Small porcelain candle stand decorated in blue and white on each side with auspicious motives. One side shows a boy holding a lotus flower (lian) which is a pun ‘May you continuously give birth to distinguished sons’ (liangzheng guizi). One of the names for a lotus is lian which is similar to ‘continuously’ (lian). The boy represents the wish for a son. On another side is a gate. Gates were usually found in the gardens of influential men symbolizing a wish for a good career. We have no idea about the meaning of the tree which seems to have been fallen on the roof of the gate. Another side shows a man fishing. A fish (yu) represents Abundance and lots of surplus (yu). The last side shows a pine and a plum tree which are both symbols of Longevity. The candle stand is signed on the top by the artist and we believe that the signature reads Xu Jia Ye (許家葉) but the middle character is very vague and hard to decipher. The glaze shows some fritters. The stand dates from the Qing period (1644 – 1912). Height 5.2 cm. Width and depth 4.7 cm.