The extremely rare colour combination found on this spectacular bottle suggests a date from the second half of the Qianlong reign; see A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 5, nos. 1001-1005, for other examples of the group and their dating. The unusual subjects are superbly carved and finished, using the complementary colours to great effect and with remarkable confidence. The bottle is also of impeccable formal integrity. Reading beyond the subject-matter, the abstract use of the two overlay colours is also particularly well thought-out. No other example is known of this colour combination which comes anywhere close in quality.

The pair of parrots is a very rare subject. Pairs of birds symbolise a happy marriage, but the parrot is not used traditionally in this sense - in fact it is quite the opposite in Jiangsi province. According to W. G. Gulland in Chinese Porcelain, vol. 1, pp. 98-99, a legend there tells of a pearl merchant who was on the point of being ruined by the intrigues of his faithless wife when the state of affairs was made known to him by a talking parrot. As such, the parrot became, locally, a warning against faithlessness.