The brush rest is modelled as the Five Sacred Peaks and painted with a scholarly Immortal and an attendant with a stork under a pine tree on one side, the other side with a similar Immortal, his attendant holding a lute. The base is painted with a continuous band of ruyi heads. The underside is unglazed.

The dating of this piece was subject to considerable discussion during the 1950s and 1960s. The Duberlys consulted various authorities. Margaret Medley and Parfitt believed it to date from the Hongwu period (1368-1398), whereas H.R.N. Norton, Peter Vaughan, Sir Harry Garner, and Soame Jenyns variously dated it between 1450 and 1530. It appears to have been decorated by the same hand as the plaque forming the cover of the du Boulay Collection catalogue (Bonhams, 10 November 2003, lot 103), which was reputedly bought by the Chinese Government.

Literature: Anthony du Boulay, The Duberly Collection of Chinese Art at Winchester College (Winchester, 2019), p. 28

Provenance: Bequeathed as part of the Duberly Collection, 1978; purchased by Major Montagu and Lady Eileen Duberly from H.R.N. Norton, 10 June 1953 (£55); formerly in the Collection of R.C. Bruce, sold Sotheby’s, London, 12 May 1953, lot 76, and the collection of H.F. Parfitt, sold Sotheby’s, London, 8 February 1946, lot 25

Location: Treasury, Gallery 2