Toggle in the shape of a pair of men’s shoes. Shoes (xie 鞋), because of an identical pronunciation, are used in combination with other objects to express ‘in Harmony with’ (xie 谐) or ‘Together with’ (xie 偕). Shoes also symbolize Wealth because their shape is similar to a silver or gold ingot (sycee). This pair is made of boxwood and the carving is very fine. On the nose is a ‘ruyi’ symbol which expresses ‘Everything you wish for will come true’. Inside the ‘ruyi’ symbol is a round Shou character (tuanshou) which means ‘May you have Longevity as well as Completeness (yuanman)’. The circular shape (yuan) means ‘Fulfilment’ or ‘Completeness’. On the sides are depictions of elongated ‘Shou’ symbols. Elongated Shou characters (changjiao shou) mean ‘May you have a very long life (changshou)’ because anything long can be linked to Longevity. The pair has a nice patina which confirms its age. Toggles of this type often date from the Ming period (1368 – 1644) but we feel that this pair is slightly later and dates from the early Qing period (1644 – 1912). We discovered this toggle in an antiques shop in Macau in 1993. Length 4.6 cm. Width 2.3 cm. Height 1.6 cm.