Bats on Chinese Antique Porcelain

[Stan]

Hi Peter, I have a small brush pot, that I think is republic period, it has two red bats on the pot, I was recently told that in Chinese antique Porcelain there would never be just two bats, and that there would be three or more, is that true?

[peterp]

I know no such thing. Two bats or three bats, it is all the same. These are usually either on the backside of the vase or jar, or they are only a small part of the decoration, with other auspicious objects present.
To the contrary, two bats might be deemed auspicious, because two bats might also mean double happiness; the bat is considered auspicious because its Chinese name has the same pronunciation as "happiness, good fortune, luck".

When the bat is an important part of the decoration, there are usually five of them.
The number that is avoided is four, because that has the same sound as "death" (both in Chinese and Japanese).

[Stan]

Thanks Peter for clearing that up.