Draft catalogue entry (no. 73) for S2012.9.239 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--90); by Jenny F. So
Cong 琮
Shang 商 -- Zhou 周dynasty, late 2nd--1st millennium BCE
Jade
Height 37.9 cm (14 15/16 in)
The thick, tapering, circular collar is cut from the top and bottom of a long square tube. The tube is pierced from top to bottom by holes drilled from both ends, a ridge marking the meeting of the individual drillings. The amber surface is completely undecorated but smoothly ground. The collar and corners are slightly damaged.
Finds in Neolithic sites along the southeastern coast of China have firmly established the cong 琮 to be an important ritual object and a major representative artifact of the period and culture. [1] While the Neolithic cong 琮vary greatly in size, they usually carry incised decoration on the surface. Such undecorated examples are difficult to date, as they have been found in burials from the Shang 商to late Eastern Zhou 周period. Furthermore, plain cong 琮were also made as archaizing specimens in later periods.
Published: Max Loehr, Relics of Ancient China, from the Collection of Dr. Paul Singer (New York: Asia Society, 1965), no. 46.
Note
1. See Wang Wei 王巍, "Liangzhu wenhua yucong chuyi 良渚文化玉琮芻議," Kaogu 考古 1986.11, pp. 1009--16.
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