Object: Six-tier tube (cong 琮) with masks, probably recut F1916.157

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: 18.8 x 7.7 x 7.8 cm (7 3/8 x 3 1/16 x 3 1/16 in) Diam (hole): 6.9 cm (2 3/4 in)

Origin: China, Lake Tai region

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1916.157

: 人面紋六節琮，疑經重新切割
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18.8、寬7.7、厚7.8 釐米；孔徑6.9 釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1916.157

Provenance: To 1916
Lai-Yuan and Company, New York, to 1916 [1]

From 1916 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Lai-Yuan and Company in 1916 [2]

From 1920
The Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 894, pg. 197, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] 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): Lai-Yuan & Company (C.L. Freer source) (ca. 1915-April 1921)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Description: Tall, squared, hollow cylinder of the type ts’ung [cong] 琮; projecting collar at top and base; mottled rich browns, black, and yellowish tan; decoration: channeled and incised, vertical grooves on sides, horizontal notches, ridges, and circles at corners. (Slight surface defects.)

Past label text: Studies in Connoisseurship: 1923–1983, September 23, 1983–March 1, 1984; by Julia K. Murray (shown with F1917.65 and later ceramic versions)

Archaic jade ts'ung [cong] 琮 are among the most enigmatic of all early ritual objects. While there is no certainty about their original function, they are traditionally regarded as being symbolic of earth.

Both of these jade ts'ung [cong] 琮 were acquired by Charles Lang Freer as examples dating from the Chou [Zhou] 周 (ca. 1027–222 BCE) or Han 漢 (206 BCE–CE 220) dynasty. Recent archaeological finds support a considerably earlier date for this type of ts'ung [cong] 琮, and they are now accepted as characteristic examples of the late Neolithic period made in southeastern China.

During the Ch'ing [Qing] 清 dynasty there was a revival of interest in archaic forms, and potters used the ancient jade shapes as prototypes for porcelain and stoneware vases. In the later ceramic versions, like the two vases shown in this same case (F1907.44, F1911.348), the original ritual function of the jade ts'ung [cong] 琮 has been replaced by purely secular concerns.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Lai-Yuan and Company 來遠公司, New York. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 197. $310

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Han 漢. See further, S.I. 894, Appendix VII.

3. (Isabel Ingram Mayer, 1946) Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty.

4. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) This ts'ung [cong] 琮 differs from other Western Chou [Zhou] 周 examples in that the diameter of the prism is smaller than the sides, so that the points of the circumference are not flush with the sides but are set back. With the exception of this feature, the ts'ung [cong] 琮 resembles closely other Western Chou [Zhou] 周 examples and does not seem to be an archaistic piece. I am assigning it a Western Chou [Zhou] 周 date for the time being.

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

The band-and-circle decor on ts'ung [cong] 琮 F1916.157 appears in six horizontal divisions, and each of the four walls is vertically bisected by a broad, shallow trough. Compared to the other ts'ung [cong] 琮 of this type in the Freer collection, F1916.157 is a bit unusual in that the walls of the round tube are much thinner and, as pointed out by Lawton, recessed from the square outer perimeter. The circles that are incised between the long and short bands in the six horizontal divisions seem to be cut more deeply and prominently than on the other ts'ung [cong] 琮. However, the similarities outweigh the differences, and ts'ung [cong] 琮 F1916.157 should be attributed to the late Neolithic period along with the rest of the group.

Changed to Neolithic, ca. 2000 BCE, from Western Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty.

6. (Julia K. Murray, September 1983) Exhibition Studies in Connoisseurship: 1923--1983 label text; moved to label field.

7. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, January 21, 2008) Late Neolithic period, Lake Tai 太湖 region, Liangzhu 良渚 culture.

8. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, February 4, 2008) On this date entered: Date (3300--2250 BCE), Title, Object name; plus Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

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

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

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

Published References

Frederick William Gookin. Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Paintings, Sculptures and Jade Objects from the Collection formed by Charles Lang Freer, and Given by Him to the Nation through the Smithsonian Institution, Exhibition November 15 to December 8, 1917. Exh. cat. Chicago, November 15 - December 8, 1917. No. 101, p. 46.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .

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Six-tier tube (cong 琮) with masks, probably recut

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