Pun Design ：

Bat + Peach

Punning Details：

– ‘fu 蝠’ in ‘bian fu 蝙蝠’ is a pun on ‘fu 福’ which means ‘good fortune’, ‘luck’, or ‘happiness’;

– Peach has a nickname ‘shou tao 寿桃’ meaning ‘longevity peaches’, is symbolic for ‘long life’;

– The Chinese character ‘shou 寿’ literally means ‘long life’

The combination of the images of the bat and the peach fruit (or the Chinese character 寿) expresses the good wish for great happiness and longevity.

Related Pun Pictures:

May you have inexhaustible good fortune and longevity 万福万寿

May good fortune descend from heaven 福从天降

• Fig 1: famille rose porcelain dish, Yongzheng period (1723–35), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

  Fig 2: ewer with enamelled decoration, Yongzheng period (1723–35), Qing dynasty, courtesy of Palace Museum, Beijing

  Fig 3: porcelain lidded tea jar with underglaze blue decoration, Yongzheng period (1723–35), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei

  Fig 4: famille rose porcelain bottle vase, Qianlong period (1736–95), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei

  Fig 5: famille rose porcelain bottle vase, Qianlong period (1736–95), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

  Fig 6: porcelain flask with underglaze blue decoration, Qianlong period (1736–95), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei

  Fig 7: bottle vase with overglaze enamelled decoration, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), courtesy of Tokyo National Museum

  Fig 8: copper container with enamelled decoration, Qianlong period (1736–95), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei

  Fig 9: gilded porcelain brush stand with overglaze enamelled decoration, 18^th – 19^th century, courtesy of Sotheby’s Auction House, 30 Nov 2021, Lot 431