A Chinese riverboat with an elaborate superstructure, the hull faced with long strips of ivory. Projecting underneath, a pair of black metal wheels near the stern, and a single wheel towards the prow. Within the high main chamber on deck, its walls, windows and doorways pierced with latticework, a table with a bowl of fruit and four covered jars, and a hanging floral scroll flanked by a pair of calligraphies; a figure sitting playing a qin, and a man and a woman at a table laden with food, below a suspended lantern. Towards the stern, in a room with a barrel roof, two figures pulling at an oar with metal wires sliding in a long slot; and protruding below, a rectangular rudder. On the upper deck, a central part of which is an open-sided structure with a high pointed roof, standing and seated figures, and a number of potted plants. Also in the stern, on long poles, a patterned silk flag and two lanterns, pierced and gilt. Round the sides of the boat, eight sailors with fending poles; all the figures, apparently made of clay, painted in colours. The boat resting on an old silk-covered board, set on a later rectangular, wooden base.

Text adapted from Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen: Volume III.