One-tier tube (cong 琮) with masks

• 1. Bought from Seaouke Yue [You Xiaoxi] 游筱溪 of Shanghai 上海, in New York. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 339. $250

  2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Chou [Zhou] 周. See further, S.I. 1425, Appendix IX.

  3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.831.

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

  5. (Elisabeth West Fitzhugh, 1956) Nephrite. Film F273, x-ray diffraction.

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

  7. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Western Chou [Zhou] 周.

  8. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) The band-and-circle design on ts'ung [cong] 琮 F1919.47 is probably an abstract and simplified version of the masklike motif found on ts'ung [cong] 琮 F1916.118 (see Folder Sheet), a type of decor that appears on a few artifacts belonging to the Liang-chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 phase of the East Coast Neolithic culture. The eyes in the "full" form of the motif consist of a pair of large, raised ovals each with a small, incised circle. On ts'ung [cong] 琮 F1919.47, however, the eyes are reduced to two small, concentric, incised circles (some of which are hardly visible). The simplification in itself is not a sign of later date because the simplified form is found on tall ts'ung [cong] 琮 also excavated from the late Liang-chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 remains in Kiangsu [Jiangsu] 江蘇 at Wu hsien [Wu xian] 吳縣 Ts'ao-hsieh-shan [Caoxieshan] 草鞋山 (see 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], p. 12) and Wu-chin [Wujin] 武進 Ssu-tun [Sidun] 寺墩 (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, pls. 2:4--5); and in Shih-hsia [Shixia] 石峽 cultural remains in Kwangtung [Guangdong] 廣東 province at Ch'u-chiang [Qujiang] 曲江 Shih-hsia [Shixia] 石峽 (see Kwangtung sheng po-wu-kuan [Guangdong sheng bowuguan] 廣東省博物館 and Ch'u-chiang hsien wen-hua-chu Shih-hsia fa-chueh hsiao-tsu [Qujiang xian wenhuaju Shixia fajue xiaozu] 曲江縣文化局石峽發掘小組, "Kwangtung Ch'u-chiang Shih-hsia mu-tsang fa-chueh chien-pao [Guangdong Qujiang Shixia muzang fajue jianbao] 廣東曲江石峽墓葬發掘簡報," Wen-wu [Wenwu] 文物 1978.7, p. 15, figs. 31 and 34). The tall ts'ung [cong] 琮 merely show the motif replicated in several horizontal registers (for discussion, see Folder Sheet F1916.410). Ts'ung [cong] 琮 F1919.47 is most similar to the low ts'ung [cong] 琮 found at Shih-hsia [Shixia] 石峽 (Kwangtung sheng po-wu-kuan [Guangdong sheng bowuguan] 廣東省博物館 and Ch'u-chiang hsien wen-hua-chu Shih-hsia fa-chueh hsiao-tsu [Qujiang xian wenhuaju Shixia fajue xiaozu] 曲江縣文化局石峽發掘小組, "Kwangtung Ch'u-chiang Shih-hsia mu-tsang fa-chueh chien-pao [Guangdong Qujiang Shixia muzang fajue jianbao] 廣東曲江石峽墓葬發掘簡報," Wen-wu [Wenwu] 文物 1978.7, p. 15, fig. 34), which has just one register of band-and-circle designs.

  Attribution is changed from Western Chou [Zhou] 周 to Neolithic.

  9. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, March 3, 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.

  10. (Stephen Allee, May 29, 2008) Added designation "nephrite" to Medium as per Elisabeth West Fitzhugh, October 1956, as determined by x-ray diffraction, and Janet Douglas, April 1996, as determined by infrared spectroscopy.

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

  12. (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 F1919.47; by Jenny F. So (2003)

Cong 琮 bracelet
Late Neolithic period, 3000--2500 BCE
Liangzhu 良渚 culture, Lake Tai 太湖 region
Nephrite, brown and honey-colored with white altered patches, greatly worn
Height 3.66 cm; dimensions at top 7.43 × 7.58 cm; at bottom 7.41 × 7.41 cm; diameter of opening 5.96--6.26 cm
Purchased from Seaouke Yue [You Xiaoxi] 游筱溪, Shanghai 上海, in New York, reportedly from Duan Fang [Duanfang] 端方
F1919.47

This cong 琮 bracelet displays a more compressed profile than most other examples in the Freer and Sackler collections. The cylinder stands as a rather low collar at the two ends, but the walls also taper gently from top to bottom. The image at the four corners is human-like, with incised double circular eyes, a scrolled nose in low relief, and two horizontal headbands above, filled with fine incised parallel lines. The corners also meet at obtuse angles to give the cross-section a gently swelling outline. The surface shows discoloration from prolonged handling.

A close match in proportions, design, and material is a single-tiered cong 琮 excavated from the Liangzhu 良渚 context at Funing 阜寧, Luzhuang 陸莊, Jiangsu 江蘇 province, kept in the Nanjing 南京 Museum. [1]

[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. 38.

• J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
• You Xiaoxi. Description of antique Chinese paintings and brass wares as well as of porcelains of different ages, The Charles Lang Freer papers., 1919. No. 95, p. 66, 72.
• Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, Fang Gu. Yuqi shidai: Meiguo bowuguan cang Zhongguo zaoqi yuqi [The Jade Age: Early Chinese Jades in American Museums]. Beijing, 2009. p. 103.