Chinese Brush Washers

Chinese brush washers were created simultaneously alongside the emergence of calligraphic and ink painting practices in early China. Brush washers are essential tools for painters and calligraphers, used to remove excess ink from a paintbrush while painting or after the painting is completed.

The Chinese certainly did not miss the opportunity to make this tool into a beautiful art object. A common shape for brush washers, particularly those made of jade, is a lotus leaf or blossom. The lotus is symbolically relevant in that the lotus emerges from mud and muck in a magnificent untarnished bloom. Similarly, a brush would ideally emerge from the brush washer pure as well.

Other brush washers are formed into various blossom shapes, circular round silhouettes, or taller cylindrical forms. Sometimes, the brush washers are decorated with a scene from life, a peaceful scene from nature, or an empowering design of a beast such as a dragon or lion.

Quick Facts

• Nature motifs on brush washers are meant as symbolic representations to spark reflection and inspiration to a painter and calligrapher
• These works can sometimes be accompanied by a heavy wooden stand, also carved intricately with motifs such as lotuses, birds, dragons, or flowers. A stand aesthetically elevates the brush washer, giving the work a lighter look
• Brush washers are typically created from porcelain or jade, though they can also be made of cloisonné brass, glass, amber, or enameled ceramics