The composition and use of colours on the present lot are superb, closely following on a tradition established during the Qianlong period. A possible prototype for this box is the large Qianlong-marked vase sold in these Rooms, 30 May 2005, lot 1500, with an identical design of iron-red bats suspending auspicious symbols in flight amidst colourful clouds on a turquoise-ground. In both the Qianlong and Jiaqing examples, each bat is distinctively individual, well detailed and depicted in different poses.