Page 208 - China's Renaissance in Bronze, The Robert H.CIague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900

HE BRUSH REST SUPPORTED AN INKED BRUSH w h e n set aside for a
moment, allowing the scholar to alternate between brushes of
different sizes or textures. Fashioned in the form of five peaks, this
brushrest [48] represents one of the most popular types. More elaborate
than most, waves at the bottom lap the bases of the three central moun-
tains and the columns of the gateway below the central peak. Emerging
from the waves, a dragon enters the gateway. Rocky outcroppings rise in
front of the faceted main peaks; clouds envelop the tips of the three
central peaks, the clouds supporting a disk with the character ri (sun) on
the peak to the right of the central one, and a disk with the character yue
(moon) on the one to the left. The interior of the brushrest is hollow.
With the Chinese love of rocks and the important role that moun-
tains play in Chinese thought and painting, it is appropriate that brush-
rests were made in the shape of mountains. 1 In his Zhangwu zhi of 1637,
Wen Zhenheng commented that in antiquity people used small rocks as
brushrests (b/ge). 2 He further noted that jade, bronze, and porcelain are
suitable materials for brushrests, stating that mountain-shaped ones in
jade and Ding porcelain are especially desirable, as are bronze rests in
the form of mountains or chi dragons; in speaking of Ding ones, he specif-
ically mentioned three- and five-peak forms. 3
With its five peaks, this brushrest symbolizes China's Five Sacred
4
Mountains. The dragon (long) and gateway (men) appear as part of a visual
pun, to be read together as 'Longmen,' indicating that the waves represent
the waters of the Yellow River at the falls of Longmen in Henan, not far
5
from Mt Song, the central peak of the Five Sacred Mountains. The dragon
symbolizes success in the civil service examinations, for use by a scholar,
official, or successful examination candidate [see 56, 57].
Ming mountain-form brushrests descend from the Song ones men-
tioned by Wen Zhenheng, which, in turn, were inspired both by the fine
rocks used as brush supports and by the ceramic rockeries produced in
earthenware during the Tang. 6 In the Ming, five-peaked brushrests were
frequently made in porcelain 7 and bronze 8 during the Zhengde period,
their popularity continuing through the end of the dynasty. Late Ming
mountain-shaped brushrests are typically more complex than the earlier
ones, often incorporating waves at the base and sometimes dragons striding
9
in the clouds above. The complexity of the design, the height of the relief,
and the strong interest in visual puns, 10 all point to a late sixteenth- to
early seventeenth-century date for this mountain brushrest. 11

208 10 C H I N A ' S R E N A I S S A N C E IN B R O N Z E