Deep-carved counter carved from bright mother-of-pearl with a village scene depicting a man sawing planks from a tree trunk while another man brings a new log. The back side has a blank roundel and shows a landscape with houses, a quail and a kingfisher which were purely decorative although the quail because of the character ‘an’ in its name represents ‘Peace’ (ping’an). The fretted border is decorated with plum flowers and bats. The bat is a pun for ‘Blessings’ and the five petals of the plum flower represent ‘Longevity, Wealth, Health, Love of Virtue and a Peaceful death’. Depictions of bats and plum flowers are quite common on the borders of gaming counters. The hidden meanings remained unknown to their Western users however. The counter dates from the Daoguang period (道光1820 – 1850). Length 6.7 cm. Width 2.7 cm. Thickness 0.24 cm.