2-626-380 - The Museum of East Asian Art/Heritage Images

Bamboo toads, China, late Ming dynasty, 1623. Three bamboo toads carved in the round, signed by Shen Dasheng. The tongue of the big toad is fitted at the base to slots and can be moved up and down. The two smaller toads, one with a rice spray, are clambering onto the flat back of the big one. This object was probably intended as a brush rest for the scholar's studio.