Deep-carved counter carved from bright mother-of-pearl with a mountainous landscape scene depicting a squatting man smoking a long pipe. A basket of fruits stands in front of him and a customer looks on. The deep-carving consists of numerous layers of top quality decoration. The back side has a blank roundel and shows a landscape with houses, a large crested bird and a cow or buffalo. Both of these animals are purely decorative. 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 6.9 cm. Width 2.7 cm. Thickness 0.25 cm.