In the old days Chinese clothing did not have pockets. Instead the Chinese would hang their utilitarian objects such as tinder pouches, eating kits, tobacco containers, Good Luck charms and other necessities of life, from their sashes. These objects would be attached to cords which were not knotted to the sash but slipped over it so that they could easily be removed. To prevent the object from slipping down, a counter weight or toggle was used. For hundreds of years these toggles, which were also used by the Japanese who call them ‘netsuke’, were cut, carved and moulded by hand from a variety of materials such as wood, ivory, bone, porcelain, bronze, horn, antler, shell, jade and in fact from anything which could be used for this purpose. They were worn by the rich and poor alike. Some were fashioned in a primitive way by peasants and others show a sophistication which could only be attained by a skilled craftsman. Toggles did not only serve as counter weights but also as Good Luck charms. And they speak to us if one knows their hidden meaning.