Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Maker(s): Artist: Liangzhu culture 良渚 (ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE)

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period, ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE

Object Date: ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 14.8 × 6.9 × 6.7 cm (5 13/16 × 2 11/16 × 2 5/8 in) Diam (hole - top): 4.5 cm (1 3/4 in) Diam (hole - bottom): 4 cm (1 9/16 in)

Origin: China, Lake Tai region

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1917.96

: 五節琮, 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
高14.8、寬6.9、厚6.7 釐米；孔徑4.5 釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1917.96

Provenance: To 1917
Li Wenqing (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1917 [1]

From 1917 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Li Wenqing, in New York, in 1917 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1178, pg. 273, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, Voucher No. 18, December 1916.

[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): Li Wenqing 李文卿 (C.L. Freer source) (ca. 1869-1931)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Description: Squared, hollow cylinder of the type ts’ung [cong] 琮; ends flat; proportions irregular; uneven boring leaving deep ledge in interior; black and blackish brown with iridescent, golden brown flecks; silvery incrustation; surface worn and roughened with irregularities; decoration: channeled grooves and notches.

Acquired with an inscribed box and stand, now lost.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Lee Van Ching [Li Wenqing] 李文卿, of Shanghai 上海, in New York. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 273. $300

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Chou [Zhou] 周. See further, S.I. 1178, Appendix VIII.

3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.933.

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

5. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Exhibited: The Art Institute of Chicago, Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Paintings, Sculptures, and Jade Objects from the Collection Formed by Charles Lang Freer (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1917), no. 103.

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

7. (Thomas Lawton, 1973) The following information was carved on the box in which this object arrived: "San-tai tsu ts'ung [Sandai zu cong] 三代組琮."

8. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) 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.

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. F1916.368). The hole, furthermore, is incompletely drilled and a large residue of unworked material remains inside the tube at one end. Since it is not exactly like the excavated type of tall Neolithic ts'ung [cong] 琮 with segmented decor, it may be an archaistic piece; so for the present, it seems best to leave the Western Chou [Zhou] 周 attribution until more comparative material is available.

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

10. (Stephen Allee, March 24, 2009) As per Keith Wilson, changed Object Title from "Cong 琮" to "Tube (cong 琮)"; changed Object Name from "Cong 琮" to "Ceremonial object". Changed Medium "Jade" to "Jade (?)," as no scientific analysis is recorded. Added Measurements (H: 14.74 x W: 6.61; Diam. hole: 4.46) as per Christine Lee, Jade Project Database.

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

12. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, April 28, 2016) Period changed from Western Zhou dynasty with object date of ca. 1050-771 BCE to Late Neolithic period, with object date of ca. 3300-ca.2250 BCE. Liangzhu culture.

Published References

J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
Frederick William Gookin. Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Paintings, Sculptures and Jade Objects from the Collection formed by Charles Lang Freer, and Given by Him to the Nation through the Smithsonian Institution, Exhibition November 15 to December 8, 1917. Exh. cat. Chicago, November 15 - December 8, 1917. p. 46, no. 103.

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Tube (cong 琮)

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