A MOTTLED OPAQUE JADE CONG, LIANGZHUJade. China, Neolithic Period, Liangzhu culture, 3rd millennium BCThe thick-walled cong is finely carved with four squared, projecting corners each divided into two registers. The opaque stone is of ochre and iron-red color.The upper register with a mask of two raised bands with parallel lines above a pair of incised circular eyes and a simplified nose formed by a small band with rounded ends, the lower register with a similar mask, but lacking the two raised bands and with larger eyes instead.Cong carved with two registers presenting both types of masks have been discovered in some of the most important Liangzhu sites, such as Sidun (Wujin, Jiangsu), Fanshan (Yuhang, Zhejiang) and Fuquanshan (Qingpu, Shanghai). See Zhejiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Liangzhu wenhua yuqi (Jades of the Liangzhu Culture), Beijing 1990 nos. 10, 11, 15, 18, 19, 22 and 24.Literature comparison:For additional examples of two-tiered cong see Prof. Filippo Salviati, 4000 Years of Chinese Archaic Jades, 2017, nos. 51, 53 and 54.HEIGHT 5.3 cm, DIAMETER 8 cmProvenance: Private Collection of Irene and Wolfgang Zacke (1942-2022).