The theme of 'boys' has been favoured by the Chinese for centuries, bearing the auspicious wish for fertility and numerous sons. Song dynasty court painter Su Hanchen (1094-1172) was particularly famous for depicting lively children at play with characteristic hair-styles and dressed in loose robes, and this style was continued into the Ming and the Qing dynasties as can be seen on paintings, ceramics and various works of art. The iconographic objects held by the boys on the jar are equally auspicious. The chime and the fish form the rebus: jiqing youyu, 'may there be good luck and abundance of fortune'; endless knot and ruyi sceptre signify all wishes come true; and the vase with flowers to provide a wish peace and wealth.

No other identical example of the present jar appears to be recorded, although a closely related small Qianlong doucai bottle is in the Palace Museum collection, Beijing, is illustrated in Kangxi Yongzheng Qianlong, Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 68, p. 387. The Beijing vase is also decorated in the doucai and famille rose palettes depicting similar boys at play in a garden landscape.