Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature

Belt toggles, known as zhuizi, are small carved ornaments used as counterweights on cords tied around belts in traditional Chinese dress. Carved from a diverse range of natural materials to represent a variety of plants, animals, and everyday objects, these splendid miniatures manifest Chinese culture and material values. The exhibition Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature was developed in a partnership with Powerhouse Museum and features objects on loan from the Powerhouse collection, which includes one of the world’s largest collections of Chinese toggles donated to the Museum by Hedda and Alastair Morrison.