cong BM-1945-1017.157

Period:Unknown Production date:2500BC (circa)
Materials:nephrite
Technique:carved

Dimensions:Height: 20.50 centimetres Weight: 2.13 kilograms Width: 7.50 centimetres Depth: 7.70 centimetres

Description:
Cong. Green-black-grey nephrite jade. Grooved, tapered and decorated with bands and circles.
IMG


Comments:Rawson 1992:The purposes of these jade carvings are unknown, although they are thought to have had a ceremonial and possibly also a protective function. They have been found in large numbers in burials of the Liangzhu culture (c. 2500 BC). The Liangzhu peoples inherited skills and traditions from the Dawenkou and Hongshan peoples and they used two distinct types of ritual jade: a disc later known as a ‘bi’ and a tube of square cross-section pierced with a circular hole, later known as ‘cong’. In some cases they were made of serpentine.The corners of ‘cong’ such as this are decorated with schematic faces, indicated by eyes and parallel bars suggesting hair and a nose. Two types of faces are found: one with rounded human eyes and the other with large oval eyes. Creatures with these two types of eyes appear on other jades, including axes, where they are often shown in much greater detail. The rounded human eyes might belong to a priest-like figure wearing a feathered headdess.Once bronze casting developed, jades were less in evidence. However, although their original purposes were probably forgotten, ‘bi’ and ‘cong’ survived. See also BM 1884.0405.1, BM OA+ 110, BM 1945.1017.139, BM 1937.0416.162, BM 1937.0416.142 and BM 1937.0416.183.