The carving on the present piece is exceptionally fluid and detailed. A number of related parfumiers dating to the late Ming dynasty are known but it is extremely rare to find such a panoply of mythical creatures depicted on a single carving. The only other published late Ming mythical beast parfumier of comparable quality is in the Wang Shixiang Collection illustrated by Wang Shixiang and Wan-go Weng, Bamboo Carving of China, New York, 1983, p. 26, figs. 12 and 12a.