Together with a censer and box containing coiled or powdered incense, a cylindrical vessel was one of the standard implements on a small table in the scholar’s study reserved for the enjoyment incense during the late Ming dynasty. This vessel held incense tools: a flat spoon or spatula, a pair of long thin tongs (to transfer a hot coal), and feather (to fan the heat). Its pendant triangular decoration, like the sharp upright design on the Wine Storage Vessel (Hu) nearby, represents cicadas—insects symbolizing of rebirth and immortality.