Water vessel in the shape of a bottle gourd decorated with a crab, and accompanied by a spoon

清朝巧綎玉箕秺硽砇水注

HIDDEN MEANING: May you become the First Scholar (yijia yiming 一甲一名
Scholars required a vessel of water on their desks to facilitate the grinding of ink. Such a vessel could be open and accompanied by a spoon, like this example, or closed and fashioned with a spout for pouring.

The crab's hard shell can be compared to "armor" (jia 甲"first," as in first place in the final, imperial level of civil service examination. Thus a single crab brings to mind the idiomatic expression yijia yiming (一甲一名"the only name holding first place" and idiomatically "becoming the First Scholar" (zhuangyuan 狀元