Seven-tier tube (cong 琮) with masks, eyes rubbed away

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Maker(s): Artist: Liangzhu culture 良渚 (ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE)

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period, ca. 3300-2250 BCE

Object Date: ca. 3300-2250 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 20.4 x 8.1 x 8.1 cm (8 1/16 x 3 3/16 x 3 3/16 in) Diam (hole): 6.3 cm (2 7/16 in)

Origin: China, Lake Tai region

Credit Line: Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1968.30

: 人面紋十一節琮，人眼已磨損
新石器時代晚期良渚文化（公元前3300--2250年）
中國太湖地區
軟玉
高20.4、寬8.1、厚8.1 釐米；孔徑6.3 釐米
尤金·梅耶和阿格尼斯·梅耶夫妇贈送
器物編號：F1968.30

Provenance: From at least 1967 to 1968
Eugene Meyer (1875-1959) and Agnes E. Meyer (1887-1970), Washington, DC and Mt. Kisco, NY, from at least July 24, 1967 [1]

From 1968
Freer Gallery of Art, given by Agnes E. Meyer in 1968 [2]

Notes:

[1] The object is included in Agnes E. Meyer’s Deed of Gift, listed as no. 16 in the document’s Annex, dated July 24, 1967, copy in object file.

[2] See Agnes E. Meyer’s Deed of Gift, cited in note 1.

Previous owner(s): Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer ((1875-1959) and (1887-1970))

Description: Ts’ung [cong] 琮. High square slightly tapering prism of brownish gray nephrite. Drilled longitudinally from both sides leaving a smooth ridge in the middle. Carved patterns, consisting of a regular sequence, in seven tiers, of horizontal grooves and ledges.

Past label text: 1. Ancient Chinese Jade, September 4, 1980–March 6, 1981; by Julia K. Murray (shown with F1917.384, F1916.118, F1916.499, F1916.410; additional cong 琮 tubes of later periods shown in same case)

A comparable ts'ung [cong] 琮 of the Liang-chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 culture was excavated at Ts'ao-hsieh-shan [Caoxieshan] 草鞋山, Wu hsien [Wu xian] 吳縣, in Kiangsu [Jiangsu] 江蘇 province. The surface of the ts'ung [cong] 琮 is highly polished.

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Julia K. Murray, 1980) Attribution is changed from Western Chou [Zhou] 周 to Neolithic, ca. 2000 BCE.

2. (Julia K. Murray, 1982). For a discussion of the tall tsung [cong] 琮 with segmented-band decor, a type found in the late Neolithic jade inventory in eastern China, see Folder Sheet F1916.410.

Each of the four walls of the ts'ung [cong] 琮 is vertically bisected by a wide, shallow trough. The diameter of the tubular element enclosed within the square outer perimeter is somewhat larger in the case of F1968.30 than in other tall ts'ung [cong] 琮 with segmented decor in the Freer collection.

3. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, March 3, 2008) On this date entered: Period One (Late Neolithic period), Date (3300--2250 BCE), Artist (Liangzhu 良渚 culture), Title, Object name, Geographical region (Lake Tai 太湖 region); plus Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

4. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 17, 2008) Ceremonial Objects added as secondary classification.

5. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 20, 2010) Title changed from "Tall tube (cong 琮)" to "Tube (cong 琮)."

6. (Jeffrey Smith per Janet Douglas, June 17, 2010) Nephrite added as modifier to existing medium of "jade" based on conservation analysis.

Published References

Thomas Lawton. Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Memorial Exhibition. Exh. cat. Washington, 1971. cat. 4, pp. 8-9.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .

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