Page 25 - Sotheby's Hong Kong Important Chinese Works of Art, Oct. 9, 2022

3609

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT JAPANESE COLLECTION 新石器時代良渚文化 玉琮
A CALCIFIED JADE CONG, 來源：
NEOLITHIC PERIOD, LIANGZHU CULTURE 古城藝術品，香港，1993年
7.6 cm
PROVENANCE
Castle of Antiquities, Hong Kong, 1993.
HK$ 400,000-600,000
US$ 51,000-76,500

The Liangzhu culture in the Yangtze River Delta, which
flourished from the late 4th to the end of the 3rd millennium
BC, was one of the most prominent Neolithic Chinese
civilizations. Among the large variety of Liangzhu artefacts,
cong – tubular jades usually of square section with a central
perforation drilled from both ends – stand out as iconic
of this culture. They were made for the most prestigious
ranks in society. Although the original meanings of cong
were lost following the decline of the Liangzhu culture,
their form continued to fascinate generations of collectors,
connoisseurs, scholars and artisans for centuries. The
importance of cong in the history of Chinese art therefore
cannot be overstated.
The earliest cong have the form of a circular bangle with
a single tier of zoomorphic masks with large round eyes
and ferocious fangs. See an example excavated from
Zhanglingshan, exhibited in Liangzhu and Ancient China:
The 5,000-Year Civilization Demonstrated by Jades, Palace
Museum, Beijing, 2019, cat. no. 1; and another from the
collection of Duanfang (1861-1911), sold in these rooms,
2nd April 2019, lot 3020. The rectangular form soon took
over and the motif became more complex, often featuring
a crowned human figure, perhaps a shaman, on top of an
animal mask with protruding goggled eyes and wrinkly snout
(for details of the duo, see the ‘King of cong’ unearthed
from Fanshan, ibid., cat. no. 64). Examples with alternating
registers of stylised human faces and animal masks suggest
that the motif seen on the present cong represents the face
of the shaman and the striated bands probably symbolise
the headdress; see ibid., cat. nos 8, 12, 67, 69, 71. Towards
the dusk of the Liangzhu civilisation, these elaborate,
fine engravings slowly disappeared and simpler designs
appeared, while at the same time taller cong with multiple
rows of faces, such as the present piece, were made.
A mottled jade two-tier example with a relatively large
central perforation, and incised with a row of faces above
animal masks, was excavated from Fanshan and included
in the aforementioned catalogue, cat. no. 10. Comparable
multi-tier cong are also preserved in major museums and
private collections, such as a mottled jade three-tier example
in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington DC, accession no.
F1917.65a-d.

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