cong
- Museum number
- 2022,3034.241
- Description
-
Large cong of opaque dark olive green jade with brownish and russet inclusions with a soft gloss finish.
- Production date
- 3300BC-2200BC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 49 centimetres
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Width: 8 centimetres
- Curator's comments
-
There is surface pitting and chips. The tall gently tapering cong has seventeen transverse sections divided by grooves, each section with four units at the corners. Each unit, depicting masks, consists of two upper horizontal bands over a polished down area over a smaller band. On some of the polished down areas can be seen traces of faintly incised circles which indicate eyes on the mask units. Thick tubular extensions with straight outer sides and rounded corners jut out from either end of the cong. The vertical perforation has been drilled from both ends of the cong. Neolithic.
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This tall cong is essential similar to no.550 [2014,AsiaLoan,1.76]. It is, however, especially narrow in proportion to its width and it is also less carefully finished than the pieces discussed so far. Like the previous cong it tapers slightly from top to bottom. The upper and lower collars are also square in cross-section with rounded corners. The tube has been drilled from its two ends. The main height is divided into seventeen sections. These each show two long upper bands and one short lower one, familiar from all the earlier examples. Here, however, the striations seen earlier are either missing or have been worn away. The circles of the eyes are also only occasionally visible. The effect of wear is noticeable in general. On tall cong, such as this one and similar pieces in the BM and the V&A the sections seem either to have been much rubbed or to have been somewhat simplified in the first place. All such tall cong are remarkable pieces, whose carving must have demanded enormous expenditure of materials and labour. As with the previous example, 550 [2014,AsiaLoan,1.76], this cong can be matched by a few cong in collections. Particularly noteworthy examples are those that have incised characters or motifs at the top, on cong in the NPM, Taipei, in the Shoudu, Beijing and in the Shanghai museum. These emblems may be compared to those on some discs, for example in the Freer Gallery of Art, and the V&A. See Rawson 1995, p.129, cat.no.3.6.
- Location
- On display (G33b/dc23)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2002, BM, 'Chinese Jade'
Previous Loan Number: 2014,AsiaLoan.60
- Acquisition date
- 2022
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 2022,3034.241
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: 328 (Hotung database number)
