Object: Six-tier tube (cong 琮) with masks, probably recut F1916.368

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: 13.7 x 6.4 x 6.5 cm (5 3/8 x 2 1/2 x 2 9/16 in) Diam (hole): 5.7 cm (2 1/4 in)

Origin: China, Lake Tai region

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1916.368

: 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
玉石
高13.7、寬6.4、厚6.5 釐米；孔徑5.7 釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1916.368

Provenance: To 1916
Wang Jiantang, Shanghai to 1916 [1]

From 1916 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Wang Jiantang in 1916 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1032, pg. 228, 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): Wang Jiantang 王鑑堂 (C.L. Freer source) (late 19th-early 20th century)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Description: Tall, squared, hollow cylinder of the type ts'ung [cong] 琮; base flat, top has bare suggestion of a collar; mottled dark browns and traces of green; light brown earth incrustations; decoration: channeled horizontal notches on corners, vertical central grooves on sides; strata cracks. (Slightly chipped.)

Acquired with stand, now lost.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from K. T. Wong [Wang Jiantang] 王鑑堂, Shanghai 上海. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 228. $405

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Shang 商. See further, S.I. 1032, Appendix VIII (see Paragraph 5).

3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 3.001. Nephrite.

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

5. (H. Elise Buckman, 1964) The Envelope File contained no further information, and has now been destroyed.

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

The tubular element of this ts'ung [cong] 琮 does not project at all beyond the top and bottom of the square outer element (cf. F1917.96). The hole is very smoothly drilled and its shape more perfect than on the other tall ts'ung [cong] 琮 of the Neolithic type, suggesting perhaps that it was made with more advanced tools. The segmented decor is very simplified consisting of shallow horizontal grooves and a broad, shallow vertical channel bisecting each of the outer walls. For the time being it seems best to leave the Western Chou [Zhou] 周 attribution until further comparative material is available to clarify the period of this ts'ung [cong] 琮.

7. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, February 4, 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 Description per Jenny F. So and Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

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

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

Published References

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

CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0): This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

Save this image | Terms of use

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

Related Objects

Related Media

Web Resources