Lot 3688. A Jade 'Rockwork' Brushrest, Ming Dynasty (136-1644): 12.5 by 44 cm., 5 by 17 1/3  in. Estimate 100,000 — 150,000 HKD. Lot sold 250,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the horizontally oriented grey stone streaked with dark brown veins, pierced with irregular holes throughout and jagged edges resembling a scholar's rock, finished with a smooth polish, wood stand.

Note:  Small jade brushrests finely worked in the form of naturally occuring, evocatively shaped limestone rocks, were popular scholars' objects. For a Qianlong reign-marked pale-green jade brushrest preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see Chuimei Ho and Bennet Bronson, Splendors of China's Forbidden City. The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong, London and New York, 2004, p. 90, pl. 98.

Sotheby's. Contemporary Literati — A Gathering, Hong Kong, 07  april 2014