Eight-tier tube (cong 琮) with masks

Squared, hollow cylinder of the type ts’ung [cong] 琮; tall form with wide projecting collar at both ends; irregularly bored leaving median ridge; mottled olive brown, olive green, and dull cream, with dark blue-green spots on one collar; extensive cream frosting of incipient disintegration; decoration: channeled and incised grooves, corner ridges, and circles; surface worn smooth; incision on upper corner and toolmarks. (Slightly chipped.)

Acquired with box and stand, now lost.

Maker(s)
Artist: Liangzhu culture 良渚 (ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE)
Historical period(s)
Late Neolithic period, ca. 3300-2250 BCE
Medium
Jade (nephrite)
Dimensions
H x W x D: 20.8 x 6.9 x 6.9 cm (8 3/16 x 2 11/16 x 2 11/16 in) Diam (hole): 4.7 cm (1 7/8 in)
Geography
China, Lake Tai region
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1918.14
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 1918
Wang Jiantang, Shanghai to 1918 [1]

From 1918 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Wang Jiantang, in New York, in 1918 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1342, pg. 309, 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
Wang Jiantang (C.L. Freer source) late 19th-early 20th century

Description

Squared, hollow cylinder of the type ts'ung [cong] 琮; tall form with wide projecting collar at both ends; irregularly bored leaving median ridge; mottled olive brown, olive green, and dull cream, with dark blue-green spots on one collar; extensive cream frosting of incipient disintegration; decoration: channeled and incised grooves, corner ridges, and circles; surface worn smooth; incision on upper corner and toolmarks. (Slightly chipped.)

Acquired with box and stand, now lost.

Published References
  • J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
  • Grace Dunham Guest, Archibald Gibson Wenley. Annotated Outlines of the History of Chinese Arts. Washington, 1949. p. 6.
  • Sherman Lee. A History of Far Eastern Art. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1964. p. 44, fig. 37.
  • Archibald Gibson Wenley. Early Chinese Jade. vol. 63, no. 5 Washington, November 1946. p. 346.
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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