Tube (cong 琮)

• 1. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 2, 2017) Title changed from "Tube (cong)" to "Tube (cong 琮)"; period changed from "Shang dynasty" to "Late Neolithic period"; date changed from "ca. 1600-1050 BCE" to "ca. 3000-ca. 1700 BCE"; and medium changed from "Jade" to "Jade (nephrite)".

  2. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, July 27, 2018) Added Chinese translation by Jingmin Zhang; and added unpublished research Louisa Fitzgerald Huber.

Draft catalogue entry (no. 78) for S2012.9.244 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--90); by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber

Cong 琮
Shang 商dynasty, 13th--12th century BCE
Jade
Height 4.2 cm (1 5/8 in)

Although of the same overall dimensions as the cong 琮described in entry 77 (S2012.9.243), the present example is differently proportioned, with a shorter quadrangular section and correspondingly lengthened cylindrical sections at each end. The outer walls of the cylindrical sections, moreover, are imperfectly circular and remain nearly flat above and below the center of each side, where they form a cross in conjunction with the surfaces of the square. The inner wall of the cylinder is smooth and even. The olive green and cream colored jade is encrusted with cinnabar and soil.
 
Published: Max Loehr, Relics of Ancient China, from the Collection of Dr. Paul Singer (New York: Asia Society, 1965), cat. 27.

• J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .