Period:Western Zhou dynasty Production date:11thC BC-8thC BC
Materials:jade, cinnabar (traces),
Technique:carved, incised,
Subjects:bird
Dimensions:Height: 3.50 centimetres Width: 6.80 centimetres
Description:
Archaic jade bird shape fitting.
IMG
![图片[1]-figure; fitting BM-2022-3034.84-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Western Zhou dynasty/Jades/571_.jpg)
Comments:Shang. Here, the top of a cong has been recarved at a later date to make an ornament. The outer surface has been incised with a pattern of pairs of plumed birds, typical of the Western Zhou. On each side the birds stand one above the other. For the birds to appear in their correct orientation, that is standing upright, the edge of the cong has to be rotated through 90 degrees. There are traces of cinnabar in the incised lines. On the back there are three pairs of holes, one pair at each of three of the corners; there are two pairs of holes at the fourth corner. Although jade cong had declined in importance after the neolithic period, a few were employed in the Shang and Western Zhou periods. Many of these may well have been late neolithic pieces from western China that had either continued in use or were rediscovered. A very few ere also probably recarved with the designs of the day. Among these is a fine cong from Shaanxi Chang’an Fengxi. Like the present cong, it is decorated with birds, although its shape bears closer resemblance to pieces of the neolithic period. The history of the present piece must have been somewhat different, as it is cut down from a larger piece and seems to have had its decoration added only then. The reuse of fragments of cong for various purposes is one of the constant features of ancient Chinese jade carving. See examples carved into taotie faces: 194 [2014,AsiaLoan,1.128]. Other pieces have been recovered in excavations and are also found in collections. The tradition of recarving earlier cong continued into the late Eastern Zhou. See Rawson 1995, p. 238, cat.no.14.1.
Materials:jade, cinnabar (traces),
Technique:carved, incised,
Subjects:bird
Dimensions:Height: 3.50 centimetres Width: 6.80 centimetres
Description:
Archaic jade bird shape fitting.
IMG
Comments:Shang. Here, the top of a cong has been recarved at a later date to make an ornament. The outer surface has been incised with a pattern of pairs of plumed birds, typical of the Western Zhou. On each side the birds stand one above the other. For the birds to appear in their correct orientation, that is standing upright, the edge of the cong has to be rotated through 90 degrees. There are traces of cinnabar in the incised lines. On the back there are three pairs of holes, one pair at each of three of the corners; there are two pairs of holes at the fourth corner. Although jade cong had declined in importance after the neolithic period, a few were employed in the Shang and Western Zhou periods. Many of these may well have been late neolithic pieces from western China that had either continued in use or were rediscovered. A very few ere also probably recarved with the designs of the day. Among these is a fine cong from Shaanxi Chang’an Fengxi. Like the present cong, it is decorated with birds, although its shape bears closer resemblance to pieces of the neolithic period. The history of the present piece must have been somewhat different, as it is cut down from a larger piece and seems to have had its decoration added only then. The reuse of fragments of cong for various purposes is one of the constant features of ancient Chinese jade carving. See examples carved into taotie faces: 194 [2014,AsiaLoan,1.128]. Other pieces have been recovered in excavations and are also found in collections. The tradition of recarving earlier cong continued into the late Eastern Zhou. See Rawson 1995, p. 238, cat.no.14.1.
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![[Qing Dynasty] British female painter—Elizabeth Keith, using woodblock prints to record China from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China—1915-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/image-191x300.png)
