China,
Kangxi period (1662-1722)
Two very similar brush rests are illustrated by Luisa Vinhais and Jorge Welsh inBiscuit: Refined ChineseFamille VerteWares, Jorge Welsh Books, London and Lisbon, 2012, pp. 120-123, nos. 28-29.
Brush rests were necessary items for writing as a temporary holder for brushes while they were in use upon the scholars’s desk. This brush rest would have been used in conjunction with other items essential to the Chinese scholar, such as ink, paper and brushes. Coin motifs were popularly used in Chinese decorative arts, symbolising prosperity and fortune. Swastikas are good luck symbols associated with Buddhism. The Chinese word for swatiska is “wan”, a homophone for “ten thousand” or “infinite”