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Lot Essay
The jades of Liangzhu culture abound in number, diversity, and excel in craftsmanship as some of the most illustrious jade artefacts in the history of Chinese civilization. Among the many types of jades of the Liangzhu culture, the jade cong are the most distinctive. Liangzhu jade cong have a square outer section and a circular inner hollow. Each corner serves as a vertical axis over which a symmetrical mask motif is carved. The cong are the only type of Liangzhu jades with decoration. The early cong were mainly squat, featuring exquisitely carved deity or animal details while the later ones were mostly thin and tall with simplified facial features dominated by the eyes and nose.
The present cong is incised with three horizontal tiers of a total of twelve ‘crowned divine figure’ motifs. The two incised parallel lines on top of each motif symbolise the crown, while short horizontal ridges incised with swirling cloud patterns represent the nose. The small eyes are formed by double circles connected with short, intermittent incised lines, with two short lines extending outward on both sides to indicate the eye corners.
Compare a three-tiered Liangzhu jade cong, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, The Chang Wei-Hwa Collection of Archaic Jades, Part I - Neolithic Period, 27 November 2019, lot 2719 (fig. 1).
The present cong is incised with three horizontal tiers of a total of twelve ‘crowned divine figure’ motifs. The two incised parallel lines on top of each motif symbolise the crown, while short horizontal ridges incised with swirling cloud patterns represent the nose. The small eyes are formed by double circles connected with short, intermittent incised lines, with two short lines extending outward on both sides to indicate the eye corners.
Compare a three-tiered Liangzhu jade cong, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, The Chang Wei-Hwa Collection of Archaic Jades, Part I - Neolithic Period, 27 November 2019, lot 2719 (fig. 1).