Quails are auspicious birds because they are pronounced an in Chinese, which is a homophone for 'peace'. Two quails can be read as shuang an, or 'double peace', and thus, these birds appear as a pair on paintings, porcelains and textiles from as early as the Song dynasty.

Compare with other quail boxes of this type: one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji, vol. 6, pl. 106; a pair illustrated by Ip Yee, Chinese Jade Carving, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1983, no. 196; a pair from the Alan and Simone Hartman collection sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2006, lot 1401; and a single example from the Tianhe Shanfang Collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 May 2005, lot 1557.