One-tier tube (cong 琮) with masks

Squared, hollow cylinder of the type ts’ung [cong] 琮; narrow projecting collar at both ends; rich cream and tans; decoration: incised and in low relief, stylized masks and double bands of fine lines on corners. (Collar chipped.)

Maker(s)
Artist: Liangzhu culture 良渚 (ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE)
Historical period(s)
Late Neolithic period, ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE
Medium
Jade (nephrite)
Dimensions
H x W x D: 4.5 x 7.2 x 7.2 cm (1 3/4 x 2 13/16 x 2 13/16 in) Diam (hole): 5.9 cm (2 5/16 in)
Geography
China, Lake Tai region
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1916.118
On View Location
Freer Gallery 19: Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades
Classification(s)
Ceremonial Object, Jade
Type

Ceremonial object: cong

Keywords
China, Late Neolithic period (ca. 5000 - ca. 1700 BCE)
Provenance

To 1916
Li Wenqing (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1916 [1]

From 1916 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Li Wenqing, in New York, in 1916 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 797, pg. 173, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
Li Wenqing (C.L. Freer source) ca. 1869-1931

Description

Squared, hollow cylinder of the type ts’ung [cong] 琮; narrow projecting collar at both ends; rich cream and tans; decoration: incised and in low relief, stylized masks and double bands of fine lines on corners. (Collar chipped.)

Published References
  • J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
  • Sueji Umehara. Shina kogyoku zuroku [Selected Specimens of Chinese Archaic Jade]. Kyoto, 1955. pl. 52.
  • Alfred Salmony. Carved Jade of Ancient China. Berkeley, 1938. pl. 28, no. 1.
  • Minao Hayashi. Sen In shiki no gyokki bunka [Patterns on Pre Yin Jades]. no. 334, 1979. p. 11, fig. 19.
  • Julia Murray. Neolithic Chinese Jades in the Freer Gallery of Art. vol. 14, no. 11 Hong Kong, November 1983. p. 19.
  • James CS Lin, Xiuzhen Li. China's First Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors. Exh. cat. Liverpool, England. p. 22, fig. 8.
  • Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, Fang Gu. Yuqi shidai: Meiguo bowuguan cang Zhongguo zaoqi yuqi [The Jade Age: Early Chinese Jades in American Museums]. Beijing, 2009. pp. 98-99.
  • Thomas Lawton. China's Artistic Legacy. vol. 118, no. 258 London, August 1983. p. 135.
  • Thomas Lawton, Linda Merrill. Freer: a legacy of art. Washington and New York, 1993. p. 205, fig. 140.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Jades for Life and Death
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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