Object: Six-tier tube (cong 琮) with masks F1916.389

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: 19.2 x 8.1 x 8.2 cm (7 9/16 x 3 3/16 x 3 1/4 in) Diam (hole): 5.8 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: F1916.389

: 人面紋六節琮
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19.2、寬8.1、厚8.2 釐米；孔徑5.8 釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1916.389

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1031, pg. 227, 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; projecting collar at top, wider at base; mottled black,browns, red, and tan; decoration: channeled and incised, vertical grooves on sides, horizontal grooves, bands, and circles at corners, traces of meander pattern. (Extensive breaks at both ends; surface cracks and damage.)

Acquired with a stand, now lost.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from K. T. Wong [Wang Jiantang] 王鑑堂, of Shanghai 上海. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 227. $860

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Shang 商. See further, S.I. 1031, Appendix VIII (see Paragraph 5).

3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.944. Broken down 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) Change from Western Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty to Neolithic, ca. 2000 BCE.

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.

7. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, February 5, 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 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)."

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

Published References

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

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Six-tier tube (cong 琮) with masks

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