Solid bamboo carvings of fruit are very rare, particularly carvings of this large size. A related bamboo carving of a pomegranate that has been hollowed out as a receptacle and cover bearing a Shen Liangzhi signature is illustrated by H.L. Huang in The Exquisite Art of Bamboo Carving, Taipei, 2007, pp. 50-51. A bamboo box and cover carved in the form of a pomegranate in the Palace Museum Collection, Beijing is illustrated in The Palace Museum Collection of Elite Carvings, Beijing, 2002, no. 32. For another solid bamboo carving of a fruit of similar size, compare a carving of a peach in the Victoria and Albert Museum illustrated by C. Clunas, Chinese Carving, London, 1996, p. 49, fig. 49.

The pomegranate, with its many seeds is associated with the wish for plentiful descendants.