Chinese toggles: culture in miniature = Zhongguo zhui zi : fang cun jian qian kun

Abstract

"Belt toggles, known as zhuizi..., are small carved ornaments that offer a rare glimpse into everyday life in early modern China. Used as counterweights and fasteners to pouches that hang from traditional Chinese garments, toggles became popular along with the rise in tobacco from the 17th century. More than personal accessories, they were wearable symbols and today can speak to 300 years of Chinese culture across various levels of society. Coinciding with an exhibition of the same title at the University of Sydney's Chau Chak Wing Museum, this publication, Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature, brings one of the world's largest collections of Chinese toggles from Powerhouse Museum, donated by Hedda and Alastair Morrison, together with multifaceted analysis on the objects' histories and materials by art historians, archaeologists, scientists, and curators"--From page [4] of cover.

Contents

Collecting the quotidian -- Reflections on Chinese belt toggles from the Powerhouse Collection / Min-Jung Kim -- A shared passion: the Hedda and Alastair Morrison collection of Chinese belt toggles / Claire Roberts -- Miniature, the user and tactile appreciation -- Chinese toggles at scale: miniatures and metaphoric spaces / Chen Shuxia -- Chinese toggles at play: bawan and the cultivating hand / Chen Shuxia -- Materiality -- Jade toggles and carving in the Qing dynasty / Gu Fang and Chen Shuxia -- Material matters: the scientific analysis of Chinese toggles / Elizabeth A. Carter, Lorraine Leung, Brad Swarbrick, Thérèse Harrison, Chen Shuxia, Min-Jung Kim, Meredith Freeman, Paul Donnelly -- Displaying culture in miniature -- Image plates of exhibited toggles