Lucky Bat Belt Toggle

Carved from a beautiful piece of burl wood, this toggle is in the shape of a bat. This bat is accompanied by beautiful renderings of foliage and large fruits or a gourd and has a wonderful fluidity to the shape of this toggle.

Bats are a symbol of happiness in Chinese culture. This comes from the fact that the Chinese words for both "bat" and "happiness" are homophones, a concept explored frequently in Chinese toggles. The fruit this bat is depicted with looks most like a gourd, which another of these homophone words. Gourds share their pronunciation with the words "fortune" and "prosperity". This belt toggle was probably a very lucky charm for the original owner and may have been given as a gift.

H. ⅝" ; L. 2 ⅝": W. 2"