmony with the addition of two fish, plus an image that I believe is a yin-yang symbol. Figure 5 combines a peach for longevity with a human face. The toggle in Figure 6 incorpo-rates several symbols. The wheel with eight petals might represent the Bud-dhist Eightfold Path or the auspicious numeral for prosperity. Nine petals— representing good fortune, male ener-gy, and longevity—adorn the reverse.

210 | Old Rock Toggles











Old Rock Toggles | 211

Miniature shoes are a common motif used on serpentine toggles. In Figure 7, a single shoe represents a wish for many descendants, whereas Fig-ures 8 and 9 each show a pair of shoes designed to bring marital harmony and fertility to the fortunate owners. Note the different ways the toggles are de-signed to be hung. In Figure 8, a very old and crude pair, a large irregular hole goes through the center of each shoe. In Figure 9, the shank between the two shoes is doubly perforated.

Predictably, we also find lock-shaped rock toggles (Figures 10 and 11). Although many a symbolic silver lock was hung from a baby boy’s neck, thereby “locking” the child to earth, I believe these heavy rock artifacts were used as toggles by adults. A longev-ity symbol is etched into the toggle in Figure 10, while an artisan carved a lotus shape into both sides of the lock in Figure 11. In Figure 12, we find a turtle, sym-bol of longevity, with lovely brown and green highlights in the black serpen-tine. Figures 13 and 14 each feature a very well-worn monkey symbolizing career advancement. I believe that the toggle in Figure 15 depicts a tiger, em-bodiment of courage and protection. A three-legged toad with a coin in his mouth representing wealth can be found on the next toggle (Figure 16).


Soapstone, also called soaprock, steatite, and oil stone, is a meta-

morphic rock composed predomi-nantly of the mineral talc, mixed with amounts of chlorite and amphiboles. It is formed from altered ultramafic rock, commonly found near tectonic plate boundaries. The rocks are altered by heat, pressure, and water, using pro-cesses that do not actually melt them. The hardest form of soapstone is steatite, which measures 2 to 5 on the Mohs hardness scale. Naturally gray in color, it turns a deep rich black when polished and sealed with wax or oil. The standing lion with a long mane (Figure 17) is a common motif in ste-atite and soapstone toggles. Soapstone itself is very soft, mea-suring only 1 on the Mohs scale, and scratches easily under a knife or finger-nail. Despite its relative softness and density, soapstone is not affected by humidity, making it ideal for carving. Early man not only created art with the stone but also used it to make cooking utensils. When you touch soapstone, you notice that it feels like a smooth, dry bar of soap, hence the name.

We know that Chinese artisans worked with this material three thousand years ago, for some intact soapstone artifacts have been discov-ered in old tombs. This date might be nudged back even further with new discoveries. The oldest soapstone artifact—a club with an elk’s head carving—was found in Finland and dates to 7000 BC. In China, soapstone achieved the height of its popularity during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) when soapstone carvings replaced the more expensive jade carvings. Natu-rally gray to green in color, soapstone can change color when cut because it subsequently undergoes oxidation. This substance can be artificially col-ored as well.

Old Rock Toggles

Steatite and Soapstone




Soapstone shoes held together by a cord—thick-soled shoes for a man and lotus slippers for a wom-an—predict marital pleasure and happiness (Figure 18). In Figure 19, five bats surround the shou symbol and offer wufu pengshou, a wish for the Five Blessings of health, wealth, longevity, love of virtue, and a peaceful death. In Figure 20, note the huge cord hole and the well-worn patina of the soapstone monkey. A fa-miliar ruyi-shaped lock can be found in Figure 21. As this figure shows, toggle artisans never exhausted the popular lotus motif.

212 | Old Rock Toggles


Old Rock Toggles

Marble

Marble is formed by contact metamorphism. Heat is the

dominant factor causing the calcite grains in limestone to fuse into crys-tals. Pressure contributes to the process, as do chemically active aqueous fluids in any adjacent for-mations of plutonic rock, which add other minerals to the marble. Depending on the quantity of impurities, marble appears in many colors, including white, black, rose, pink, blue, brown, and gray. Be-cause its essence is limestone, marble tends to dissolve in acidic fluids. A good test for true marble is to put a tiny drop of 10% muriatic acid into a crevice and see if it bubbles to the surface as it starts to dissolve the sample. Make sure you wash the acid off quickly though.


Figure 245.6 cm

Old Rock Toggles

Argillite and Baked Shale

A couple of the toggles in this collec-tion are carved from metamorphic argillite, a sedimentary rock altered by heat and pressure. Basically composed of lithified mud and clay, argillite has neither the cleavage found in slate, nor the layering found in shale. Geologists classify argillite somewhere between those two conditions. In Figure 25, we find a magpie—harbinger of joy, good news, and marital bliss—plus a lotus blossom engraved on a lock shape. A monkey assumes a pensive pose in Figure 26. Baked shale occurs when normal shale—a sedimentary rock—is trans-formed mainly by heat. Baked shale differs from argillite in that the former grows new minerals and commonly undergoes a change in color. Our single example of a baked shale toggle is in the shape of an em-broidered ball similar to those that amused mythical lions (Figure 27). In

Chinese folklore, such a ball held a male infant. We can infer, there-

fore, that the toggle’s owner wanted a male heir.


Figure 273.9 cm


In Figure 22, we find a marble monkey, symbol of success, eating a peach representing longevity, while a large peach hangs alone in Figure 23. In our last marble example (Fig-ure 24), a huge disk toggle measuring 5.6 cm across includes a brass shank for hanging. Note the wonderful bits of other minerals incorporated from neighboring plutonic rocks.

Old Rock Toggles | 213



Using impermanent wax molds, early civilizations learned how to

cast swords, spear points, armor, reli-gious totems, and bodily adornments in bronze. Although they sometimes worked with conventional formulas, Chinese metallurgists favored a kind of bronze that boasted, beyond the requisite copper and tin, a significant amount of lead. The toggle in Figure 40, for example—which I’m guessing is a fertility goddess—is 84 percent copper, 5 percent tin, 10 percent lead, and 1 percent zinc. Our next three examples are leaded-bronze discs featuring slen-der dragons, some crawling upward, others moving downward: behaviors suggesting the yin and yang of ascent and descent. The details vary signifi-cantly from toggle to toggle. Although we can choose to regard Figure 41 as deliberately minimalist, its simplicity may in fact trace to a worn-out mold. The toggles shown in Figures 42 and 43 each boast distinct scales. In the latter piece, we can even see a pearl in each dragon’s mouth.

Figure 44 shows a delightful frog with eyes of inlaid brass. This fertil-ity symbol boasts considerable heft, which is hardly a surprise, as the mate-rial contains nearly one-third lead. In Figure 45, we find a dragonfish. Note the reptilian head and piscine tail. The toggle in Figure 46 takes as its subject a lithe woman: a courtesan, perhaps, or a dancer. The artisan used simple but assured cross-hatching to cre-ate the fish—avatar of abundance— in Figure 47. Fashioned in the shape of a drum, our last leaded-bronze toggle in Fig-ure 48 is very old and most unusual. I’m confident that the piece originally featured elaborate cloisonné work. The contours of the scrolls and lotus are rendered in wire, the area around the shank is fully enameled, and we can see traces of glass paste everywhere, es-pecially on the drum heads.

Figure 436.2 cm


Figure 425.6 cm


Figure 415.6 cm

250 | Metal Toggles

Metal Toggles

Leaded Bronze

Metal Toggles | 251







Metal Toggles

Silver

Owing to its cost and suscepti-bility to tarnishing, unalloyed

silver was rarely employed by Chi-nese artisans. The smelted metal itself, however, boasted an uncharacteristic purity. Whereas Western sterling silver is normally 92.5 percent unalloyed, a corresponding Chinese artifact might contain 98 percent. Most of the silver toggles I’ve collected over the years take the bottle gourd as their subject. In-cised with auspicious symbols, the example in Figure 49 beautifully embodies the art of Chinese callig-raphy. The cap unscrews to reveal a functional medicine spoon. No less lovely is Figure 50, which includes a jade dangle shaped like a basket. Longevity images adorn the smaller bulb. The fatter bulb in-cludes the other seven venerable Daoist symbols: basket, lotus, sword, bamboo tube drum and rods, flute, castanets, and fan.

Silver toggles sometimes incor-porated repoussé—the technique of imposing a low-relief image on a piece of metal by repeatedly hammering the back with a punch. An example is shown in Figure 51, a double fish mo-tif, a symbol believed to secure marital bliss. The two sides are identical: the two repoussé fish were created separate-ly and soldered together. Compared to toggles of cast silver, this piece is pre-dictably light, but it could still secure an embroidered purse. Note the inevi-table tarnish on the scales and tails. With its glorious blue-green enameling, the toggle in Figure 52 is perhaps the most elegant in this chapter. The artisan has given us a bat, symbol of happiness, with wings spread wide. A longevity symbol adorns the creature’s back. The spectrometer reveals a silver content of 82 percent silver, plus so much gold—a full 15 percent—that we can safely as-sume the metallurgist deliberately added this second element when preparing the batch.


U.S. $95.00

The monkey, the badger, the Buddha, the three-legged toad, the temple, and the peaches of

immortality, are all represented in Traditional Chinese Toggles: Counterweights and Charms—the fi rst major reference book about these most personal and symbolically meaningful works of art to be published in almost fifty years.

Boasting close-up images of more than 1,500 toggles from six of the world’s finest collections, Traditional Chinese Toggles is characterized by great beauty and sound erudition. In this painstakingly researched book, author Margaret Duda draws on her numerous trips to China and consultations with many experts in the field to offer notes on the symbolism of each toggle certain to both charm and inform the reader.

A work of art about works of art, the book offers detailed color photographs of toggles wrought from most of the materials known to have been used in this art: from wood to nickel silver, from coral to stoneware, from seeds to jade. Each image is accompanied by notes about the materials used and the meaning of the rebuses represented, as well as the toggle’s measurements.

Comprehensive in its scope and detailed in its treatment of the individual toggles, Traditional Chinese Toggles is a must-have for anyone with a serious interest in Chinese art. Oriental-antique lovers, miniature-carving enthusiasts, historians of the art of personal adornment, collectors of toggles and netsuke, and all who enjoy charms and talismans will find this book a valuable resource and a treat for the eye.

Margaret DudaAuthor of Four Centuries of Silver, Margaret Duda has also published several articles on Chinese adornment in Arts of Asia, Ornament, and the brochure for the NY Arts of Pacific Asia Show. She sold her first short story at the age of 17, and her stories and articles have appeared in many publications since then. A graduate of the University of Delaware, she has traveled to more than forty countries, and this book is the culmination of eleven trips to China and eight years of research. Margaret is as much a photographer as a writer with photo credits in many books and newspapers such as The New York Times. She has also exhibited her work in a number of gallery shows. The mother of four grown children, she has enjoyed working on books, articles, and photography shows with her third son, Paul Duda.

Presenting close-up color images of more than 1,500 artifacts, Traditional Chinese Toggles: Counterweights and Charms by Margaret Duda is the first major reference book on these miniature works of art in almost fifty years.

Photographed by Paul Duda, the toggles are rendered in a wealth of materials comprising wood, ivory, bone, antler, horn, seeds, gourds, mollusks, jet, amber,

jade, old rocks, crystal, glass, stoneware, metal, and semi-precious stones. The author provides a rich text on the materials together with interpretations

of the symbols and rebuses that define each one.

This is a book to be treasured by Oriental-art lovers, miniature-carving enthusiasts, collectors of toggles and netsukes, and anyone who enjoys

the history of personal adornment and charms.

Paul DudaOwner of Studio Duda, Paul teaches at the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven, CT. He is an MFA graduate of Pratt Institute, New York City, and his work has been presented to the public in over thirty one-man exhibitions in cities such as Istanbul, Prague, and New York. He has also participated in over fifty group exhibitions. He has traveled to more than thirty countries for his fine art work and has been published widely. His book entitled The Vanishing Hutongs of Beijing is available on Amazon, and his photographs canbe seen on his websites: www.studioduda.com and www.dudafoto.com.

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TRADITIONALCHINESE TOGGLES

Counterweights and Charms

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traditional chinese toggles: counterweights and charms

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