The present brushrest is fairly early in a lineage of mountain-form rests where a brush could be safely set down in the valleys between the peaks, five-peaked objects becoming the norm during the Ming and Qing periods and the materials ranging from stone to wood to metal to ceramic. The present is modeled as a high pointed central peak with an outcropping on each side and a low triangular shaped hillock on each end. A monkey straddles the range on the left. A recumbent ram is attached to the right. A small butterfly is applied on the front of the high peak and a dove on the reverse. The brushrest is textured with random small holes on the front and back and covered with a pale bluish-colored glaze that deepens to glassy turquoise in the depressions. The glaze is applied unevenly, leaving the creatures only partially glazed and the exposed ceramic body burnt pinkish- orange in the firing, as is the unglazed base.
During the Song-Yuan period the potters at Jingdezhen had on their immensely busy agendas the creation and production of accouterment for the use of literati. The well- established yingqing tradition was the primary arena for this activity. The quantity and variety of waterdroppers, small water jars, and small multi-functional boxes are both quite immense (see no. 39) are legend. Also on the books were other objects, including brushrests such as the present, which are now a great rarity.