The ink container is rectangular, painted with a chequerboard pattern in underglaze blue on top and a peony spray on each of the four sides in red, green and blue enamels. Seated on the container is a small boy, with legs bent flat to either side and heels touching, and arms akimbo, hands on calves. Black haired, he wears red rompers with a green and blue floral motif on the front. Behind him sit two monkeys, the female with a baby on her back, and painted with aubergine, grey and red enamels. In the boy's shoulders and on one side of the container are small holes for standing the brush in (they could also have acted as air vents in the kiln), and on the other side is a larger hole for dipping the brush through into the ink. The piece is fired on the flat base, which is unglazed with the remaining marks of four large spurs.