Lot Essay
Porcelain brush rests of this type were made in two designs, with either three or five peaks; the three-peaked variety was perhaps the most fortuitous as the shape is fundamentally that of the Chinese character shan ('mountain'). A very similar example is illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 734. See, also, the similar brush rest sold in these rooms, 3 June 1988, lot 258.