Deep-carved square gaming counter showing a man with a closed parasol over his shoulder. On the left is a woman watching him and on the right stands a man with a hat known as eagle wings because of the flaps on the sides. We have only seen this kind of hat being worn by children and have not yet found out which position the hat signifies. The fan in his hand points at an adult however and not a child. The intricate armorial belongs to Buller family of Somerset, Shillingham and Morval in Cornwall, England and shows a Moor’s head above a quarter-pierced shield decorated with a cross of four eagles. On both sides of the crest are men of which the right one seem to be reading a book. The border on the front is decorated with plum flowers and bats. Plum flowers have five petals which represent ‘Longevity, Wealth, Health, Love of Virtue and a Peaceful death’. The bat (Fu) stands for ‘Blessings’. The border on the back shows berries of the evergreen plant ‘Rohdea Japonica’ (Wannianqing) which is a pun for ‘ten thousand years’. It is interesting that typical Chinese puns were used for the decoration. This stunning counter dates from the Daoguang period (道光 1820 – 1850). Width 4.7 cm. Height 3.3 cm. Thickness 0.25 cm.