One-tier tube (cong 琮) with masks

Tubular ring with four angles slightly projecting, a variation of the type ts’ung [cong] 琮, possibly a bracelet; translucent, mottled creams, browns, and traces of gray green; light sprinklings of incipient disintegration; decoration: channeled and in low relief; four rectangles with t’ao-t’ieh [taotie] 饕餮 masks carved in two planes and meeting in center of face. (Rims have old smoothed breaks.)

Acquired with a box, now lost.

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 Diam: 3.5 x 6.8 cm (1 3/8 x 2 11/16 in) Diam (hole): 5.8 cm (2 1/4 in)
Geography
China, Lake Tai region, but purportedly found in Shaanxi
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1917.384
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

Reportedly excavated in Shensi [1]

From 1897
Wu Dacheng (1835-1902), acquired in 1897 [2]

To 1917
You Xiaoxi (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1917 [3]

From 1917 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi in 1917 [4]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [5]

Notes:

[1] Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record states: "Said to have been excavated in Shensi and acquired by Wu Ta-ch'eng in 1897."

[2] See note 1.

[3] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1324, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[4] See note 3.

[5] 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)

Wu Dacheng 1835-1902
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
You Xiaoxi (C.L. Freer source) late 19th-early 20th century

Description

Tubular ring with four angles slightly projecting, a variation of the type ts'ung [cong] 琮, possibly a bracelet; translucent, mottled creams, browns, and traces of gray green; light sprinklings of incipient disintegration; decoration: channeled and in low relief; four rectangles with t'ao-t'ieh [taotie] 饕餮 masks carved in two planes and meeting in center of face. (Rims have old smoothed breaks.)

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Published References
  • J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
  • Minao Hayashi. Jade of the Liang-chu Culture. no. 360 Tokyo, March 1981. fig. 11.
  • Julia Murray. Neolithic Chinese Jades in the Freer Gallery of Art. vol. 14, no. 11 Hong Kong, November 1983. p. 18.
  • Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, Fang Gu. Yuqi shidai: Meiguo bowuguan cang Zhongguo zaoqi yuqi [The Jade Age: Early Chinese Jades in American Museums]. Beijing, 2009. p. 102.
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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