1. Bought from Lee Van Ching [Li Wenqing] 李文卿, in New York. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 173. $415
2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Han 漢. See further, S.I. 797, Appendix VII.
3. (John Ellerton Lodge, 1922) Han 漢 or earlier.
4. (Archibald Gibson Wenley, 1946) Period uncertain.
5. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Attribution changed from "Period uncertain" to "Western Chou [Zhou] 周" (cf. F1917.384, another ts'ung [cong] 琮 with similar monster masks). Both F1916.118 and F1917.384 are related to a group of Western Chou [Zhou] 周 jade objects with this type of monster mask design in relief, such as the plaque F1916.511.
6. (Julia K. Murray, 1980) From Ancient Chinese Jade exhibition label: Attribution is changed from Western Chou [Zhou] 周 to Neolithic, ca. 2000 BCE.
7. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) The ts'ung [cong] 琮 found at Ts'ao-hsieh-shan [Caoxieshan] 草鞋山 is reproduced in Nanking po-wu-yuan [Nanjing bowuyuan] 南京博物院, "Kiangsu Wu hsien Ts'ao-hsieh-shan i-chih [Jiangsu Wu xian Caoxieshan yizhi] 江蘇吳縣草鞋山遺址," Wen-wu tzu-liao ts'ung-k'an [Wenwu ziliao congkan] 文物資料叢刊 3 (1980), pl. 3:1. Although the mask motif straddling each of the corners is very similar in type to that on Freer Gallery of Art ts'ung [cong] 琮 F1916.118, its execution on the excavated piece appears somewhat cruder and less detailed. An angular plaque with a similar design of large oval eyes came from another site belonging to the late phase of the Liang-chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 culture of the East Coast Neolithic period (see Nanking po-wu-yuan [Nanjing bowuyuan] 南京博物院, "Kiangsu Wu-chin Ssu-tun i-chih ti shih-chueh [Jiangsu Wujin Sidun yizhi de shijue] 江蘇武進寺墩遺址的試掘," K'ao-ku [Kaogu] 考古 1981.3, p. 197, fig. 7), helping to confirm the motif as belonging to the Liang-chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 cultural context. However, in his article (Hayashi Minao 林巳奈夫, "Ryōsho bunka no gyokki jakkano megutte 良渚文化の玉器若干をめぐって = Jade of the Liang-chu Culture," Museum 360 [1981], pp. 22--23), Hayashi Minao expresses some doubt that the Freer ts'ung [cong] 琮 F1916.118 is as early as other pieces bearing the mask motif. He feels that the highly sophisticated workmanship evident in the Freer ts'ung [cong] 琮 was not attained even during the Warring States period (480--221 BCE), implying ever so obliquely that the ts'ung [cong] 琮 might be archaistic (see p. 26).
The mask motif seen in all these examples seems to be the basis for the more abstract band and incised line (and sometimes circle) decor found on many ts'ung [cong] 琮, both small and large. Understanding this abstract pattern as the simplification of a face-mask provides a clue for answering the question of which end of the ts'ung [cong] 琮 is top and which is bottom. On ts'ung [cong] 琮 wider at one end than the other, the pattern is always correctly oriented when the piece rests on its smaller end; however, it is unstable and likely to topple over when so positioned. It is possible that the design was intended to be seen from above, and if so, then the ts'ung [cong] 琮 would rest on its wider end. Until the function of the ts'ung [cong] 琮 is clarified, no definitive conclusions may be reached.
8. (Julia K. Murray, September 1983) Exhibition Studies in Connoisseurship: 1923--1983 label text; moved to label field.
9. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, January 21, 2008) Late Neolithic period, Lake Tai 太湖 region, Liangzhu 良渚 culture.
10. (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.
11. (Jeffrey Smith, May 29, 2008) Added designation "nephrite" to Medium as per Elisabeth West Fitzhugh, October 1957, as determined by x-ray diffraction.
12. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 17, 2008) Ceremonial Object added as secondary classification.
13. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 20, 2010) Title changed from "Short tube (cong 琮)" to "Tube (cong 琮) with masks."
Draft catalogue entry for F1916.118; by Jenny F. So (2003)
Cong 琮-bracelet
Late Neolithic period, 3000--2500 BCE
Liangzhu 良渚 culture, Lake Tai 太湖 region
Nephrite, opaque pale honey-colored with damage at the top collar
Height 4.32--4.51 cm; dimensions at top 7.19 × 7.19 cm; at bottom 7.16 ×7.16 cm; diameter of collar 7.16--7.56 cm; of opening 5.64--5.90 cm
Purchased from Lee Van Ching [Li Wenqing] 李文卿, Shanghai 上海, in New York
F1916.118
This example shows the classic shape of a cong 琮--a central cylinder with projections that form four distinct corners, the cylinder rising above the corners as a low collar. Its walls taper almost imperceptibly from top to bottom. The corners project as a single triangular unit, overlaid onto the curved walls of the cylinder and meeting at an obtuse angle to give its cross-section a slightly swollen appearance. Each unit shows the same animal-face design with oval eyes, bridge, and nose in low relief. Double circles, drilled with a hollow tool and bracketed by Y-shaped corners form the pupils. Above the eyes, hairline thin incised parallel lines fill two horizontal bands, suggesting some kind of headdress. The warm golden hue that covers its entire surface is probably the result of prolonged handling.
A virtually identical example has been excavated from Tomb 7 at Yuhang 餘杭 Yaoshan 瑤山, Zhejiang 浙江 province, a grave that contained a rich assortment of elaborately decorated jade ornaments.[1] The Yaoshan 瑤山 example was made from a fine-grained, opaque ivory-white material that might represent the original color of the Freer example before extensive handling caused it to discolor. Unlike cong 琮 F1917.384, where the handling also wore down much of the fine surface design, this bracelet has retained the original quality of the superbly refined workmanship that marks the best of Liangzhu 良渚 jades.
Among excavated examples, singled-tiered cong 琮 bracelets are significantly fewer in number than multi-tiered ones. A small number are cylindrical or near cylindrical with oval-eyed animal faces (see also F1917.384). [2] Most others show human faces with circular eyes, often depicted wearing some sort of ornamental headband (see F1919.47).[3] On two-tiered versions, the round-eyed human face often superposed the oval-eyed animal face, so that there is a clear distinction in identity between the two images, implying different roles or meaning.
Published: Alfred Salmony, Carved Jade of Ancient China (Berkeley, CA: Gillick Press, 1938), pl. 28:1; Umehara Sueji 梅原末治, Shina kogyoku zuroku 支那古玉圖錄 (Kyoto: Kuwana bunseidō, 1955), pl. 52; Thomas Lawton, "China's Artistic Legacy," Apollo 118 (1983), p. 135; Julia K. Murray, "Neolithic Chinese Jades in the Freer Gallery of Art," Orientations 14 (1983), p. 19.
[1] Zhejiang sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo 浙江省文物考古研究所, Shanghai shi wenwu guanli weiyuanhui 上海市文物管理委员会, and Nanjing bowuyuan 南京博物院, Liangzhu wenhua yuqi 良渚文化玉器 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, and Hong Kong: Liangmu chubanshe, 1989), no. 17; full report of the find in Zhejiang sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo 浙江省文物考古研究所, "Yuhang Yaoshan Liangzhu wenhua jitan yizhi fajue jianbao 餘杭瑤山良渚文化祭壇遺址發掘簡報," Wenwu 文物 1988.1, pp. 32--51.
[2] Zhejiang sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo 浙江省文物考古研究所, Shanghai shi wenwu guanli weiyuanhui 上海市文物管理委员会, and Nanjing bowuyuan 南京博物院, Liangzhu wenhua yuqi 良渚文化玉器 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, and Hong Kong: Liangmu chubanshe, 1989), nos. 12--14.
[3] Ibid., nos. 23, 33, 39; nos. 37, 38, 40--42 are larger and often of coarser material like F1917.65.
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