Period:Unknown Production date:3300BC-2200BC
Materials:jade
Technique:polished, incised,
Subjects:mask
Dimensions:Height: 3.40 centimetres Width: 12.70 centimetres
Description:
Tsung (cong) of creamy white jade totally calcified with grey and brown mottling with some traces of iron rust staining and earth encrustation, some surface pitting and chipping polished to a high gloss.
IMG
![图片[1]-cong BM-2022-3034.52-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Unknown/Jades/337_.jpg)
Comments:A thick heavy cylinder within an irregular square with slightly convex sides displays four masks at the corners. The masks with double-circle eyes with small slashes at the sides and raised geometrically designed rectangular mouths are surmounted by two striated bands. The central aperture has been polished smooth. Neolithic. This example of a cong belongs to the category of thick-walled cong. It is carved from a substantial slab, the original thickness of which is still evident as there is only a relatively small hole, which has been polished smooth along its length. As if to emphasise the very substantial weight and solidity of the piece, the four corner sections are stepped down by a couple of millimetres from the central ring around the hole. On each corner is a face divided centrally by the corner angle, so that on each side is a round eye, with an inner circle representing the pupil, and dashes on both sides to add realism to the eye. Above the eyes are two ridges incised with lines, and below is a shorter bar to indicate the nose, which bears an incised scroll. All the incised lines are extremely fine. Both this very fine carving and the weight and solidity of the piece indicate its value. Thick, substantial but short cong have come from all the Liangzhu sites; a quite remarkable piece has come from Fanshan, which has the most elaborate decoration seen to date on a cong . A cong very similar in size and design to the present one has come from tomb M3 at Jiangsu Wujin Sidun. However this piece has a rectangular rather than a circular area round the central hole and the face lacks eyes. See Rawson 1995, p.126, cat.no.3.2.
Materials:jade
Technique:polished, incised,
Subjects:mask
Dimensions:Height: 3.40 centimetres Width: 12.70 centimetres
Description:
Tsung (cong) of creamy white jade totally calcified with grey and brown mottling with some traces of iron rust staining and earth encrustation, some surface pitting and chipping polished to a high gloss.
IMG
Comments:A thick heavy cylinder within an irregular square with slightly convex sides displays four masks at the corners. The masks with double-circle eyes with small slashes at the sides and raised geometrically designed rectangular mouths are surmounted by two striated bands. The central aperture has been polished smooth. Neolithic. This example of a cong belongs to the category of thick-walled cong. It is carved from a substantial slab, the original thickness of which is still evident as there is only a relatively small hole, which has been polished smooth along its length. As if to emphasise the very substantial weight and solidity of the piece, the four corner sections are stepped down by a couple of millimetres from the central ring around the hole. On each corner is a face divided centrally by the corner angle, so that on each side is a round eye, with an inner circle representing the pupil, and dashes on both sides to add realism to the eye. Above the eyes are two ridges incised with lines, and below is a shorter bar to indicate the nose, which bears an incised scroll. All the incised lines are extremely fine. Both this very fine carving and the weight and solidity of the piece indicate its value. Thick, substantial but short cong have come from all the Liangzhu sites; a quite remarkable piece has come from Fanshan, which has the most elaborate decoration seen to date on a cong . A cong very similar in size and design to the present one has come from tomb M3 at Jiangsu Wujin Sidun. However this piece has a rectangular rather than a circular area round the central hole and the face lacks eyes. See Rawson 1995, p.126, cat.no.3.2.
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